It was announced today that the College Football Playoff Selection Committee would be officially adding six new members ahead of the 2025 season. The rotation is standard as most committee members have three-year terms before they rotate out.
Leading the committee in 2025 will be Baylor AD Mack Rhoades, who is replacing Michigan AD Warde Manuel. Rhoades has been at Baylor since July of 2016 and came to campus after then AD Ian McCaw had resigned in the wake of the sexual assualt allegations that rocked the university.
The most notable name of the other five new members of the committee is former Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio. He led the Spartans from 2007 to 2019, won the Big Ten three times, and qualified for the playoffs in the 2015 season.
Two other ADs are also being added to the committee. Maryland AD Damon Evans and Middle Tennessee State AD Chris Massaro are being rotated in.
The other name most recognizable to fans is long time sports writer Ivan Maisel, who currently writes for On3 after previously writing for The Atlanta Constitution, Sports Illustrated, the Dallas Morning News, Newsday, and ESPN.
Ole Miss All-American Wesley Walls is the final new member being added.
The six new memebrs will replace Chet Gladchuk, Jim Grobe, Manuel, Will Shields, Kelly Whiteside, and Gary Pinkle.
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee is ultimately responsible for ranking the top 25 teams in the country. With expanded playoffs, there was greater scrutinty in 2024 given that the committee has to award home games for the first round of the playoffs and has to seed 12 teams for postseason.