ESPN's Chris Mortensen is reporting this morning that legendary Ole Miss Quarterback Archie Manning is stepping down from the College Football Playoff Committee due to "health reasons." Recovery from a recent knee surgery and lingering issues from a previous back surgery were named as the culprits in Manning's decision.

I have no reason to doubt Manning's reasons - recovering from two surgeries at age 65 probably isn't the easiest thing in the world - but it's hard not to think that stepping down spares the Manning family being involved in any controversy over the potential selection of one or more Mississippi teams in the inaugural four-team playoff.