Liberty Director of Athletics Jeff Barber was recently named to the NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee and Football Issues Committee. His four-year term will begin on Sept, 1, 2010 and continue through Sept. 1, 2014.

Barber is one of three newcomers to the eight-member committee, which is charged with filling out the annual NCAA FCS Playoff field.

The NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee and Football Issues Committee will have four additional slots to fill in this year's NCAA FCS Playoffs, as the field is slated to expand from 16 teams to 20. This will mark the championship's first expansion since 1986, when the NCAA FCS Playoffs (then known as the NCAA I-AA Playoffs) moved from 12 to 16 teams.

The Big South Conference, along with the Northeast Conference, will be the beneficiaries of the expansion, as both league champions will receive automatic bids to the NCAA FCS Playoff field in 2010. The additional two playoff slots will be given to at-large programs, giving the field 10 automatic qualifiers and 10 at-large teams.

During the NCAA FCS season, the NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee and Football Issues Committee will be charged with evaluating programs, participating in numerous regional and national conference calls, assisting other committee members with the selection of teams to the playoffs and the creation of the annual NCAA FCS Playoff bracket.

Joining Barber as newcomers to the eight-person committee will be Jeffrey Bourne, Director of Athletics at James Madison, and Wheeler Brown, Director of Athletics at North Carolina A&T. Charles Cobb, the Director of Athletics at Appalachian State, has also been reappointed to the group for an additional four-year term.

Barber is no stranger to NCAA committees, as the 10th Director of Athletics in Liberty's history is currently in his second year as a member of the NCAA's Division I Recruiting Cabinet.

Barber is taking over the committee spot vacated by former Coastal Carolina Director of Athletics Warren "Moose" Koegel, who recently retired from his role at Coastal Carolina and had served on the NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee and Football Issues Committee for a four-year term.