Curt Cignetti Questions ESPN's College Football Influence

Segment Spotlight: Quick Hits From Outspoken With Dan Sileo

Kurt Cignetti Questions ESPN’s Influence on the College Football Playoff

Kurt Cignetti offered a strong take on ESPN after winning the national championship. ESPN owns the College Football Playoff, while Fox is closely associated with the Big Ten and ESPN holds the property rights to the Southeastern Conference. That raises questions about whether those television relationships influence which teams reach the playoff.

Cignetti was critical of the attention the SEC receives. He said, “The SEC gets a lot of love from ESPN and all their writers that they don’t technically pay but march to their dream. That’s why you see all these SEC teams up there and some good two-loss teams from the Big Ten not quite as high. But it’s all going to be played out on the field.”

The games will ultimately be played on the field, but the committee still has to decide which teams get that opportunity. If the choice comes down to a team such as UCLA or LSU, what criteria will determine the selection?

The metric remains unclear. Is the committee evaluating strength of schedule, upcoming opponents, records or the quality of each loss? The latest selections offered little clarity about how those factors are being weighed.

There is also a question about the incentive to schedule major nonconference games. Why should Ohio State play Texas when a team can face weaker nonconference opponents, complete its Big Ten schedule and still reach the conference championship? If strength of schedule is not rewarded, there is little incentive to take that risk.

Quality losses should matter. The playoff should feature the 12 best teams in the country and provide the best opportunity to determine the nation’s top team. Teams should not receive a pass based only on their record when they have not played strong opponents.

The college football regular season remains one of the sport’s greatest strengths. Once bowl season and playoff selections arrive, however, the process becomes political. It turns into a beauty contest between the Big Ten and the SEC, with television networks appearing to have a say in who can compete for the national championship.

That differs from the NCAA basketball tournament, which provides a format for choosing a true national champion rather than relying on comparisons between conferences and television interests.

As for Saturday’s game between Notre Dame and Miami, there is a feeling that Touchdown Jesus is going to take a knee.