The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/382426
ball. These things tend to go in cycles, and they're impacted by a lot of dif- ferent things. "In the game of football, our day will come. We're got really good coaching in this conference. We're re- cruiting really good kids, and we're playing football at a really high level. We'll get there." The Wolverine: It's obviously the first year of football's four-team playoff. Talk about the selection committee in terms of the scrutiny it will be under. Brandon: "Being on that committee would be very challenging. I have no interest. I don't get to see that many football games, outside of those in our own conference, particularly those we are a part of. "The idea that you're going to come to the table with an awareness of how these other teams are performing, nationally, and really do your home- work is just an investment of time I'm not prepared to make, because I'm busy doing things that are more specific to my current job. "They're going to be under an enor- mous amount of pressure. There are a lot of people who believe that by tak- ing a two-team national playoff game and turning it into a four-team play- off, somehow that's going to diminish the amount of controversy that exists. I would suggest if anything, the con- troversy will be even greater. "I don't care what you say, who- ever No. 5 and No. 6 and No. 7 hap- pen to be, they're going to be angry they weren't selected. They're going to lay out all the rationale for how they were mistreated. They're going to go to their U.S. Senators, who are going to bang on a podium in Wash- ington and talk about how unfair it is. Nothing is going to change. What we have fundamentally done is added a couple of football games. "That's been a very profitable thing for college football and college athlet- ics. Those three football games that we're now playing, as opposed to the old No. 1 versus No. 2, will yield lots of money, that will be spread across conferences and schools. "But it's not without an investment. We're now asking these young people to play a 14th game, and sometimes a 15th game, to win the national cham- pionship. I understand the fans love that, because they love these great games and these wonderful match- ups, but for an 18-, 19-, 20-year-old kid on a program with limited schol- arships, already playing a long season and attending school, 15 games is a lot to ask. "That committee is going to get in a room, and what are they going to focus on? There is all kinds of specula- tion about how their criteria is going to work. I hope strength of schedule is going to become a real important part of it. I hope … but we'll see. "I hope nobody brings bias to the table, in terms of conferences or insti- tutions. I hope they do a good job of knowing enough about all the teams and all the different conferences, and looking at the competitive matchups and scheduling issues that can come up with a clear rationale for why they chose those four teams, as opposed to somebody else, and I wish them luck [laughs]."