Iinitially thought Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne ’s idea for how to tweak the College Football Playoff selection process must be self-serving. After all, most playoff ideas that originate from a university or conference administrator are rooted in self-interest.

But, the more I considered Byrne’s idea to more greatly reward non-conference strength of schedule during the at-large selection process, the more I liked it.

My lasting thought: Byrne suggested a worthwhile idea for how to improve the college football season.

This came after I asked Byrne, one of the nation’s most prominent athletic directors, last spring how he’d address the playoff. He shared a few thoughts, but he emphasized he felt most passionately about the selection process needing to place additional merit on

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