Ohio native, Arkansas AD Long chosen selection committee chair

Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long has been chosen the first chairman of the College Football Selection committee.

The announcement was made Monday and the rest of the committee will be announced this week though the names of the 13-member panel already have been reported.

Long, a native of Kettering, Ohio, is one of five current athletic directors, along with West Virginia's Oliver Luck, Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez, Clemson's Dan Radakovich and Southern California's Pat Haden.

Also on the committee will be: Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; retired Lt. Gen Michael Gould; former Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese; former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne; former Notre Dame coach Tyrone Willingham; former NFL and Mississippi quarterback Archie Manning; former NCAA vice president Tom Jernstedt; and former college sports writer Steve Wieberg.

The committee will pick the four teams to play in the national semifinals. The winners will play about a week later for the national championship.

Long has led the athletic department at Arkansas since 2008 after a holding the same position at Pittsburgh. He played football and baseball at Ohio Wesleyan and worked on the football staffs at Rice, North Carolina State, Duke and Michigan.

He earned a master's degree from Miami University and worked as a RedHawks graduate assistant.