Of course this is purely hypothetical but its the off-season so I thought I would get others opinion on the top Power 5 teams.
Lets say each of the Power 5 ended the regular season and their championships with an undefeated Champion. Alabama, Clemson, USC, OSU and Oklahoma. Thanks UAFan. Was not really looking at a specific year but we mind as well pick this year. We would also have to assume each team had similar quality out of conference wins.
Who is the most likely team to get left out of the playoff?
Would you say it depends on the OTC games, or do you think one team is obviously left out because of recent history or overall prestige?
I would put my money Oklahoma getting left out. Only because of their weaker conference. Talk about a media circus if this ever happened. Someone would be ticked.
Ok, without reading the whole thread - a couple thoughts here:
FIRST, as Selma correctly notes, this is (virtually) a practical impossibility - but I realize this is mostly a "fun" hypothetical.
SECOND, lets not forget that the P_ayoff scheme is NOT just the P-5 conferences!!! We often forget that there are
SIX "chairs at the Table" - not just 5. Notre Dame, all by it's lonesome, is an EQUAL PARTNER in the scheme with every bit as much "say" in the process as the SEC or the B1G -
So just for "Fun" - lets ALSO assume that ND is undefeated. So, using your picks, the Top-
6 teams, ALL Undefeated, would be Alabama, Clemson, USC, O$U, OU
And Notre Damned.
How would it shake out?
Well, we know the "Double Secret Committee" would (as always) meet in closed sessions, behind closed doors, with no record of interim votes, or how any individual member voted, or of their deliberations,
AND Absolutely
NO SET CRITERIA that MUST be considered. And (as always) the committee would be "Assisted" in these "Serious" deliberations by their "Media Partner" ESPiN. The Committee would give Very Careful consideration to multiple factors, including "Strength of Schedule", OOC Opponents, Power ratings, Conference rankings, Margin of Victory, Opponent records, Statistical metrics, etc. AND they would take into account (somehow) the effect of "Key Injuries"!
At the conclusion of their careful deliberations, they would release a P_ayoff _racket that PURELY COINCIDENTALLY would match the best projected TV ratings of all the possible combinations, adjusted to compensate (to the extent practical) for members who have not been well represented in past _rackets. IMO, based on that reality, the results would likely be these 4 "IN" would be (in no particular order):
Alabama (13-0), Ohio $tate (13-0), Clempson (13-0) and Notre Damned (12-0).
As between the other two, USCw would have the best chance of sneaking in, and OU would be out in almost any conceivable scenario.
Alabama, O$U and Clem each get in based purely on TV ratings. Notre Dame gets the nod based on 2 factors - TV draw is better than OU and (at worst) comparable to USCw - BUT, they get the nod over both OU and USCw based on the fact that ND is the ONLY P_ayoff partner to (so far) NEVER have gotten "IN".
Again, I am NOT questioning the validity of the secret process!!!!! I am merely noting that in all Four draws to date, no "big market" (and thus "big money") program has been snubbed for a "small market" program with the same record.
Glad I could clear that up for everyone. :biggrin2:
This x 1000
