College Football Playoff answers questions in Q&A release

Tasked with the playoff's day-to-day business, Bill Hancock won't have a vote in the committee. (Tony Gutierrez/AP) The College Football Playoff released a

Tasked with the playoff's day-to-day business, Bill Hancock won't have a vote in the committee. (Tony Gutierrez/AP)

The College Football Playoff released a Q&A on Tuesday in an attempt to clarify the process that will be used by the its selection committee. The release offered a handful of details about how the four teams that will participate in next season's first College Football Playoff will be selected.

The Q&A contained a lot of information, though, so we've broken down a few of the important tidbits from the playoff's release:

• Selection committee members are free to use whatever data they choose in selecting the playoff participants. "Among the many factors the committee will consider are win-loss record, strength of schedule, head-to-head results, comparison of results against common opponents and conference championships," the release states.

• The committee will strive for "maximum disclosure" in its deliberations, though it has yet to decide the manner in which it will do so. The committee plans to release a "defined set of procedures" to the public on another date.

• Committee members will be asked to compile a pool of teams and rank them on individual ballots, which will then be combined into a composite ranking.

• A committee member can be removed by CFP management "in the unlikely scenario where a committee member is unable to meet the obligations that come with serving on the committee."

• The committee has tentatively planned to release four sets of "interim" rankings throughout the season leading up to the first selection weekend, Dec. 6-7, 2014. The first set of rankings will be released sometime midseason.

• Committee members will primarily watch games on film and will not be expected to attend games in person.

• College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock will not have a vote on the selection committee.

• All committee members will be expected to focus on all college teams, but members will also be assigned specific conferences and will report on those conferences to the committee.

The CFP offered insight on some important issues in the Q&A on Tuesday, but more than a few questions remain. After all, details are important in the upcoming process, which will replace the much-maligned BCS. Next time, the CFP should tackle a few more equally important questions. Here are a few suggestions -- some serious, some ... not so much:

• What methods of transparency will the committee use? A lack of transparency within the BCS system helped cultivate the movement that eventually created the College Football Playoff. How will this system be more transparent?

• On exactly how many occasions will the committee meet, and when? This is another step towards full disclosure of the process.

• On what date will the committee release its first set of rankings?

• How will CFP management select future chairs for the selection committee?

• Will committee members dish about the latest gossip on the committee, perhaps in a Bravo-style Watch What Happens Live episode?

• What kind of food will be served at the meetings, and will that food favor any particular committee member? Wisconsin cheese would seemingly give Barry Alvarez an unfair advantage during the process.

• Will the committee members' chairs offer adequate lumbar support during decision-making?

• How might a committee member determine a tie between two teams on his or her list? Mascots? Crowd noise? Availability of wi-fi in that particular town?