Hall of Fame coach Chris Ault among 3 added to CFP committee

Hall of Fame coach Chris Ault has been named to the College Football Playoff selection committee, the CFP announced on Wednesday, along with Miami (Ohio) athletic director David Sayler and Washington athletic director Jennifer Cohen, whose addition marks the first time the 13-member group will include two women.

Cohen and former national college football reporter Kelly Whiteside, who is entering her second season on the committee, are the two women included in the discussions that ultimately determine who competes for the sport's national title. The CFP selection committee has had one female on its roster every year except 2017.

«We always want to get the 13 best people, and we have that,» CFP executive director Bill Hancock told ESPN. «It just so happens two of them are women.»

The new members, who are chosen by the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, will begin three-year terms this spring and replace Wyoming athletic director Tom Burman, Colorado athletic director Rick George and former NFL and Penn State offensive lineman John Urschel, whose terms have expired.

This rookie class of committee members is joining the sport's most scrutinized group at time when the CFP is entering its final season of a four-team field before expanding to a 12-team format in 2024. Hancock said the committee's protocol for ranking the top 25 teams is not expected to change this season or in the new format.

«The committee's job won't change,» he said.

The CFP also extended the term of NC State athletic director Boo Corrigan as selection committee chair for a second season.

«It was a privilege to serve as the committee chair last year,» Corrigan said in a prepared statement. «I thoroughly enjoyed working