Introducing the College Football Playoff selection committee members

The College Football Playoff selection committee assembled at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine Tuesday for its first official meeting of the 2016 season.

The committee will announce its initial Week 10 poll at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN, which will broadcast weekly until the final selection show on Sunday, Dec. 4.

This panel of 12 members will decide the fate of each college football team’s national championship chances. So who are these powerful people?

ESPN‘s Heather Dinich provided background information on each committee member Tuesday leading up to its first poll. Here’s a full list of the committee members including brief captions on their outlooks on the selection process either from themselves or close affiliations.

KIRBY HOCUTT 
Title: Texas Tech AD and new selection committee chair
Alma mater: Kansas State; Oklahoma
Age: 44
Conference connections: Big 12, ACC, MAC

“I like that he’s very educated in it and it’s made him have a great understanding of what we’re dealing with.” — Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury

BARRY ALVAREZ 
Title: Wisconsin athletic director
Alma mater: Nebraska
Age: 69
Conference connection: Big Ten

“I’ve got one of our statisticians to help me. He works in our sports information office and he’s a stat nut.” — Alvarez

JEFF BOWER 
Title: Retired; former head coach, Southern Miss.
Alma mater: Southern Miss
Age: 63
Conference affiliations: C-USA

“He is a coach that is the most organized coach and structured coach I’ve ever been around.” — Southern Miss coach Jay Hopson

HERB DEROMEDI
Title: Retired; former head coach Central Michigan
Alma mater: Michigan
Age: 77
Conference connections: Big Ten, MAC

“This gives me an opportunity in some small way to be able to give back, to express my appreciation to those who have confidence in me being a part of the selection committee.” — Deromedi

TOM JERNSTEDT 
Title: Senior counselor, The Jernstedt Company
Alma mater: Oregon (1967, 1973)
Age: 71
Conference connections: Mountain West, Big 12, Pac-12

“I don’t think there’s any need to make a judgment as to this conference is better than that conference.” — Jernstedt

BOBBY JOHNSON
Title: Retired; former head coach at Vanderbilt
Alma mater: Clemson (1973); Furman (1979).
Age: 65
Conference connections: ACC, SEC

“It always gets down to who can execute and who can get the job done when the pressure’s on.” — Johnson

JEFF LONG 
Title: Arkansas athletic director and vice chancellor
Alma mater: Ohio Wesleyan, Miami (Ohio)
Age: 57
Conference connections: ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC

“I’ve said this before, but there’s no question that in the end, that more football will have been watched by this committee in evaluating teams than any ranking in the history of college football.” — Long

ROB MULLENS
Title: Oregon AD
Alma mater: West Virginia
Age: 47
Conference connections: Pac-12, SEC, ACC

“I’m going to start watching games immediately and start evaluating throughout the year to be prepared for that first meeting.” — Mullens

DAN RADAKOVICH 
Title: Clemson athletic director
Alma mater: Indiana University of Pennsylvania; Miami
Age: 58
Conference connections: ACC, SEC

“In any particular year, you have to be fortunate as your body of work is looked at.” — Radakovich

CONDOLEEZZA RICE
Title: Professor of political economy in the Graduate School of Business and professor of political science, Stanford University (2009 to present); Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution; Founding partner, RiceHadleyGates, LLC.
Alma mater: Denver; Master’s degree in political science, Notre Dame; Doctorate in international studies, Denver
Age: 61
Conference affiliation: Pac-12, Notre Dame

“She has a very unique combination of someone with a lot of knowledge and expertise when it comes to football, but has obviously been through some very significant processes and under a lot of pressure and scrutiny that would make college football pale in comparison.” — Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott

STEVE WIEBERG 
Title: Writer/editor in the public affairs department of the Kansas City (Mo.) Public Library
Alma mater: Missouri
Age: 61
Conference connection: SEC

“I still take a lot of satisfaction in how we met the challenge of a difficult call at the end of the 2014 season — with essentially six teams to consider for the four playoff spots.” — Wieberg

TYRONE WILLINGHAM 
Title: Retired; former head coach at Stanford, Notre Dame and Washington
Alma mater: Michigan State
Age: 62
Conference connections: Pac-12, Notre Dame, Big Ten

“Well, in my world, the best team is usually the most deserving. And the most deserving has usually been the best team.” — Willingham

You can read the committee’s full bios on ESPN here.

Jason Hall

Jason covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.