SMITH THINKS CFP SHOULD PRIORITIZE CONFERENCE TITLES
Smith knows how challenging a job the College Football Playoff selection committee has in selecting which four teams should get the opportunity to play for a national championship, because he was on the selection committee himself in 2017 and 2018. He’s glad he’s not on the committee this year, knowing how much more challenging that job has become in a year where teams aren’t playing the same number of games and are having games canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Man, I can’t imagine what it’s like this year, because you have so much happening with different leagues and different teams and cancellations and things of that nature,” Smith said.
As Smith said on the day the Big Ten announced it would play an abbreviated season beginning in late October, he still believes the eye test will be a bigger factor in determining this year’s field of four than it has been in past years. He has reason to want that to be the case, as that could benefit Ohio State, who currently sits fourth in the CFP rankings.
“I think the eye test probably rises to more importance this year than any time,” Smith said. “There’s 13 great people in the room, they all got football backgrounds and some more than others, and I know we always watch film as a committee, but I’m sure they’re watching even more. And I think that that’s probably what’s provided us an opportunity to stay in the top four, because we are talented, extremely talented, very prolific offensively and our defense is, we’re tough enough, and it’s gonna get better. So I think that that respect for our talent probably has helped us, even though we haven’t played as many games as others. We have a Heisman contender at quarterback, and a number of other athletes who when drafted will be high draft choices.”
Smith also said that he believes conference championships – even though Ohio State still may or may not have the opportunity to play in the Big Ten Championship Game, depending on what happens with the Michigan game next week – should be weighed more heavily this year given that teams have played an uneven number of games.
“In the end, I would hope the championships will take a higher priority than they have in some years previous,” Smith said. “I’ve always been one of those guys that felt like championships matter, regular-season record and championships matter more than anything. And so, we’ll see how it rolls.”
