Can't Wait For Saturday | CFP makes wise decision with additions of Riley, Pinkel to selection committee
May 7—***
The folks in charge of the College Football Playoffs have always done a fine job selecting smart people to be a part of the selection committee. And they have done it again.
The powers that be just announced the addition of longtime coach Mike Riley to the panel, An inspired choice because of his background.
Riley was a head coach at two colleges in three stints. He revitalized the Oregon State program, earning eight bowl bids in 14 seasons at a place that rarely played in bowls before his arrival,
He later coached at Nebraska for three seasons, earning two bowl bids before a 4-8 record cost him his job.Riley's 9-4 finish at the school in 2016 is the best at Nebraska in the past decade.
The son of a high school, college and pro coach, Riley is considered at Pac-12 guy. But he actually played college football for SEC power Alabama under legend Paul Bryant. Very good to have someone tied to the "Bear" involved with the CFP.
My encounters with Riley have been all positive. He was hired at Nebraska in part because previous head coach Bo Pelini was considered to be on the grumpy side. That is a word nobody has ever used to describe 70-year-old Riley, who will be a treat for the other committee members to be around while also adding an extremely high level of football expertise.
Riley is one of a handful of new members on the CFP committee, including former Toledo and Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel. Just a hunch that Riley and Pinkel will be running the room during the discussions and less prone to the controversy that saw Florida State left ot of the most recent tournament despite a perfect record. Fortunately, those kind of problems should be in the past with the expansion of the field to 12 teams.
