Nebraska AD joins College Football Playoff selection committee

The College Football Playoff selection committee will have some new members next season, and Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen is one of them. The CFP announced on Monday that Dannen and former Kansas athletic director Jeff Long are joining the 2025 selection committee. The CFP has been around since 2014, and the Nebraska football team has never made it. The 2025 season will be the second year that the playoff features 12 teams, and the Cornhuskers are hoping to be one of them.

“The College Football Playoff (CFP) Management Committee has appointed Troy Dannen, athletics director at the University of Nebraska, and Jeff Long, long-time college administrator and former athletics director at the University of Kansas, University of Arkansas and the University of Pittsburgh, to the CFP Selection Committee,” the College Football Playoff said in a statement on Monday.

Troy Dannen has been the Nebraska athletic director for over a year now, and Jeff Long has worked in the college sports industry for 40 years as a coach and administrator. He was also the initial chairman of the CFP selection committee during the 2014-15 seasons.

“We are pleased to have Troy and Jeff join the committee,” CFP executive director Rich Clark said. “Troy brings a long commitment to college athletics to our group and previous experience as a member of the FCS Selection Committee, while Jeff, as the first chairman of the CFP selection committee (2014-15) will step in immediately and provide an experienced voice in the room.”

Multiple Nebraska athletics programs experienced a lot of success during Troy Dannen’s first year in Lincoln, but the football team wasn’t one of them. The Cornhuskers did take a step in the right direction by making a bowl game for the first time since the 2016 season, but it has still been a long time since this team met expectations.

The 2025 season will be year three for Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule, and it’s an important one. The Cornhuskers need to show that they can compete for championships and playoff spots, or the fan base will not be happy.