CFP Rankings Week 5: The 12-Team Playoff Was A Horrible Mistake

[selmaborntidefan]

Btw - in no way should I be construed to be defending Texas.


BUT............when UCF ran the table and didn't play anyone worth a damn, we were all told "they deserve a chance." But when Sark correctly points (paraphrasing) out, "If we had played Prairie View A/M and won rather than Ohio St and lost, nobody would question it and we'd be in the playoff hunt REGARDLESS of the Florida result," they go with "but you lost to Florida!"

 

[CB4]

Meh, who knows?

I suspect he knows what happened and it's about 50-50 whether he misspoke or whether the transcriptionist got it wrong.

Do we really think they actually watch games? I don’t, at least not in total. Highlights, clips, then they use something like the BCS formula, glance at Sagarin, spend 15 minutes working on the final product and talking points, then off the hotel restaurant and bar to blowup the expense account.

 

[dtgreg]

The twelve team play-off is an attempt to reward lesser leagues/conferences/teams and keep College Football from just being a regional sport. As exciting as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville is for a year or two, eventually you get tired of seeing the same car win every race going away. Therefore, lesser cars (teams) get helped and Awesome Bill gets penalized. The playoff should also help the SEC most years since we beat up on each other and with Rev Share, we have to compete with richer schools for the first time. I mean, look at Vandy!

The Committee is engaging in Kabuki theater; no one takes them seriously, maybe not even themselves. It's all political now. Need to keep each faction and region of the country interested and invested.

Alabama and Georgia suffer but the sport as a whole is healthier, in my opinion. It's just a shame that the processes are so broken right now.

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

The SEC is 16 teams.
Split into four four-team pods.
Year one: you play the 3 in your pod, all four in another, and a "rivalry game" for an 8-team SEC
Year two: you play the same 8 teams except you switch the venue so it's home and home
Year three: you play the other two pods you haven't played.
Year four: same as year three with the venue change.
The pods can be geographic to save money.

That way NOBODY CAN COMPLAIN.
You protect rivalry games but you only have them twice and then a two-year break.
But you're as likely to get a power as not with the pod idea.

You now have four pod winners.
Play a semi-final round with seeding.
Play the SEC championship game.

The SEC champion has now played ten conference games and you can schedule two more for 12.

Interesting!

The teams that play in the SECCG will have played ten games, true.

But two others will have played 9 and the rest of the league will have played in 8. How do you schedule the other games to give everyone a 12 game schedule?

Perhaps play ALL of the SEC schedule could be played first and then have a flex schedule to fill out the rest of the season? (There is already a bit of flexibility in how bowl games are handled.)

Let's face it, the OOC schedule is going to be pathetic from here on out anyways so...

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

Do we really think they actually watch games? I don’t, at least not in total. Highlights, clips, then they use something like the BCS formula, glance at Sagarin, spend 15 minutes working on the final product and talking points, then off the hotel restaurant and bar to blowup the expense account.

If I were on the committee, that's how I would do it...

 

[jashleyren2]

This bitterness toward ND has been in place for a very long time. No irony is lost on me that ND was for the longest time, the only competitive program anywhere near where the NCAA itself is headquartered, in the great state of Indiana. They aren't the only game in town, but no one told the old hats that still wear the green and gold on Saturdays.

ND needs to join a conference, formally. Enough of this. As long as they are allowed to straddle the line, play a handful of chumps out of the ACC, keep their non-conference schedule just as it was 50 years ago, we won't ever settle this.

Last thing: the attempt is being made to slide Texas into the CFP. Folks, a lot of money has been spent in the offseason to garner the interest of the fans of the Horns. And those commercials pay a lot of bills to Disney/ABC/ESPN/The Mouse. The SEC has even gone out of their way to feature Texas as much as possible, catering to those big cities in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, even Austin itself. Pay no mind to the program that BUILT the conference, located in Tuscaloosa, AL, winners of 6 national titles in the last 16 years, though none since 2020 (but 2 SEC titles goes a long way).

 

[selmaborntidefan]

No irony is lost on me that ND was for the longest time, the only competitive program anywhere near where the NCAA itself is headquartered, in the great state of Indiana.

The NCAA was headquartered in Kansas City until 1997.

Notre Dame ceased being decent around 1993.

In fact, the original HQ was in Chicago basically with the Big Ten offices, which is exactly why they moved out. Walter Byers didn't want anyone thinking he was playing favorites with the conferences even when he did.

 

[Nothingfaced]

For me, the most interesting development will be what the CFP does with an 8-5 ACC Champion Duke.

 

[The Ols]

For me, the most interesting development will be what the CFP does with an 8-5 ACC Champion Duke.

Nothing…denied.
Faced, you might say…

 

[GrayTide]

To me the simplest fix (read it ain't going to happen) would be to do away with all conference championship games, and doing away with all conference rivalry games, or limit it to one rivalry game. The conference champion would simply be the highest rated team in the conference at the end of the season. The conference champion would be determined on the field during the regular season and not be punished by having to play an extra game. As I posted before, the CFP would include the 12 highest ranked teams at the end of the season with no inclusion for a conference champion if they finish outside the final 12 team rankings.

 

[jthomas666]

The Committee is engaging in Kabuki theater; no one takes them seriously, maybe not even themselves. It's all political now. Need to keep each faction and region of the country interested and invested.

Here's the real issue. The playoff itself...eh. But the people put on the committee completely undermine any credibility the playoff might have, as they move goalposts like they're mounted on a carousel.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Here's the real issue. The playoff itself...eh. But the people put on the committee completely undermine any credibility the playoff might have, as they move goalposts like they're mounted on a carousel.

I've said before that I'll defend the committee on ONE POINT regarding that: their "logic" is not ANY different than that used by the AP poll voters or even the UPI (later coaches) poll voters. It is often missing context or based on "last game-itis," where a team looks either super great or awfully lousy at the last viewing.

====================
1985 AP Final Poll
4) Tennessee 9-1-2
5) Florida 9-1-1

Florida 17 Tennessee 10

Of course, the Vols played an extra game and blew out Miami in the Sugar Bowl, 35-7.
But...Florida was also the only other team to beat Miami and did it on the road, 35-23.

6) Texas A/M (10-2)
13) Alabama (9-2-1)

Alabama 23 Texas A/M 10
Alabama's two losses were to teams ranked in the final Top Four, Penn State (by 2) and Tennessee (by 2) plus a tie with 9-2-1 LSU ON THE ROAD.

11) Nebraska (9-3)
15) Florida St (9-3)

Florida State 17 Nebraska 13 IN LINCOLN
============================

1990 AP FINAL POLL
3) Miami 10-2
6) Notre Dame 9-3
10 Houston 10-1
11) Penn St 9-3
12) Texas 10-2

Notre Dame 29 Miami 20
Penn St 24 Notre Dame 21 (November in South Bend)

Texas 45 Houston 24
Texas 17 Penn St 13


==========================
1994 AP FINAL POLL
4) Florida St 10-1-1
6) Miami 10-2

Miami 34 Florida State 20 (and Miami's second loss was to the national champions by 7)

12) Michigan 8-4
14) Ohio State 9-4

Ohio State 22 Michigan 6

===========================
2001 AP FINAL POLL
3) Florida 10-2
4) Tennessee 11-2

Tennessee 34 Florida 32 (in Gainesville)

 

[BamaFanatJSU]

For me, the most interesting development will be what the CFP does with an 8-5 ACC Champion Duke.

The committee has never included a 3-loss team in the CFP field (though we could break that trend with a close loss in the SECCG and the #10 seed), so I don't see a universe in which they find a way to slide a 5-loss conference champion - who only got into the game because of tie-breakers that pretty much required a slide rule to figure out - into the Top 25 and past a team like 12-1 James Madison after they win the Fun Belt championship game.

That said, even if they do that and justify it with some Jedi mind voodoo, Duke would get the #12 seed and JMU would get hosed, which wouldn't really affect us getting an at-large bid.

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

For me, the most interesting development will be what the CFP does with an 8-5 ACC Champion Duke.

If we lose and BYU and Duke both win...I think we will get bumped!

 

[CrimsonTheory]

I've always believed that as long as ND stays committed to remaining Independent, then they should have no shot at the playoffs.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

I've always believed that as long as ND stays committed to remaining Independent, then they should have no shot at the playoffs.

Basketball requires a conference. It is a rule and has been for a while. For some reason, football gets a pass. They even have specific exceptions for notre dame in football. I guess because notre dame has never really been relevant in basketball, they don't get their special perks.

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

Basketball requires a conference. It is a rule and has been for a while. For some reason, football gets a pass. They even have specific exceptions for notre dame in football. I guess because notre dame has never really been relevant in basketball, they don't get their special perks.

I thought ND Basketball was in the ACC?

 

[DzynKingRTR]

I thought ND Basketball was in the ACC?

They are. That is my point. They were forced to join a conference for every sport but football. Why do they get an exception for one sport?

 

[CrimsonTheory]

Basketball requires a conference. It is a rule and has been for a while. For some reason, football gets a pass. They even have specific exceptions for notre dame in football. I guess because notre dame has never really been relevant in basketball, they don't get their special perks.

I don't get it either. I think the CFP Playoff Committee should send ND message and leave the Irish out of the playoffs. Then in the off-season. NCAA should tell ND, that's how it's going to be (no playoffs considersation) until you join the ACC.

 

[bamajas]

For me, the most interesting development will be what the CFP does with an 8-5 ACC Champion Duke.

They won't do anything with them. They're nowhere close to the top 25, much less 12. It would open up a spot for another G5 team, because there are two champs ranked above Duke. Miami would be the ACC's only hope, but they're in that conundrum with ND, and if BYU wins, there's no room either way