2017 College Football Playoffs (and Other Bowl Games)

[TooTall]

Interesting article comparing the unfavorable treatment from the committee between OU and Clemson

https://www.thescore.com/ncaaf/news...-4-oklahoma-the-biggest-loser-in-cfp-rankings

Bottom line to the argument is that OU has the "better" loss and 3 better wins than Clemson but is 2 spots behind.

My favorite argument from last night, justifying Clemson’s position: they’ve beaten 7 teams at or above .500. Those teams?

Auburn 8-2
Virginia Tech 7-3
NC State 7-3
Wake Forest 6-4
Louisville 6-4
Georgia Tech 5-4
Boston College 5-5

Sure, the win over Auburn is impressive, but the whole “they’ve beaten 7 teams at or above .500” is cherry picking at it’s finest. Wake Forest has played well, for Wake Forest’s standards, but they still fucking suck. Louisville, GT, BC are trash. NC State has had their best season in over a decade, and still have 3 losses. Ditto for Va Tech.

Don’t take this as me comparing Ohio State to Clemson. Just simply pointing out how ridiculous the media spin of Clemson is this year.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

If you can live with it potentially hurting The Game

The auto conference bid could lead to a year like this one where the B1G CCG is locked up beforehand and a coach is put in a tough position.

Same thing was said about the B1GCG. The biggest negative factor on The Game the last 30 years has been one side sucking a tailpipe for over a decade each.

And it's still the biggest rivalry in college football.

 

[buckeyemania11]

My favorite argument from last night, justifying Clemson’s position: they’ve beaten 7 teams at or above .500. Those teams?

Auburn 8-2
Virginia Tech 7-3
NC State 7-3
Wake Forest 6-4
Louisville 6-4
Georgia Tech 5-4
Boston College 5-5

Sure, the win over Auburn is impressive, but the whole “they’ve beaten 7 teams at or above .500” is cherry picking at it’s finest. Wake Forest has played well, for Wake Forest’s standards, but they still fucking suck. Louisville, GT, BC are trash. NC State has had their best season in over a decade, and still have 3 losses. Ditto for Va Tech.

Don’t take this as me comparing Ohio State to Clemson. Just simply pointing out how ridiculous the media spin of Clemson is this year.

.500 is not a good indicator at all when it comes to college football

You can be well below average and still limp your way to a 6-6 season and a bowl game these days. Missouri is a great example of this. They are currently 5-5.....Gave up 43 points and tons of yards to Missouri State....got whomped by Purdue 35-3. Yet still just need 1 win to go .500 and bowl.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Same thing was said about the B1GCG. The biggest negative factor on The Game the last 30 years has been one side sucking a tailpipe for over a decade each.

And it's still the biggest rivalry in college football.

If the B1G CCG was an auto bid this very year you have an example of a time when The Game could be severely diminished.

There is no denying that.

I am all for home field advantage and an expanded format but the auto bid thing could absolutely have a negative impact on rivalry games.

I remember the first or second SEC CG, Spurrier rested starters against FSU to get ready for it, this isn't wild speculation. It's absolutely logical and plausible.

 

[Jake]

Whether it's Ohio State getting in or the Big Ten getting left out. Either scenario is going to fan the flames for 8 teams, which is what I've wanted all along. 5 conference champs, top G5 school and 2 at-large. First round games at home stadiums. Swiss fucking watch if I understand it correctly.

I agree. If we're going to have conference championship games then make them mean more than just another check for the conference.

If you can live with it potentially hurting The Game

The auto conference bid could lead to a year like this one where the B1G CCG is locked up beforehand and a coach is put in a tough position.

Play THE GAME in week ten. Also, both teams schedule their byes in week 9. Fans get 2 weeks of build up and everything is still on the line.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Play THE GAME in week ten. Also, both teams schedule their byes in week 9. Fans get 2 weeks of build up and everything is still on the line.

sure but I would say that qualifies as "impacts" The Game.

moving it from the traditional end of season spot it's held for 80-90 years is kind of a big deal

 

[ScriptOhio]

My favorite argument from last night, justifying Clemson’s position: they’ve beaten 7 teams at or above .500. Those teams?

Auburn 8-2
Virginia Tech 7-3
NC State 7-3
Wake Forest 6-4
Louisville 6-4
Georgia Tech 5-4
Boston College 5-5

Sure, the win over Auburn is impressive, but the whole “they’ve beaten 7 teams at or above .500” is cherry picking at it’s finest. Wake Forest has played well, for Wake Forest’s standards, but they still fucking suck. Louisville, GT, BC are trash. NC State has had their best season in over a decade, and still have 3 losses. Ditto for Va Tech.

Don’t take this as me comparing Ohio State to Clemson. Just simply pointing out how ridiculous the media spin of Clemson is this year.

Auburn 8-2 (wins over Georgia Southern & Mercer)
Virginia Tech 7-3 (wins over Delaware, E. Carolina, & Old Dominion)
NC State 7-3 (wins over Marshall & Furman)
Wake Forest 6-4 (wins over Presbyterian, Utah State, & Appalachian State)
Louisville 6-4 (wins over Kent State & Murray State)
Georgia Tech 5-4 (win over Jacksonville State)
Boston College 5-5 (wins over NIU & CMU)

Yeah, but if each of those teams hadn't played and beaten 2 or 3 "cupcakes", they undoubetly would have had worse records.

 

[Jake]

sure but I would say that qualifies as "impacts" The Game.

moving it from the traditional end of season spot it's held for 80-90 years is kind of a big deal

THE GAME was played the Saturday before Thanksgiving for most of those 80-90 years, but it's not anymore. "Championships" were decided by polls for most of those 80-90 years, but they're not anymore. The world has changed.

 

[Jaxbuck]

THE GAME was played the Saturday before Thanksgiving for most of those 80-90 years, but it's not anymore. "Championships" were decided by polls for most of those 80-90 years, but they're not anymore. The world has changed.

It has been the last regular season game of the year, regardless of which Saturday that falls on, since somewhere in the 1930's. I am also not arguing against change, my point is that auto bids for the P5 conference champs is a bad idea. Most rivalry games are played on the last weekend of the season and you would be impacting all of them.

 

[bukIpower]

Bama and Miami need to win out but I fail to see how OU winning out helps us. I guess our ass kicking at home doesn’t seem as bad? I’d rather have them lose, and in particular, have a team pass for 400 yards on them to make their defense efficiency ranking even worse. I believe they are somewhere in the mid 60th range? Regardless, a 2 loss Big 12 champs helps not hurts.

I’ve been a staunch supporter of staying at 4 team playoff because I’m convinced 8 teams lessens the regular season, and moreso CCG. It absolutely has to lessen those games and I don’t want that to happen. Even if my team this year is on the wrong side of the bubble. And I know that 8 teams gives a more realistic test to see a true NC. But, damn, just don’t lose twice if you are are NC contender. Is that too much to ask?

Regardless, this year seems more muddled than any of the previous 3 playoffs to me in figuring out the best 4. I realize there is more ball to play but there seems to be more parity than usual. You could make a case for any of 8-9 teams right now. Because of this, and of course money more than anything, those who want 8 will get their wish. Sigh.

We want OU to win out because if it comes down to us or them they have the win head to head

 

[UpNorth_Buckeye]

We want OU to win out because if it comes down to us or them they have the win head to head

To further clarify the point, the fear is 2 Big 12 teams getting in. Ie TCU beats Oklahoma and they are 3, Oklahoma 4.

 

[Gizmo]

Don't lose to Iowa by 1 or 31 or 81 and we're not even having these discussions. Just win the games and see what happens. All we can do at this point.

 

[AJHawkfan]

it's the way OSU lost to OU and Iowa. They weren't even competitive games. That's why I think they ultimately get left out, even if the stars do align for them the next few weeks. They made the committee look good in 14, made them look silly last year. I don't think they get the benefit of the doubt this year. Committee has been consistent with OSU all year and they clearly are bothered by their inconsistency, as they should be.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think we deserve to be included in the final four, just that there are a series of things that need to happen just for us to be included in the conversation. If we are left out, I won't complain one bit. That said, I would certainly welcome a shot at the title and it would piss off the PedSt cult royally, so from that perspective, I'm all in favor of getting a shot.

 

[bukIpower]

Don't lose to Iowa by 1 or 31 or 81 and we're not even having these discussions. Just win the games and see what happens. All we can do at this point.

I think all of us feel we don't deserve a shot based off of our two loses to be honest... If other teams lose (which is guaranteed to happen with teams ahead of us playing each other) then its at least debatable if we can be included there.

By no means though do I feel like buckeye nation is pounding their chest with a "we want bama" attitude. I think we all realize the fairly large fuck ups we've had this year.

 

[Jake]

It has been the last regular season game of the year, regardless of which Saturday that falls on, since somewhere in the 1930's. I am also not arguing against change, my point is that auto bids for the P5 conference champs is a bad idea. Most rivalry games are played on the last weekend of the season and you would be impacting all of them.

It isn't anything that can't be managed, as long as the money is right (it is what it is).

I will say (if we're going to have them) that while I favor the conference championship games meaning something, I don't like the divisional format and unbalanced schedules. Truth be told, I don't like conference title games but we all know they aren't going away. I prefer the days of 10 team conferences with a round robin schedule, but I also like the triple option.