It’s been an awkward few weeks for the College Football Playoff Selection Committee.
As has been established by their play on the field, No. 6 Oregon is firmly in the mix for the Playoff this season. That presents a conundrum for committee chairman Rob Mullens, the Ducks’ athletic director who is recused from the room when his team is discussed… leaving to more than a handful of instances where he has to be told what the broader committee talked about when relaying points to the media every Tuesday.
Such a gray area has led to plenty of speculation over the committee’s reason for keeping Alabama at No. 5 or holding back Oklahoma at No. 8. It’s also led to more than a few conspiracy theories as well. Now even the talking heads are getting in on that too, with SEC Network and ESPN talking head Paul Finebaum weighing in that Mullen’s position makes him untrustworthy and dishonest when talking about the CFP and their rationale behind the rankings.
“I frankly don’t know if I trust this guy being in charge,” Finebaum said during his show on Thursday, as noted by The Oregonian. “I don’t trust him because he’s not honest, and I just think he has an influence on that committee. Maybe I should save my powder if Oregon gets in, but then it’s going to be too late.”
Finebaum, as many know, isn’t exactly a regular viewer of Pac-12 football nor a frequent visitor to the Pacific Northwest. The fact that he labeled one of the most prominent figures in the sport of college football right now as essentially a liar and a cheat probably won’t make him welcome out West any more either.
Oregon and the CFP declined to issue responses to The Oregonian about the matter but eventually someone will have a comment about what the noted sports talk show host decided to stir up. The Pac-12 and Mullens himself can’t be too happy to have his integrity questioned at this stage and something says that ESPN bosses will be receiving a phone call or two about the matter shortly as efforts to smooth the waters begin ahead of this weekend’s action.
One thing seems certain though, the CFP process itself is already the subject of a litany of conspiracy theories and appears to have just had gasoline thrown on one of them courtesy of a prominent Southern-based talked head.
