The College Football Playoff selection committee came into its meetings armed with a dozen metrics to help it tease out the differences that will ultimately decide which teams play for a national championship.

When the first set of rankings were revealed Tuesday night, committee chairman Mack Rhoades said the members were just as apt to look at game tape alongside all the statistics.

“I think we refer to it as art and science,” said Rhoades, the athletic director at Baylor.

If you're reading between the lines, which is all you can really do when it comes to the committee, the “eye test” — that decades-old splash of subjectiveness that the 12-team playoff was built to subvert — will play a meaningful role in setting the bracket.

What's known after the first reveal: Defending champion

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