SEATTLE — At 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, Warde Manuel delivered a mission statement with a debatable detail.
The first set of College Football Playoff rankings had just been revealed, as 25 teams staked spots in line outside college football’s most coveted club. This club, of course, has 13 bouncers at the door — a committee of athletic directors, coaching legends and former players tasked with filling the expanded 12-team field. “While the number of teams that will participate in the playoff has changed, the committee’s mission has not,” said Manuel, Michigan’s athletic director and CFP selection committee chair, during a media teleconference.
“Our job is to rank the best 25 teams in college football based on the protocol which was written by the commissioners who run the CFP. We began this week with a blank piece of paper, just as we do every week. What happened last year does not matter.
” If he’s including last offseason ...
It certainly matters for Washington State. The Cougs present a perplexing puzzle for the CFP selection committee. Abandoned by their former Pac-12 partners, WSU and Oregon State struck a scheduling agreement with the Mountain West Conference, grabbing a lifeline with nine guaranteed games but largely suspect competition.
The good news? Coach Jake Dickert’s team has (mostly) moonwalked through the Mountain West minefield, amassing a 7-1 record — including nonconference wins over Power Four opponents Washington (5-4) and Texas Tech (6-3). .