Expanded College Football Playoff coming

[HRE Otto IV]

i'm on the planet where there is zero playoff and it's delightfully unscientific, frantic, unfair and makes the regular season a car chase or there is a larger playoff where it's actually a playoff. Anything that is in between those goalposts (for me anyway) haven't worked.

I do miss two games going on New Years Day that have national championship implications. It was absurd in hindsight. Our nuanced free world can't handle this anymore because everything has to be a completion and everyone has to have certainty on result.

I generally like the old system. There is tradition in having your conference champ go to a specific Bowl. But they should take #1 and #2 after the Bowls and have them play a CG 2 weeks after. Can you imagine 2019 with no playoff?

Rose Bowl #2 Ohio State 13-0 vs #6/#7 Oregon 11-2
Sugar Bowl #1 LSU 13-0 vs #4 Oklahoma 12-1
Orange Bowl #3 Clemson 13-0 vs #5 Georgia 11-2

They would be all trying to win by as many points as possible to get votes. In the end having 3 undefeated teams is a headache for crowning a champ. We would have been robbed of Clemson vs Ohio State in the Semi Final. But if you did go traditional and had the one extra CG, we would have seen LSU vs whoever was more impressive in the Bowl Clemson or Ohio State. One team gets unfairly left out but they can't say as much if there is no CG what so ever.

 

[rrlbees]

after they eventually go to a 4x16 it will be the top 2 teams from each conference and then 4 wild cards for a total of 12.

 

[SWC75]

after they eventually go to a 4x16 it will be the top 2 teams from each conference and then 4 wild cards for a total of 12.

Ugh. To me the entire purpose of going 4 x 16 is to make the conference races and title games part of the playoff, which would then be 4 teams, (with the rest of FBS going back down to FCS where they belong). We only need more than 4 because we have 5 power conferences and 5 other conferences in the same division.

 

[SWC75]

Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Georgia, etc. have all made the playoff over the past few years with 1 regular-season loss.

Point taken. But for the rest of us, we've got to run the table to have any chance, which means 1 loss and the rest of our games have no bearing on it. That's why an expanded playoff in this situation makes more of the schedule meaningful, not less.

 

[ottodaorange]

I would favor either 12 or 16. It would be more entertaining and exciting for one thing, much like the 68 in Basketball's March Madness. We could call it January Madness. JB has said on more than one occasion that he believes they should let everyone in for March Madness. That's not possible in football, due to the process of resting one week between games, but 16 is. How often does the favored team win it all in Basketball?

Football, much like basketball, is moving toward more and more elite athletes, and consequently, more elite teams. Parity will be more likely than the same teams every year i.e. Alabama, Clemson, Ohio St., Georgia, and Notre Dame. Who would like to see any of these teams upset in the first round? And elite recruits would be more spread around, in all likelihood.

This will force raters to consider more than just records and the leagues teams play in. Scheduling would become more competitive than the Rutgers schedule for instance. Teams like UCF and historically Boise St. would not be left out. Even Syracuse, that finished ranked in the top 16 recently might at least get a chance.

I would find all of this more interesting and involved.

 

[rrlbees]

Ugh. To me the entire purpose of going 4 x 16 is to make the conference races and title games part of the playoff, which would then be 4 teams, (with the rest of FBS going back down to FCS where they belong). We only need more than 4 because we have 5 power conferences and 5 other conferences in the same division.

that’s another way too. Use the conference championship games. But then it’s 8. Don’t see how to use any wildcards which is ok too.

 

[elimunelson]

We have two games back-to-back every year on or around New Years Day that have national championship implications... CFP semifinal games.

Touche! I just think back to say 1992 and recall the bowls being much more interesting than the same 4 teams in the playoff yearly.

To me it's not working optically. Go to zero or 12 IMO. Again i'm just a fan not looking at this from any metric other than interest

 

[kcsu]

12 or 16

 

[Eric15]

Touche! I just think back to say 1992 and recall the bowls being much more interesting than the same 4 teams in the playoff yearly.

I think college football has always had an oligarchy of teams on top at any given time. If there was a 4 team playoff in the 1990s, Florida State and Nebraska would have been in the Top 4 almost every single year.

 

[JeffCuse]

I dont get why you skip past 8 and go to 12. They are creating levels of complication that dont need to exist. I can see a #5 ranked team feeling an argument to the title game. I can't see the #11 team saying the same.

It almost seems they are overcomplicating this just so that they can say "its too complicated" and then kill it.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[FloridaFan]

ND to the ACC now?

 

[TerryD]

ND to the ACC now?

Not at all. That would have required a conference champs only format to force ND into a conference.

Other than that, carry on.

There would now be six at large spots for ND to compete/qualify for under this proposal.

Lack of a bye? No problem, no CCG to play, either. Tee up the ball.

When asked about not having a bye, ND AD Jack Swarbrick said "I look forward to never hearing again about how we played one less game or don't have a conference championship."

(He is Chairman of this Committee. He also is indicating that ND intends to remain an indy)

• Click here for link at https://twitter.com/CFBHeather/status/1403097175240884224

 

[Jake]

This format is Taylor made for ND. Get in, get a home game, win/lose is still a win.

 

[TerryD]

This format is Taylor made for ND. Get in, get a home game, win/lose is still a win.

Six at large spots.

Think a Top Ten ranked ND has a shot at one of them most years (without having to play a CCG or join a conference) ??

 

[Jake]

Six at large spots.

Think a Top Ten ranked ND has a shot at one of them most years (without having to play a CCG or join a conference) ??

Yep. I think it’s a plus when ND is really good, but Probably a huge negative when ND is great…but ND is never great anymore.

 

[Marroniac]

68 teams or bust.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Really hate it. We are just delaying the inevitable of the top 1-3 teams in the CG. I rather see an expanded season. Give me 14 SU games and a one game NCG over 12 SU games and 12 team playoff.

This really would benefit the SEC and B1G not the G5. The last 3 years would have resulted in:

SEC 10 bids
B1G 9
P12 5
ACC 4
B12 4
AAC 3
ND 1

So 19 of the 36 bids (over half) went to the B1G/SEC. The P12 was seen as down during the last 3 years since they had no top team but they beat out the ACC and B12 who were Top team heavy. AAC got the 6th Champ bid every year. Memphis got in as a 12 seed despite being 17th in the poll.


2019

First Round

12. Memphis 12-1 at 5. Georgia 11-2
The Cinderella aspect makes you tune in but it is likely over at halftime.

11. Penn State 10-2 at 6. Oregon 11-2
This is an interesting matchup for the Rose Bowl, but neither team is making the Final Four. BTW what happens to the Rose Bowl? #14 Michigan (4th B1G) vs #22 USC (3rd P12)?

10. Utah 11-2 at 7. Baylor 11-2
I would watch it in the 4th Q to see who wins, but how boring can you get?

9. Florida 10-2 vs 8. Wisconsin 10-3
Would be a good Outback Bowl. Probably then most interesting of the first round.

Second Round

Florida/Wisconsin winner at #1 LSU 13-0
Wouldn't even be close, but who would be at LSU?

Utah/Baylor winner at #2 Ohio State 13-0
This isn't even worth tuning in for.

Penn State/Oregon winner vs #3 Clemson 13-0
Playoff Clemson wins easily.

Memphis/Georgia winner vs #4 Oklahoma 12-1
The only matchup worth watching on paper.

So all we are really doing is taking away 4 good Bowl games and masking them as week 1 of the playoffs. Week 2 there is one good game. There were 5 quality teams in 2019. That is the case most seasons. I get going to 5 or 6 but anything past that is about making money and nothing else.


2018

First Round

12. LSU 9-3 at 5. ND 12-0
LSU might have won this. But do we really need to see a 4th SEC team in a playoff?

11. Penn Sate 9-3 at 6. Georgia 11-2
Name teams but I think Georgia wins easily.

10. Florida 9-3 at 7. Michigan 10-2
This would be a good game

9. Washington 10-3 at 8. UCF 12-0
Without their QB UCF would lose. Even with him this isn't that interesting a game.

Second Round

Washington/UCF winner at 1. Alabama 13-0
Boring AF if Washington is the team. If UCF had their QB you watch for David vs Goliath, but that last 10 mins.

Florida/Michigan winner at 2. Clemson 13-0
Playoff Clemson wins easily

Penn State/Georgia winner vs 3. Oklahoma 12-1
This would be an interesting game if Georgia.

LSU/ND winner vs 4. Ohio State 12-1
Could be a good matchup but hard to win on the road.

There are some interesting first round matchups but they are interesting like Bowl games are. I rather see these matchups as OOC games in an expanded season. Week 2 has the potential for a complete snooze fest.

2017

First Round

12. UCF 12-0 at 5. Alabama 11-1
Cinderella aspect for 10 mins?

11. Washington 10-2 at 6. Wisconsin 12-1
Boring for a Rose Bowl

10. Miami 10-2 at 7. Auburn 10-3
Auburn would beat that overrated Miami team easily, especially at home.

9. Penn State 10-2 at 8. USC 11-2
A good game on paper.

Second Round

Penn State/USC winner at 1. Clemson 12-1
Clemson at home isn't losing to either

Miami/Auburn winner at 2. Oklahoma 12-1
Auburn would make it interesting

Washington/Wisconsin winner at 3. Georgia 12-1
This wouldn't be close

UCF/Alabama winner at 4. Ohio State 11-2
Bama at Ohio State

Nothing great to see in Week 1. Though Week 2 has potential for being worth watching.

 

[SWC75]

The Power 5 looked at the 4 team playoff as 4 at large spots and were against an 8 team playoff with 5 auto-bids because that gives them only three at large teams so they wanted to go to 12 to preserve their at large bids.

Except 3 of the 4 teams in a four team playoff were typically conference champions. An 8 team playoff gives you twice as many power 5 teams, (I'm including ND) unless we give an auto-bid to the best Group of 5 team.

 

[CU44SE]

People are acting like it’s a forgone conclusion the top 4 always make the semis. Clearly they forgot there are upsets in every sport. This adds excitement to the sport. They say this makes the regular season less exciting but I can guarantee you everyone will want those byes. IMO. The first two rounds should be home games, only semi’s and championship should be neutral. Kind of sucks for the 1-4 bye teams that they don’t also get a home game. That would be my only gripe.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

People are acting like it’s a forgone conclusion the top 4 always make the semis. Clearly they forgot there are upsets in every sport. This adds excitement to the sport. They say this makes the regular season less exciting but I can guarantee you everyone will want those byes. IMO. The first two rounds should be home games, only semi’s and championship should be neutral. Kind of sucks for the 1-4 bye teams that they don’t also get a home game. That would be my only gripe.

What other sport has such a talent divide between the Top 1-3 teams and the 6-9 teams? What other sport has such a huge home field advantage? NBA playoffs are generally boring the first few rounds as they are chalky. This will be worse.

 

[SURU]

What other sport has such a talent divide between the Top 1-3 teams and the 6-9 teams? What other sport has such a huge home field advantage? NBA playoffs are generally boring the first few rounds as they are chalky. This will be worse.

There was a big talent divide when Syracuse beat Clemson a few years ago but it happened anyway. A much bigger divide than there will be between the top seeds and bottom seeds of the playoff imo. Upsets happen all the time. As for home field advantage, the top 4 seeds never even play at home during these playoffs. They have byes for the home game then play in neutral site bowls

 

[Dcuse]

8! 8! 8! 8! 8!
Never should have been 16. Never should have been 2. Never should have been 4 or 12 or ANYTHING ELSE BUT 8! Everything is set up perfectly for. 8!

 

[TheCusian]

They need to fix recruiting advantages next. Distribute the talent more evenly and the 12 team playoff would be akin to the NCAA tournament or the NFL playoffs.

It's prob the hardest nut to crack, but I could see name and likeness helping in some way. I also think the transfer rules might help a bit too.