Former West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck, one of the 12 members of the inaugural College Football Playoff selection committee, said Thursday that he would give "an A grade" to the College Football Playoff's selection process.
"I'm sure there are some things that could be improved, as with any process," Luck said, "but overall I'd have to give an A grade to the entire process the 10 commissioners put together."
Luck spoke to reporters in an NCAA teleconference Thursday regarding his recent hire as the NCAA's executive vice president of regulatory affairs. While the bulk of questions centered on NCAA governance, it was the first time a member of the selection committee was available to the media for comment about the playoff since prior to Oct. 28, when the committee's first ranking was revealed.
"There will be plenty of review sessions with the members of the committee and I'm sure a lot of external folks to discuss what can be done," Luck said when asked about what changes might be made for next season. "I thought the 10 commissioners really put a marvelous process together.
"I thought Bill Hancock and his staff in Dallas did a great job of shepherding this first committee through the process, and I think the committee members, in terms of their intelligence and integrity and preparation and all the film that was watched and the debates we had in the conference room, were all very productive. I think the process worked very well."
Hancock, the executive director of the playoff, said the management committee would like to name a replacement for Luck by this spring. Hancock said it would likely be another sitting athletic director, but he won't know for sure until the spring. The Big 12 will nominate somebody and the playoff's management committee will make the final decision.
"It was an honor to be on the committee," Luck said. "I thoroughly enjoyed it; great group of people. I think it was a great process and there's really an unprecedented level of excitement that exists right now as people anticipate the two semifinal games and the championship game.
"It's a real tribute to the 10 commissioners and the management committee that put this system together. I was very pleased to be a part -- even if it was a small part -- of the inaugural playoff committee."
As for his new job, Luck hopes he can rebuild trust and confidence in the NCAA. He's pushing for clearer rules, a more efficient enforcement system and punishments that are easy to understand. And he wants to protect the "fundamental" right of college athletes to get paid for the use of their names, images and likenesses.
"I believe both as an individual and as an attorney in those fundamental rights that a student-athlete has, and I'm looking forward to having a longer dialogue with Mark and many others," Luck said, referring to his new boss -- NCAA President Mark Emmert. "Ultimately, I think what we want to do is to what's right for student-athletes."
Luck contends players should be compensated for those uses, which should create some interesting internal discussions with Emmert and NCAA lawyers, who have forcefully argued in court and in public that a loss in the Ed O'Bannon case over that very issue could change the foundation of college sports.
"I can tell you, just like in the Big 12 with my athletic director colleagues, all the conferences are looking very closely at (U.S. District) Judge (Claudia) Wilkens' decision, trying to figure out how to implement that," Luck said. "Some decisions by some institutions have already been made to provide the full trust fund payments for a student-athlete's names, image and likeness, and I think we'll see more and more of that."