Ohio State AD Gene Smith To Replace Barry Alvarez On CFP Committee
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith will replace Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez as the Big Ten representative on the College Football Playoff committee.
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith will replace Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez as the Big Ten representative on the College Football Playoff committee.
Ohio State has made the College Football Playoff in two of the first three years of its existence, including winning the inaugural one in 2014. Now, the Buckeyes will have a voice in the boardroom as the committee makes its final decision on what four teams will be playing for the national title.
Gene Smith, the athletic director at Ohio State, will replace Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez as the Big Ten representative on the College Football Playoff committee starting next season.
Smith has served as the Buckeyes’ athletic director since 2005, and since 2014 has been the Vice President of Ohio State University. Prior to him being in Columbus, he was the director of athletics at Arizona State, Iowa State, and Eastern Michigan.
The Buckeyes have won seven national championships in various sports since Smith took the helm, including the 2014 title in football.
Smith joins other athletic directors such as Arkansas’ Jeff Long, Oregon’s Rob Mullens, Clemson’s Dan Radakovich, and Texas Tech’s Kirby Hocutt, also the chairman, as members of the current playoff committee.
Alvarez, who has been the athletic director at Wisconsin since 2004, was one of the 13 original members of the committee that was formed in 2014.
