If you have a bad loss you shouldn't make the playoff
- Thread starter Yolobomb
- Start date
Too simplistic. Bad losses happen in college football nowadays. Besides, Iowa State isn’t as bad a loss as you think when you consider they beat 2 top 5 teams on the road. Clemson’s Loss to Syracuse is harder to explain, I will grant you that...
Under this premise, Neb shouldn't be allowed in the playoffs until 2028. We have a few bad losses to make up for.
Well Ohio State got boatraced twice - once by an unranked Iowa team. So other than maybe UCF, who's waiting to take those spots?
There are plenty of people who would.
Guarantee you ESPN already has hours booked in March so that they can be outraged about the 69th and 70th teams who get "snubbed" a couple months from now.
There are many reasons to go to a 8 team playoff.
Reducing controversy is not one of them.
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It's ludicrous to have a playoff that excludes the champion of what is generally regarded as the second-best conference in the country, one that won 7 of 8 bowl games and 3 of 3 New Year's Six games. One could argue that the Big Ten is actually better than the SEC, but that's for another day.
If you're going to have a true playoff, then you have to acknowledge the champions of conferences you deem to be legitimate. Despite protestations regarding the strength of the Big 12, there is general consensus that five conferences are legitimately strong: the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, SEC and Pac-12. That means there should be at least five teams in a playoff tournament. If you expand that to eight, you can still "punish" bad losses and early non-conference losses through seeding that penalizes teams that don't win their conference (Alabama) and teams that lose badly either in or out of conference (Auburn, Clemson, Oklahoma, etc.) that results in those teams possibly having to play a road game in the quarterfinals. You can also reward a team like UCF with a chance to win a national championship.
So:
QUARTERS (Dec. 15-21)
#8 UCF at #1 Clemson
#5 Ohio State at #4 Alabama
#6 Penn State at #3 Georgia
#7 USC at #2 Oklahoma
Proceed to the semis as they currently exist on or around Jan. 1.
If you're going to have a true playoff, then you have to acknowledge the champions of conferences you deem to be legitimate. Despite protestations regarding the strength of the Big 12, there is general consensus that five conferences are legitimately strong: the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, SEC and Pac-12. That means there should be at least five teams in a playoff tournament. If you expand that to eight, you can still "punish" bad losses and early non-conference losses through seeding that penalizes teams that don't win their conference (Alabama) and teams that lose badly either in or out of conference (Auburn, Clemson, Oklahoma, etc.) that results in those teams possibly having to play a road game in the quarterfinals. You can also reward a team like UCF with a chance to win a national championship.
So:
QUARTERS (Dec. 15-21)
#8 UCF at #1 Clemson
#5 Ohio State at #4 Alabama
#6 Penn State at #3 Georgia
#7 USC at #2 Oklahoma
Proceed to the semis as they currently exist on or around Jan. 1.
12 team playoff like the NFL. No conference championship games, instead every Power 5 division champ gets in plus 2 "wild cards". Top 4 division champs get a first-round bye like the NFL. That way instead of conference championship games, you can play the "wild card" round that weekend with games held at the home sites of the higher-ranked teams (#12 at #5, etc). These games would bring in even more money than conference championship games.
Then, the next weekend, you play the "Round of 8" at home sites to determine the Final 4 - and then play out the Final 4 the same way as it is now.
And yes, I know the Big 12 doesn't currently have divisions - in that case, they'd just send their Top 2 teams. The other P5 conferences could do away with divisions too if they so choose. You could still name a "conference champ" based on record & head-to-head - but the Top 2 get playoff bids. Me personally, I'd rather see playoff games at home sites than neutral-site conference championship games, which are often re-matches anyway. Playing for the playoffs and home-field advantage would still make the regular season exciting.
Then, the next weekend, you play the "Round of 8" at home sites to determine the Final 4 - and then play out the Final 4 the same way as it is now.
And yes, I know the Big 12 doesn't currently have divisions - in that case, they'd just send their Top 2 teams. The other P5 conferences could do away with divisions too if they so choose. You could still name a "conference champ" based on record & head-to-head - but the Top 2 get playoff bids. Me personally, I'd rather see playoff games at home sites than neutral-site conference championship games, which are often re-matches anyway. Playing for the playoffs and home-field advantage would still make the regular season exciting.
Lol... Good luck getting rid of the conference CG now.In all reality the CCG is a playoff game...
8 makes the most senses. That way no conference champion can't complain about not getting a shot.
Who gets to decide what a "bad loss" is?
Keep it at 4 teams..Everyone knows what they have to do to get in, it's not a secret formula.
Keep it at 4 teams..Everyone knows what they have to do to get in, it's not a secret formula.
Could not disagree with this more.
An undefeated season may or may not get you in.
Winning a power 5 conference may or may not get you in.
laying a tougher OOC schedule than another team with an identical record may or may not get you in.
Playing a better overall schedule than a team with an identical record may or may not get you in.
I bet if you asked a dozen different random coaches how to get into the playoffs, they'd all say something like "not exactly sure, all we can do is try to win every week and let the chips fall where they may"
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True but it is unfair that the SEC plays 8 conference games playing Mercer,Chattanoga,Wofford etc etc and Ohio State is playing Oklahoma or Michigan is playing Notre Dame as a example.
As the season starts to unfold, you know what you have to do.
An undefeated season may or may not get you in. If you play in a P5 conference, it will get you in, period.
Winning a power 5 conference may or may not get you in. True, if you have say, 2 losses, it might not.
Playing a tougher OOC schedule than another team with an identical record may or may not get you in. The committee has shown us they care a lot about this and it is weighed very heavily come selection time, that is simply not true.
Playing a better overall schedule than a team with an identical record may or may not get you in. Yes it will.
I bet if you asked a dozen different random coaches how to get into the playoffs, they'd all say something like "not exactly sure, all we can do is try to win every week and let the chips fall where they may. Coaches all say stupid shit all the time, Saban once said if you don't win your conference you shouldn't get in, yet he didn't turn down the invite to the playoff this year.
I agree. What I find funny are the college FB coaches who have said this very thing (regarding Nebraska getting in in 2001) only to flip-flop on it when they were the team looking to get in but didn't win their conference. (Examples: Bob Stoops @ OU in 2003, Urban Meyer @ OSU 2016, Nick Saban @ UA 2011 and 2017)
This was never designed to get the conference champions in. It was designed to get the best 4 teams in with one of the criteria that they look at is conference championships. It is not automatic. Had that been the case Wisconsin with 3 losses would have been there in 2011. Way too many people obsessed with putting the conference champions in. Would we really want to have put USC into the playoffs this year just because they were the best of a poor conference?
Then Why did the playoff committee make it one of their top priority's?
The problem is they have 4 playoff spots for 5 power conference champions.
8 team playoff would settle that.
I might be murdered for this, but in college football i dont personally consider any team with a loss to be a national champion. There might be a best team, but not NC.
National champs should be undefeated.
My opinion matters not of course.
There is no perfect system. The best system is fluid but that cant happen.
National champs should be undefeated.
My opinion matters not of course.
There is no perfect system. The best system is fluid but that cant happen.
Nobody is going to murder you for being wrong...
There would be some years where there is no national title winner then, under your scenario.
Yes.Nobody is going to murder you for being wrong...
There would be some years where there is no national title winner then, under your scenario.
And yes i know its never happenin, im just saying for me personally i cant consider anyone with a loss a NC in college football.
Unless its nebraska maybe
C'mon murder you... We have enough of this crap in this country..
Times have changed this isn't 1984.
They do make it one of their top priorities. Ohio State still didn't deserve to get in.
But Bama did because they beat Mecer in November and Ohio St lost to OU at home in September.
Bama had a bye to get in.
they haven't made it a priority
they use what they want, to put in the teams they want
they tell b12 they're out for no conf champion, then tell osu they are in over their conf champ
then the tell wiscy their schedule isn't good enough for 1 loss, but put in 1 loss bama with a worse schedule.
Neother OSU or alabama deserved it.
Thats why this 8 talk is silly. Cant find 4!
We are doing our very best to make the regular season irrelevant.
i agree, it is hard to say ANY 4th team DESERVED IT
but it should have gone to the b10 or pac12(even if they blow) over a 2nd sec that also didnt deserve it.
Get rid of the playoffs.
Or drop a game, keep it at four, make everyone play 9 conference games, and pick the four after the regular bowl season.
It still sucks but everything will.
Or drop a game, keep it at four, make everyone play 9 conference games, and pick the four after the regular bowl season.
It still sucks but everything will.
So the teams that made a STRONG case in the bowls this year —
UCF
Alabama (much much stronger case after their bowl game than before)
Georgia
Wisconsin
tOSU
Penn State
So we would need a committee to sort through that.
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