"Will Wisconsin move to 13-0 with a win over Ohio State?"
That would be AWESOME to see in my lifetime! After the Wisconsin trouncing of the Gophers yesterday, which was easily predicted, Ohio IS going to be THE GAME for us this season.
Posted on 11/26/2017 5:17:52 AM PST by C19fan
Did you really think figuring out the 2017 College Football Playoff field was going to be straightforward? Thanks to No. 1 Alabama losing to No. 6 Auburn on Saturday and No. 2 Miami’s upset loss at Pitt on Friday, there’s still a lot to play for during championship week. Will the Crimson Tide make it in to the playoff despite not winning its own division in the SEC? Will Wisconsin move to 13-0 with a win over Ohio State? Will the Big 12 have a team make the playoff for the second time in four years?
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An eight team playoff with no second place teams would solve this problem. Win your league or stay home. The power five conferences should get an automatic bid, leaving three spots for the best of the rest — but again, no conference runners-up. The conferences that have grown too big to play a round robin and choose a legitimate champion will have to downsize, as they should anyhow. They’re nothing but tv marketing gimmicks now.
I recently saw an article that detailed exactly how the Cleveland Browns could still make the NFL playoffs.
Arkansas and Nebraska are in the hunt for a new football coach.
A lot of dust left to settle...
It seems that an eight-team playoff would require that more bowl games be turned into playoffs or that the season be extended well into January. Neither of these is a pleasant thought.
>They’re nothing but tv marketing gimmicks now.<
I would’ve added a modifier but otherwise agree with you completely.
That is nonsense. Some leagues are weak and don’t deserve to send a team.
The entire arrangement makes no sense and is destined to fail year after year after year.
I am a Big 10 fan and this is my simple take: Perennially, Alabama is the best CF program in the country and this year is no exception. They must be included this year. Anything else is a travesty. If they win out, Clemson, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin must be included. The winner of the SEC championship game must also be included. Oh wait! That’s FIVE.
If Wisconsin loses to OSU, as I expect, the Big 10 will be shut out of the CFP with three teams among Sagarin’s top six (WI, OSU, and PSU), two other top 20 teams (MSU, Northwestern) and at least one other very good football program (Mich). I’m fine with that am not questioning the micro-detail of which teams should be in or just on the bubble in this particular year; but it is just a very, very bad long term model that puts two teams from one conference into the playoffs and leaves out another altogether that is as good as the Big 10.
The PAC12 does not have quite the same standing as the Big10, but they are also being shut out to make room for two SEC teams, and we will never know whether USC in particular might have had some success in the championship game.
Really, how do we know here in early December how good one power conference is vis-a-vis another when only conference play prevails from late September onward? When one looks at the CFP, it is as if the PAC12 and Big10 do not even exist.
The simple fact is that in any given year going forward not much will separate the third best team from the eighth best team; and even the top two teams may not lie much above the pack (especially with Saban’s retirement looming). The simple fact is also that the number of programs entering each season with a reasonable prospect of being among those eight is also growing, for example, as Penn State ascends and the University of Michigan, UCLA, Notre Dame and other programs become relevant again.
At the end of each regular season, the simple fact going forward is that one or two teams MAY stand out and the selection committee will be splitting hairs on three through eight. This will be especially true once Saban retires.
Even the worst Power5 programs are becoming significantly better along every relevant dimension: $, coaching, recruiting, player development, ...
The short story is that this year we are blessed in college football with more than the usual number of very good teams; but this is a harbinger of what is to come.
The four team format does not work in the college football world to come.
I am happy for the teams that make the playoff. My favorite teams will not be among them; nor will they have even played any of those four teams; nor played any team that played one of those top teams since early September. The four teams that end up in the CFP will all seem to be playing in an entirely different college football world than my Big 10.
I will take joy in the other bowl games and not put any emotional stake in the CFP except perhaps to wish Alabama well as the best program in the country and most deserving.
"Will Wisconsin move to 13-0 with a win over Ohio State?"
That would be AWESOME to see in my lifetime! After the Wisconsin trouncing of the Gophers yesterday, which was easily predicted, Ohio IS going to be THE GAME for us this season.
There were a lot of rivalry games yesterday.
You forget the Showbiz factor.
If the college fans would just argue their team into #1, then the colleges could continue to pretend that their product is actually amateur and not minor-league development programs for the pros.
And along with being conference or league champions on the field, the only colleges allowed into the college playoffs should have a 75% or better graduation rate among their revenue sport scholarships.
Alabama has the 65th best strength of schedule this year. Their best win was over LSU. Lots of hype kept them at 1 or 2 all season. Auburn denuded them yesterday. The honestly deserve to take a notable tumble in the rankings.
Duh U was also way overrated. They barely beat some bad teams (UNC, etc.). They too were exposed and deserve to take quite a tumble in the rankings.
My guess is that Duh U falls much further than Bama. In fact, I bet Bama is 5 or 6 - that way, they are guaranteed to make the playoffs after the SEC title game eliminates one of the top 4. That would suck because Bama does not deserve that high of a ranking.
Your eight-team playoff scenario would virtually guarantee that you'd have multiple teams out of the playoffs that are better than teams in the playoffs. The SEC this year is a good case in point, where that one conference likely has three of the top eight teams in the country.
Who cares?
Hail to Pitt!
If Auburn wins the SEC title game then you’ll see a credible contender for the national championship going into the playoffs with two losses. Yeah, this playoff system sure made NCAA football so much better. LOL.
The 4: Wisconsin if it is undefeated. Auburn if it defeats UGA again. And who cares about the rest. OK put one loss Oklahoma in. And add Clemson. Done.
And as an Alabama fan, our team doesn’t deserve to go. You lose late like this, and you deserve to stay home.
sphinx wrote: “An eight team playoff with no second place teams would solve this problem. Win your league or stay home. The power five conferences should get an automatic bid, leaving three spots for the best of the rest — but again, no conference runners-up.”
Better yet, merge the power five into a power four each with two divisions. Each division champion plays for the conference championship. The four conference champions play for the championship. No need for committees. No runner-ups. Win to advance. (It’s also an eight team playoff.)
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