INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The weekly college football coaches’ poll will go on, though it won’t have a direct say in which teams play for the national championship anymore.
Grant Teaff, president of the American Football Coaches Association, said Monday the poll that started in 1965 will continue to be a part of college football. Sponsored for more than 20 years by USA Today, the coaches’ poll had been part of the formula used by the BCS to determine which teams play in the championship game the last 16 seasons.
The Bowl Championship Series is being replaced next season by the College Football Playoff. The four teams that will participate in the national semifinals will be picked by a selection committee.
“Our coaches believe their poll will be equally as significant in the future as it has been in the past 64 years,” Teaff said. “Our coaches believe that the poll will certainly be looked at by those who are selecting the top four teams for the College Football Playoff.”
Teaff also said the familiar crystal football coaches’ trophy will still be awarded to the team that finishes atop the final coaches’ poll. The College Football Playoff will give a new trophy to the national championship after the title game.
Teaff said the crystal football will be awarded in a ceremony at the No. 1 team’s home stadium after the national championship game.
The AP college football poll will also continue to award a championship trophy to the team that finishes No. 1 in the Top 25 after the playoff has concluded. The AP has been naming a major college football champion since 1936. It was part of the BCS formula for the first seven seasons of the postseason system, but asked the BCS to stop using its rankings after the 2004 season because it said created a conflict of interest for the journalists who make up the voting panel.
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