Watching these conference championship games, outside of ours I see a bunch of undefeated or one-loss teams playing 3-4 loss teams. Looking at the top 6 entering today, we had:
1) Alabama
2) Clemson
3) Notre Dame
4) Georgia
5) Oklahoma
6) Ohio State
Oklahoma played a rematch with Texas. Clemson is playing a weak team they are crushing. Ohio State has been fighting with Northwestern. Alabama played Georgia today, beats them.
But many think Georgia should still get the #4 playoff spot. So Bama gets nothing out of playing them. The same would be true if Georgia had won.
Say they do keep the #4 ranking, the top 4 is then....Bama, Clemson, ND, Georgia. What did we play the game for then?
It seems to me that the playoff has created an environment where, while it purports to value conference championships, it completely devalues them. Alabama has a lock into the CFP today before the game. All they can get out of it is injuries and a loss that upsets seeding at the least. Georgia cold only lose a playoff spot today. With no CCG, Alabama wins the conference anyways with the best conference record. Same goes for Oklahoma, Ohio State, and Clemson.
What value, then, do CCGs bring if the loser still gets to advance to the playoff? Teams are just playing what the committee considers a 13th regular season game for the heck of it. Maybe conferences should move away from CCGs if the outcomes are meaningless for the post season? Like I said, just something I was thinking about watching the games. What do y’all think?
1) Alabama
2) Clemson
3) Notre Dame
4) Georgia
5) Oklahoma
6) Ohio State
Oklahoma played a rematch with Texas. Clemson is playing a weak team they are crushing. Ohio State has been fighting with Northwestern. Alabama played Georgia today, beats them.
But many think Georgia should still get the #4 playoff spot. So Bama gets nothing out of playing them. The same would be true if Georgia had won.
Say they do keep the #4 ranking, the top 4 is then....Bama, Clemson, ND, Georgia. What did we play the game for then?
It seems to me that the playoff has created an environment where, while it purports to value conference championships, it completely devalues them. Alabama has a lock into the CFP today before the game. All they can get out of it is injuries and a loss that upsets seeding at the least. Georgia cold only lose a playoff spot today. With no CCG, Alabama wins the conference anyways with the best conference record. Same goes for Oklahoma, Ohio State, and Clemson.
What value, then, do CCGs bring if the loser still gets to advance to the playoff? Teams are just playing what the committee considers a 13th regular season game for the heck of it. Maybe conferences should move away from CCGs if the outcomes are meaningless for the post season? Like I said, just something I was thinking about watching the games. What do y’all think?