Playoffs - What Can We Do?

[MichiganDad3]

In the 4th quarter of Auburn vs Georgia, the announcers were shamelessly promoting alabama for a playoff spot. This sickens me. A few years ago, alabama was placed into the MNC game even though they did not win their conference or division. If you are not the best team in your conference, you cannot be nation champion! Last year was equally ridiculous. Penn State won the conference, yet osu goes to the playoffs. This system is so sorry, we might as well eliminate it and go back to the old bowl system. The playoffs were supposed to ensure things are settled on the field, yet the committee is putting losers into the playoffs. What can the fans do to correct this? Do we have any influence?

 

[Redux]

Unpopular opinion, but I wholly agree.  Post season games are supposed to be a reward for winning as many games as possible, not the "sexiest" matchups.  Conference champions only, highest rated 4 get in.  It's just that simple.  I know many disagree and have valid reasoning, but I think winning your league should mean something. 

 

[broganreynik]

Unpopular opinion, but I wholly agree.  Post season games are supposed to be a reward for winning as many games as possible, not the "sexiest" matchups.  Conference champions only, highest rated 4 get in.  It's just that simple.  I know many disagree and have valid reasoning, but I think winning your league should mean something. 

I’m right there with ya. I thought conference championships would be weighed more in the CFP, but I guess not.

 

[jaws]

We should all schedule Mercer and neutral site games. 

 

[CheeseHusker]

Unfortunately Wisconsin blew it and now we are going to have to deal with more controversy.

Shame an unbeaten UCF won't even sniff the discussion.

 

[Army_Allen]

This is why the 8 team playoff is the most ideal situation where you've got 5 power 5 champions, 2 power 5 at large, then one highest ranked group of 5 champion if they qualify through certain prereqs.

 

[Mavric]

This is why the 8 team playoff is the most ideal situation where you've got 5 power 5 champions, 2 power 5 at large, then one highest ranked group of 5 champion if they qualify through certain prereqs.

Agree with this.  Then you wouldn't have to argue about Alabama and Ohio State - let them settle it on the field.  Throw in UCF to give the little guy a chance.  

Really six would be enough this year but I personally don't like the imbalance.  You'd have to fill it out with two teams that "don't deserve" to be in but I'd much rather have the teams that do have a claim get a chance than be too limited.

Incidentally, what kind of arguments would we have this year without a playoff?  Which two out of Clemson, Auburn and Oklahoma would get in?

 

[mrandyk]

Literally every single other NCAA sport and level of college football provides an avenue for any team to compete for a national championship. Every other level of football has a playoff. Youth teams, high school, D3, NAIA, D2, D1 FCS, and NFL all determine their champions via playoff.

Just take the FCS model already. Everyone plays an 11 game regular season and scrap the conference title games. 24 teams get in the playoffs. Every conference champion is offered a bid and then at-large teams fill out the field. Top 8 teams get a bye to the second round.

What in the hell is preventing it from happening at FBS? Fans want it. Coaches want it. The money involved would dwarf the bowl system. Hell, you can even keep those meaningless bowl games after instituting a 24 team playoff. Toledo playing Iowa State in the Little Caesar's Bowl is still going to mean absolutely nothing when #1 seed Clemson is playing #16 seed Michigan State.

I just don't get it.

 

[MichiganDad3]

This year is complete garbage. The BIG, Big XII, PAC and ACC should withdraw from the NCAA and start their own association. The SEC is sponsored by ESPN, and as a result they are over-rated. Alabama specifically is the most over-rated team of all time. Can't win your division? No problem, we will put you in the playoffs; screw the BIG. Of course two SEC teams are better than any team in the BIG.  The same thing happened in 2011. Alabama can't even win their division, and they get a rematch with LSU for the MNC - WHAT THE HECK! This is a complete insult to every other conference. Imagine how many MNC Nebraska would have if we were given a re-match with Oklahoma when we had single loss seasons.

Come on people, what can we do. We must protest somehow. Only conference champions should be allowed in the playoffs.

 

[CheeseHusker]

I think the thing that aggravates me more than anything else is how Alabama seems to get second chances year after year after year. November losses don't mean squat anymore, apparently. I am fully expecting Alabama to upset Clemson and then win the title game and make a joke of this entire thing again.

One of the great injustices of all comes to mind - the 1978 Oklahoma rematch. Wouldn't have been nice to have had a second crack after a loss just once? The 70s and 80s are littered with gut-wrenching last second losses that kept us out of the picture.

Perhaps there's a bit of an entitlement syndrome at work here, but I think of all the times we were shut out of the title race because of one stinking loss. I think of all the undefeated teams we took to Norman that stumbled at that hurdle. I think of the Penn State screwjob in '82 and how we never got back into it even though I know in my mind that nobody was better than us that year (or the next one). More than anything else, I'm aggravated how we were forced to play what was essentially an away game every bowl season. I was listening to a radio show about the playoff and the hosts were talking about how the venues were chosen partly to "protect the #1 seed". Yeah, nobody ever did that for us. In 1983 we shoulda been playing Illinois, Auburn shoulda been playing Texas and Miami shoulda been shut out.

It's crazy how much we might have benefited from this setup back in our heydey.

 

[Landlord]

I think winning your league should mean something. 

I thought conference championships would be weighed more in the CFP, but I guess not.

I agree that Alabama shouldn't have been in, but, let's not act like conference championships are meaningless. 14 of the 16 teams to make the playoff thus far have been conference champions. The two that weren't were Ohio State last year over Penn State (a pretty good argument for them, as they had better wins than PSU, and PSU had worse losses than them), and Alabama this year, who I think is a totally bogus pick.

It sucks, but I also think the committee is 15/16 in getting it right, and I don't expect them to be perfect.

 

[commando]

could choose to not watch the games.  

 

[MLB 51]

6 or 8+ team format is the only way to fix this problem.

Remember, you can't have a playoff without including Alabama. The media can't have that happen.

 

[MichiganDad3]

I agree that Alabama shouldn't have been in, but, let's not act like conference championships are meaningless. 14 of the 16 teams to make the playoff thus far have been conference champions. The two that weren't were Ohio State last year over Penn State (a pretty good argument for them, as they had better wins than PSU, and PSU had worse losses than them), and Alabama this year, who I think is a totally bogus pick.

It sucks, but I also think the committee is 15/16 in getting it right, and I don't expect them to be perfect.

Don't forget 2011, when there was two team playoff. LSU beats Alabama and goes on to win the SEC. The committee decides to have an LSU vs Alabama re-match for the MNC. No other conference was deemed worthy to the mighty SEC. What a crock!

 

[Hingle McCringleberry]

The BIG, Big XII, PAC and ACC should withdraw from the NCAA and start their own association

This isn't an NCAA event, the bowl system is outside NCAA control.

The committee decides to have an LSU vs Alabama re-match for the MNC

The BCS computers picked that game and that event was the watershed moment when everyone agreed something had to be done, taking us to the committee.

Incidentally, what kind of arguments would we have this year without a playoff?  Which two out of Clemson, Auburn and Oklahoma would get in?

The old Champ-game-pick-a-matron has Clemson v OU.