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WSU AD Pat Chun named to college football playoff selection committee, giving Cougars two seats at table

Washington State Athletic Director Pat Chun, center, jokes with Oregon State head football coach Johnathan Smith before a Pac-12 Conference game on Sept. 23 at Gesa Field in Pullman. (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)
By Greg Woods gregw@spokesman.com(509) 459-5587

PULLMAN – Washington State just gained another seat at the table.

WSU Athletic Director Pat Chun has been named to the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, the organization announced Thursday, giving the Cougars two positions on the committee.

That’s in addition to university president Kirk Schulz, the Pac-12’s representative on the CFP’s management committee, who is currently holding up the vote on a potential change to the playoff format.

At a meeting ahead of last month’s national championship game in Houston, CFP’s Board of Managers (which includes a university president from each of the 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame) was ready to move to the 12-team model from a 6+6 format to 5+7, accounting for the Pac-12’s restructuring by replacing one automatic qualifier with an at-large spot.

Schulz, though, isn’t voting in favor of that. For the format change to take place under the current contract – which runs through 2025 – the vote must be unanimous, so Schulz’s holdout is delaying any possible change to the playoff format, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger.

Schulz is trying to keep the 6+6 format (six highest-ranked conference champions and the next six highest-ranked teams) because it guarantees a spot in the playoff for the champion of the Pac-12, which Washington State and Oregon State are trying to rebuild. In the interim, they’re partnering with the Mountain West Conference for a two-year scheduling agreement to provide both schools with games.

The revenue sharing aspect is no doubt important to Schulz, whose school (as a power-conference entity) is expected to receive around $25 million per year as part of the 12-team playoff.

“I think (Schulz) just sitting on his vote trying, at the end of the day, to get a little more money from the CFP,” wrote CBS Sports reporter Dennis Dodd. “He’s not a fire-thrower guy. He’s made it clear that he thinks that he and Oregon State need a little something special.”