CFP Director ‘Furious’ About Leak of SMU Selection Over Alabama Before Bracket Reveal

College Football Playoff director Rich Clark isn’t happy there was a leak that spoiled the biggest surprise of this year’s 12-team field.

Moments before ESPN’s final selection show aired Sunday, Brett McMurphy of the Action Network reported SMU was awarded the final at-large bid in the CFP. That was notable because the biggest debate going into the show was whether the last spot would go to the Mustangs or Alabama.

“I was furious,” Clark said Tuesday, per Matt Hayes of USA Today. “I told all involved, you’ve betrayed the process.”

Clark said he learned of the leak when his son texted him right before the release.

“There are only a certain number of people who know,” he said. “I know one thing, it wasn’t me. There’s the selection committee, ESPN and our staff. Someone in that group (is the leak).”

While the news was spoiled before the show actually started, it didn’t quell the debate.

The biggest argument from this year’s field was whether a three-loss Alabama with a strength of schedule advantage and notable wins over Georgia and South Carolina to go with ugly losses to Oklahoma and Vanderbilt would get in over two-loss SMU.

SMU controlled its own destiny going into Saturday’s ACC Championship Game but lost in stunning fashion when Clemson kicker Nolan Hauser drilled a 56-yard field goal as time expired. It was the Mustangs’ second three-point loss of the season, which stood in stark contrast to Alabama’s 24-3 loss to 6-6 Oklahoma.

Still, SMU also couldn’t match the Crimson Tide’s victories and overall strength of schedule.

The committee ultimately gave the nod to the Mustangs, meaning they weren’t punished for playing in a conference title game when Alabama was sitting at home with its three regular-season losses.

College football fans who were paying attention to social media knew that was the direction the committee went even before ESPN’s show aired.