Iowa AD Gary Barta replacing Oregon AD Rob Mullens as College Football Playoff committee chair
Iowa’s Gary Barta now has the responsibility of explaining the College Football Playoff selection committee’s reasoning after the rankings are revealed in 2020.
The playoff announced Wednesday that the Hawkeyes athletic director would take over as the committee’s chair from Oregon AD Rob Mullens, the man who has been the face of the committee for the past two seasons on ESPN’s weekly rankings reveal shows. Mullens’ three-year term on the committee expired after the 2019 season.
Barta joined the committee in 2019.
In addition to Mullens, former Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer and Robert Morris University president Chris Howard’s terms are up. The three will be replaced by Colorado AD Rick George, former Penn State offensive lineman John Urschel and Wyoming AD Tom Burman. Members of the committee must recuse themselves from discussions involving their own schools.
“Tom, Rick and John each bring an exciting breadth of experiences and expertise to the committee,” CFP spokesperson Bill Hancock said in a statement. “All three will continue the CFP tradition of committee members with high integrity and passion for the sport of college football.
“We are delighted that Gary will serve as chair,” Hancock added. “He was a valuable member of the committee last year and he will be a good leader inside the room and a good spokesperson to let folks know what the committee did and why.”
Urschel played at Penn State from 2010-13. He was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and was also a two-time Academic All-American.
George has been the AD at Colorado for the past seven football seasons while Burman has been Wyoming’s AD since 2006. The 12-person CFP committee meets in Dallas on game weekends in November and December to hash out a weekly top 25 that determines the four-team playoff at the end of the season.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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