Playoffs robbed BIG West

B

Born N Bled Red

All-Conference
Mods you may see fit to move this thread, though, it certainly pertains to Nebraska's chances of qualifying for the CFP in the future. 

The media boiled the selection down to Ohio St. vs. Alabama- to me that's plain bs. Wisconsin got robbbed. 

Ohio St. had 2 losses, one being a blowout to a 7-5 team. Though, the strength of their wins are pretty impressive, 2 losses, you're out, even if you win the Conf. - see Penn St. last year.

Alabama VS Wisconsin. 

Wisconsin's record- 12-1 

Total record of all Wisconsin's opponents - 81-78

Best win- vs Final ranked #21 NW - 9-3

Other "good wins"-  FAU - 10-3 (CUSA Champs) Mich - 8-4, Iowa 7-5, Purdue 6-6, 

Disqualifier - Lost Last Game (conf. championship)

Loss - #5 Ohio St. by 6 PTS

Won- conference division

Alabama's record- 11-1

Total Record of all Alabama's opponents - 80-65 

Best win- vs Final ranked #17 LSU - 9-3

Other "good wins" - # 23 MSST - 8-4, TA&M- 7-5, FSU & Ole MISS- 6-6

Disqualifier Lost Last Game (non-championship)

Loss - #7 Auburn by 12 PTS

Won.- nothing 

Wisconsin won 1 more game, won their division, and lost to a better opponent by a lesser amount, in a conference championship game. In my opinion, Wisconsin, not Ohio St or Alabama, should've gotten the 4th spot. Is this because, like Nebraska, Wisconsin plays in the BIG West? If Nebraska was slighted like this, I think we'd all be furious. Maybe Wisconsin just didn't win pretty enough, something Nebraska also used to be criticized for. Do we have to worry about this should we ever have an undefeated season? At what point do teams forfeit a conference championship game, so they can get included in the CFP? 

 
Wisconsin should have beat Ohio State if they wanted to get in. Not saying Alabama deserves to be in, because I don't believe they do, but that's a different discussion than the truth that Wisconsin controlled their destiny and didn't take care of business.

Nebraska wouldn't be slighted like this (I don't think), for a few reasons:

1. Wisconsin's crossover opponents from the East division were s#!t. We have tough crossover games for the next several years.

2. We have a marquee OOC opponent every year. Wisconsin had Utah State, FAU, and BYU this season. 

3. If we get to the point where we go undefeated, we'll get the benefit of the doubt because of our pedigree and blue blood status. Wisconsin won't. Ever. 

 
Landlord said:
Wisconsin should have beat Ohio State if they wanted to get in. Not saying Alabama deserves to be in, because I don't believe they do, but that's a different discussion than the truth that Wisconsin controlled their destiny and didn't take care of business.

Nebraska wouldn't be slighted like this (I don't think), for a few reasons:

1. Wisconsin's crossover opponents from the East division were s#!t. We have tough crossover games for the next several years.

2. We have a marquee OOC opponent every year. Wisconsin had Utah State, FAU, and BYU this season. 

3. If we get to the point where we go undefeated, we'll get the benefit of the doubt because of our pedigree and blue blood status. Wisconsin won't. Ever. 
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I hope you're right, but history shows, if CFP has any opportunity to discount, or discredit Nebraska, they will, and have. What's more, we have no control over how good the crossover teams are when we play them. Remember when we beat Ohio St. and they had a 6-6 season? Same is true about our OOC scheduling. We beat Oregon last year, then, look at the season they had. If we went 12-1 in either of those two years, in the same fashion as Wisconsin, would we have been passed up? I think so. 

 
Playoffs didn't rob anyone.  While the large majority were pulling for Wisconsin, I think its fair to say very few actually consider them to be a top 4 team.  Weak OOC schedule, relatively weak conference schedule, solid wins but no marquee win to hang their hat on.  Is it fair to Wisconsin to make that generalization?  No, probably not, but they controlled their destiny and didn't do their part.

It would have been nice to see a Big10 squad in the playoff but Michigan having a horrible year compared to what was expected and ohio state no showing against Iowa really only left Wiscnosin as the sole option and they didn't come through when it mattered 

 
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Born N Bled Red said:
I hope you're right, but history shows, if CFP has any opportunity to discount, or discredit Nebraska, they will, and have. What's more, we have no control over how good the crossover teams are when we play them. Remember when we beat Ohio St. and they had a 6-6 season? Same is true about our OOC scheduling. We beat Oregon last year, then, look at the season they had. If we went 12-1 in either of those two years, in the same fashion as Wisconsin, would we have been passed up? I think so. 
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Is that true though?  Weren't we ranked 7 or 8 heading into the Wisconsin game last year?  If a school like Nebraska handles its business and its only loss is a legit game (like bama on the road at auburn) then we'll always have a strong case to be included

 
Wisconsin robbed themselves of a playoff berth. They had a legit chance to beat a good but not great OSU team. All they had to do was in Saturday and they were in. Their schedule is one thing, even though the last few seasons they played LSU and Bama, but they had all the opportunity in the world to get in.

 
Born N Bled Red said:
I hope you're right, but history shows, if CFP has any opportunity to discount, or discredit Nebraska, they will, and have. 
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What??? What are you referencing? 

Born N Bled Red said:
Remember when we beat Ohio St. and they had a 6-6 season?
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The one single time in the last 50 years? Surely we need to always be worried about that :lol:

Born N Bled Red said:
If we went 12-1 in either of those two years, in the same fashion as Wisconsin, would we have been passed up? I think so. 
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I thought we all kind of collectively agreed that we don't want a chance if we didn't win our conference, so why does it matter? I don't want to play in a playoff that we don't deserve - didn't go so good in 2001.

 
I'm with you, OP.  No conference should ever have two teams in the playoff in my mind.  Given the lack of meaningful games played out of conference, it's ridiculous to think that we can measure the P5 teams accurately.  A team that hasn't won its conference shouldn't be able to play for a national championship.  A team from outside the P5 should have a way to get into the mix as well.  I think we should have taken the five conference champs and added UCF (because I don't think there's another undefeated).  At least the BCS formula was partly impartial.  It didn't remember that Alabama's a dynasty.  The P5 should constitute one division and the G5 should be another if this is what passes for how we're going to let the kids "settle it on the field."

p.s. - With respect to NU getting screwed in the past, in terms of bowl selection only (because we all know that 1994 OB was in a class all its own as far as screw jobs go), I'd have to bring up the 1994 Orange and 2000 Sugar bowls.  NU should have played an undefeated WV in the former and F$U in the former, imo.  It has always bothered me that one undefeated Big East team was allowed to play for a title while the other wasn't (an it benefited Bobby Bowden each time).  If the undefeated BE team had played in each NC game, that would have been fine.  If the two best teams were chosen each season, that would also have made some sense.  It's the inconsistency that gets me (outside NU getting a raw deal twice).

 
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Landlord said:
What??? What are you referencing? 




 
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Plenty of examples- Nebraska has no chance, they don't play on grass. Frost would never choose Nebraska over Florida, Tennessee, Oregon, etc. Phantom penalties that gave Miami the natty in '93. Penn St.'s out of bounce catch. Nebraska & Michigan split title in 1997- anyone who follows college football at all knows we'd have stomped Mich., +1 second so Texas can kick a field goal, A&M miraculously has 2 penalties to our 20 (slight exaggeration), Partial qualifiers, BIG12 11-1 votes, etc. As much as everyone loves to say they want to see Nebraska "back," when we were at the top of the heap, we had 0 margin of error, and rarely got the benefit of the doubt. 

The one single time in the last 50 years? Surely we need to always be worried about that :lol:




 
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Haha, true- but the point remains, we have scheduled stong oppenents in the past, that ended up not being so strong when we finally played them. In addition to Oregon, Miami would be another recent example.

I thought we all kind of collectively agreed that we don't want a chance if we didn't win our conference, so why does it matter? I don't want to play in a playoff that we don't deserve - didn't go so good in 2001.




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 While I wholeheartedly agree with this, if there is going to be one team that gets the benefit of the doubt, I'd prefer it to be us, especially if, like Wisconsin, we actually have the stronger resume. 

 
I was rooting for Wisconsin to win even though I live in Ohio.  I knew if Ohio State won that Alabama would get into the playoffs based solely on their record and that was the only reason why I wanted Wisconsin to win.  

 
I don't necessarily disagree with OP (based on the side-by-side comparison), but "jobbed" is too strong. Not only would UW have been in if they won, but they really showed a lack of QB competency required to be a legit playoff team.

However, I believe that this was as a year that there really wasn't a "deserving" fourth playoff team. Therefore, I struggle with rewarding the SEC with a second team, since the SEC (nor Bama) didn't objectively stout as the best. For fairness sake, they should have elevated UW, OSU, or USC.

Subjectively, Bama probably IS the 4th best team, at worst.

 
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Born N Bled Red said:
Mods you may see fit to move this thread, though, it certainly pertains to Nebraska's chances of qualifying for the CFP in the future. 

The media boiled the selection down to Ohio St. vs. Alabama- to me that's plain bs. Wisconsin got robbbed. 

Ohio St. had 2 losses, one being a blowout to a 7-5 team. Though, the strength of their wins are pretty impressive, 2 losses, you're out, even if you win the Conf. - see Penn St. last year.

Alabama VS Wisconsin. 

Wisconsin's record- 12-1 

Total record of all Wisconsin's opponents - 81-78

Best win- vs Final ranked #21 NW - 9-3

Other "good wins"-  FAU - 10-3 (CUSA Champs) Mich - 8-4, Iowa 7-5, Purdue 6-6, 

Disqualifier - Lost Last Game (conf. championship)

Loss - #5 Ohio St. by 6 PTS

Won- conference division

Alabama's record- 11-1

Total Record of all Alabama's opponents - 80-65 

Best win- vs Final ranked #17 LSU - 9-3

Other "good wins" - # 23 MSST - 8-4, TA&M- 7-5, FSU & Ole MISS- 6-6

Disqualifier Lost Last Game (non-championship)

Loss - #7 Auburn by 12 PTS

Won.- nothing 

Wisconsin won 1 more game, won their division, and lost to a better opponent by a lesser amount, in a conference championship game. In my opinion, Wisconsin, not Ohio St or Alabama, should've gotten the 4th spot. Is this because, like Nebraska, Wisconsin plays in the BIG West? If Nebraska was slighted like this, I think we'd all be furious. Maybe Wisconsin just didn't win pretty enough, something Nebraska also used to be criticized for. Do we have to worry about this should we ever have an undefeated season? At what point do teams forfeit a conference championship game, so they can get included in the CFP? 
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Bama only played 8 conference games and had essentially two late season bye weeks also.  Oct. 28 off, played #16 LSU following week.  Nov. 18th played Mercer, then faced Auburn following week.

Contrast with Wisconsin who played 10 conference opponents in 10 straight weeks without a week off. 

Until the SEC plays 9 conference games they should be automatically scored down.  To suggest Wisky played a weaker schedule due to opponents record or ranking, completely ignored the consequence of playing in a conference that plays 9 conference games instead of 8.  The consequence is SEC teams can buy one more win every year via their OOC scheduling.  That's important because an 8-4 team is going to be ranked higher than a 7-5 team.  Until the SEC plays 9 conference games, they shouldn't get the benefit of the doubt.  Agree with your post, Wisky earned a shot on the field regardless what the perception is.

 
The last thing I wanted was for Bama to get back in.  I really wanted Wisc to get in and represent our Division.   Even with that, I still think OSU is more deserving than Bama -

OSU won the conf, played a more competitive schedule but 'blew it' by letting down their guard against Iowa.  I'm no Meyer fan, but I'd rather have OSU in the playoffs than

ESPN fav Bama. 

PS:  Looking forward to 2019 or 2020 when we make our appearance in the playoffs :D

 
Born N Bled Red said:
Plenty of examples- Nebraska has no chance, they don't play on grass. Frost would never choose Nebraska over Florida, Tennessee, Oregon, etc. Phantom penalties that gave Miami the natty in '93. Penn St.'s out of bounce catch. Nebraska & Michigan split title in 1997- anyone who follows college football at all knows we'd have stomped Mich., +1 second so Texas can kick a field goal, A&M miraculously has 2 penalties to our 20 (slight exaggeration), Partial qualifiers, BIG12 11-1 votes, etc. As much as everyone loves to say they want to see Nebraska "back," when we were at the top of the heap, we had 0 margin of error, and rarely got the benefit of the doubt. 

 While I wholeheartedly agree with this, if there is going to be one team that gets the benefit of the doubt, I'd prefer it to be us, especially if, like Wisconsin, we actually have the stronger resume. 
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I'm rendering a video right now just wasting time so I'm going to respond to this point by point :lol:

• "Nebraska has no chance, they don't play on grass. Frost would never choose Nebraska over Florida, Tennessee, Oregon, etc." - These are talking heads offering up opinions and have literally nothing to do with the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, or us being jobbed for bowls or championships.

• Florida State won the national championship in '93, and guess what? The refs put :01 back on the clock to give us a chance to win it with a very makeable 45 yard field goal, and we missed.

• Penn State got away with one in '82, but remember when they went undefeated in '94 and didn't get a championship?

• We were the better team, but we were lucky to get a share of the '97 national championship with the way things worked back then.

• Texas deserved the :01 put back on. That was the correct call.

• I can't comment on the lack of A&M's penalties, but most of our 16 penalties were holding or false start calls, and were legitimate. 

• I guess I'm kind of confused about who you're talking about in general. You're referencing referees, the Big XII, the Big 8, ESPN talking heads, the AP and Coaches poll voters, and others, and lumping them all together into some sort of big bad "them" who wants to keep Nebraska down?

 
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