The College Football Playoff selection committee did a little bit of reshuffling on Wednesday and added a name that Penn State fans are very familiar with.
Former Penn State offensive lineman and multiple-masters degree recipient John Urschel joins the committee in addition to Wyoming Athletic Director Tom Burman and Colorado Athletic Director Rick George.
Iowa AD Gary Barta is the new chairman of the committee.
Urschel came to Penn State as an unheralded recruit in 2010 and turned himself into a two-time All-Big Ten selection at guard. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens and played for three seasons before retiring to pursue other interests.
Perhaps most notable, however, is Urschel’s off-field accomplishments. He earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from Penn State and was named the William V. Campbell trophy recipient as a senior, the nation’s equivalent of the “academic Heisman.”
He’s currently pursuing a Ph.D in mathetmatics from MIT and is an advanced stats columnist for The Players’ Tribune.