The pride, passion, and pageantry of college football lives here.

This is the Paul Pinebaum Show, our team podcast.

This might be college football, have you?

We're back.

What's happening from now until tomorrow night when the first college football playoff rankings

is revealed, Heather Dinnich joining us a lot of important questions, maybe the most unusual we've had in the long time.

Heather, thanks for the time.

Let's start with the Michigan conundrum.

We know Michigan can't talk about it, but the committee can.

They can talk about it, even though I think the AD is part of this committee.

Tell us what you think the conversations are going to be like in what are the ramifications of this scandal that is brewing about Michigan?

Well, you're right, Paul.

Michigan Athletic Director Ward Manual is on the selection committee.

I've confirmed that he is here.

He does have to recuse himself during the discussions about where to place Michigan, but the college football playoff has not given any particular statement as to how they will direct the committee if they will to handle this.

The only official statement that CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock has issued on this is that if a team is eligible to participate in a bowl game, it is eligible to be ranked by the committee.

So I reached out to former selection committee members and asked them about how they thought this group might handle this situation.

Most of them that I talked to said if they follow their protocol, which NC State Athletic Director Boo Corrigan will remind them of at the start of the meeting as their committee chair, this likely will not impact Michigan right now because as one former committee member told me if they try to be the police in this situation or let any of their personal feelings into this, it could adversely impact the rest of the rankings.

I'm intentionally reward a team that might not deserve to be ranked higher and that spot.

Now another former committee member said these are human beings who also know exactly what's going on and there will be conversations in the hallway, maybe as they're eating their meals together and some disgust about what has happened, but when they get back into that room, there is a very standard protocol that they will be reminded to follow.

And it's quite possible that the bigger issue for Michigan is going to be their strength of schedule.

Well, and let's get to what else is going to be discussed and I've never heard a first Tuesday night conversation with so much mystery.

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