CFP won’t revisit Michigan’s disputed win over Western Michigan, leaving the question to its selection committee

The College Football Playoff has closed the door on overturning Michigan’s 13-12 Week 1 victory over Western Michigan, telling the Mid-American Conference in a Thursday statement that it lacks the power to change regular-season results. But the response left a notable opening: the CFP’s selection committee will weigh how both teams performed in the Sept. 5 game when it builds its playoff rankings.

The MAC had asked the playoff operator to recognize Western Michigan as the rightful winner after revelations that Big Ten replay officials improperly restored one second to the game clock following an apparent expiration during a Michigan Hail Mary. Like the NCAA before it, the CFP declined, saying in its statement that it cannot “change or otherwise alter the outcome of games played during the regular season.”

Still, the statement emphasized that the selection committee evaluates teams on a “comprehensive body of work” informed by a broad set of measures beyond wins and losses, including opponent strength, schedule strength and record strength. The performance of both teams in the Michigan-Western Michigan contest, the CFP said, will be evaluated “as played, alongside every other game on both teams’ schedules.”

What actually happened

The game should have ended one play earlier. Western Michigan led by two when Michigan’s Hail Mary fell incomplete in the end zone, and footage from the NBC broadcast appeared to show the clock hitting zero while the ball was still airborne. The Big Ten replay center, however, added a second back to the clock — later traced to a camera pointed at a stadium game clock that showed time remaining when an out-of-bounds Western Michigan player touched the ball. On the ensuing play, Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood connected with JJ Buchanan on a 47-yard touchdown to win it.

With the result locked in, the MAC’s appeal was always a longshot, particularly after the NCAA conceded only that Western Michigan would have won had replay protocols been followed.

Broader fallout

The NCAA has since moved to prevent similar confusion, announcing last week a standard timing protocol intended to ensure “consistency in the administration of all college football games.” The discrepancy stemmed from different clocks being used by the broadcast and the replay center.

The dispute unfolded against a backdrop of intense scrutiny on college football’s broadcast partners. Comcast, whose NBC division carried the game, has seen its shares slide, trading down 3.62% to $22.91 from a previous close of $23.77, with a market capitalization of roughly $92.5 billion.

It now falls to the CFP selection committee to determine how the controversial ending factors into Michigan’s playoff résumé — and Western Michigan’s.

What to watch

• Any further CFP statements clarifying how the committee weighs contested games in rankings.
• Details of the NCAA’s new standard timing protocol and its rollout ahead of upcoming seasons.
• Future CFP selection committee rankings, which will reveal how both teams’ profiles are being evaluated.

Source: original release