Before the College Football Playoff selection committee takes their seats around the table to discuss the college football postseason matchups, 16 college students have taken the committee members’ respective places for a mock selection. 

Christina Kowalski, RMU sport communication major and sport management minor, was selected from thousands of students across the country to deliberate in the mock selection. On Sept. 26-27 Kowalski sat alongside students from universities such as Florida, Northwestern, Texas, Arkansas, and Penn State.

Each students took the place of one of the members of the actual committee, and Kowalski was happy to find out she’d be acting as someone she knew.

“I got to sit in RMU president Dr. Chris Howard’s seat and pretended to be him during the selection,” says Kowalski. “It’s was a really great experience and I’m very grateful that I got the opportunity.”

The mock committee examined the rankings and data from the 2014 season. They looked at all the outcomes from that season and began to narrow down their choices. 

“It’s difficult because you’re making decisions that affect a lot of people, so you put a lot of emphasis on the first four teams, because they’re making it to the semifinals,” says Kowalski.

Despite some the feedback that the CFP has gotten about committee members favoring certain teams, Kowalski says that the members pride themselves in being totally unbiased. 

“There’s actually a hat rack where all the members symbolically put their hats before they come in, to signify them leaving their home team out of the discussion,” she says. “You even have to recuse yourself from any conversations about a team that you have any affiliation with.”

Thankfully for Kowalski, Howard did not have a connection with any of the teams in the 2014 season, so she did not miss out on any deliberation.

Kowalski was encouraged to apply for the mock selection from one of her professors and is happy she chose to go through with it. 

“If I hadn’t gone on this experience I’d be kicking myself. I made so many connections and friends with talented students from all across the country,” she says. “I can see that the future is bright for young sports journalists.”