The four best teams in the country

[MikeSU02]

Briles is on SC right now. This is surreal.

He is hammering home that Baylor (and FSU) won back to back conference titles and the SEC, B1G and Pac did not.

Also saying if you took the names off the resumes they are in.

Said they played nine conference games and other conferences needed a title game to get to nine.

Asked why the Big 12 hasn't named Baylor champion and he's not happy.

Says if TCU nor Baylor get in it would be a travesty.

 

[Alsacs]

Briles just went after Herbstreit saying look at his alma mater. Wow he knows he isn't getting in. Herbie is not a hack for Ohio State.

 

[MikeSU02]

Wow!

Three things to add to Briles:

- talked about style points versus respect of the game. Said he could have tried to score again but has too much respect for Snyder and the game.

- said that if winning doesn't get you into the final four, they'll look for another way to get in in the future (I'm paraphrasing)

- doesn't understand why Mack Brown or RC Slocum isn't on the committee.

 

[SmilinBob]

OK...who is on the committee again?

This ought to be fun and completely annoying at the same time. I hope enough of a stink is out there to up it to 8.

 

[MikeSU02]

Patterson on SC right now.

Taking the high road. Saying TCU can play with anyone.

Gave praise to the other four teams vying for the playoff.

Praising the committee.

 

[PeteCalvin]

All the talking heads have OSU in over Baylor and TCU.

Does Paul Finebaum ever not take a chance to take a shot at FSU. SEC mouthpiece is so threatened by the Noles, all the time with this guy.

He's a douchenozzle. I can't stand listening to his show.

 

[SmilinBob]

Briles can say what he can about being robbed of a Big 12 title but I don't know if conference champion is one of the criteria the "committee" uses or demands.

 

[Alsacs]

Good god why is Mike Lupica still relevant. Dear ESPN find somebody newer to talk about the CFB playoff. Even the human troll Skip Bayless would be better than Lupica.

 

[SmilinBob]

Good god why is Mike Lupica still relevant. Dear ESPN find somebody newer to talk about the CFB playoff. Even the human troll Skip Bayless would be better than Lupica.

They would have but Lou Holtz was busy.

 

[SWC75]

even if the B12 had a game that doesnt mean baylor/tcu would have played in it.. they might well have been in the same side and TCU might have played someone like Ok/OSU.. wouldnt have helped them at all.

This is why I'd like mobile divisions, rather than set ones. Rank your teams based on last year's results and put the odd ranked teams, (1-3-5-7-9-1-13) in one division and the even ranked teams (24-6-8-10-12-14) in the other each year. There's no guarantee that your best eams the following year will be in your championship game but it's more likely.

 

[SmilinBob]

This is why I'd like mobile divisions, rather than set ones. Rank your teams based on last year's results and put the odd ranked teams, (1-3-5-7-9-1-13) in one division and the even ranked teams (24-6-8-10-12-14) in the other each year. There's no guarantee that your best eams the following year will be in your championship game but it's more likely.

Unless you just got rid of divisions and the top 2 played.

 

[PeteCalvin]

TCU Played and beat 5 ranked teams.
Baylor only really played 2 ranked teams and TCU was one of them.
Better resume is TCU by far...I don't know where the talking heads say that they have identical resume's.

IMO the final 4 are still Bama, Oregon, TCU and FSU.

I think one of the Bevo teams should be in over OSU. IMHO, OSU lost their shot when they lost to VaTech. Good name, but a very bad loss this season. At home! This talk about OSU getting is has got to be coming from pressure applied by Delaney and the BiG OSU boosters. This is also more about "the great Urban Meyer" than actual on the field results. If TCU or Baylor deserve to be in there, then OSU has to be on the outside because FSU won all of their games and are the defending champs. FSU has absolute claim on a spot, and if the committee leaves them out it will become a MAJOR FUBAR issue for the playoff in its first year. I am quite sure they don't want that.

 

[Chris02M]

Ohio State vs TCU vs Baylor is a very tough call: First thing committee would have to do is try to decide which team will be considered big 12 champ since the 2 co champions is not going to happen. Big 12 by laws say if 2 teams are tied then head to head is the decider so Baylor gets it. Baylor played a tougher conference slate but Ohio State has the best road win of the 2 by winning at Michigan State pretty convincingly and played a better non conference schedule. That was tiebreaker for me.

Rose: Oregon VS Ohio State
Sugar : Alabama VS Florida State

Orange: Georgia Tech VS Michigan State
Peach: TCU VS Mississippi State
Cotton: Ole Miss VS Baylor
Fiesta: Arizona VS Boise State(highest g5 champion)

 

[MikeSU02]

Heather Dinich reporting that the committee has already voted multiple times, starting last night.

Not sure you can make any conclusions from that, but boy does that make you sweat if you are TCU or OSU.

 

[SmilinBob]

OSU being left out would push for an 8 team playoff way more than TCU or Baylor. The Big 10 has the power to do so and will not stand for their champion being left out. This is why I'd love OSU not to make it, they have the good ole boy politics behind him and a helluva lot of power.

 

[SWC75]

Best four teams on what day and against which opponents? We all know transitive properties do not apply to sports. Match ups matter, venues matter, weather conditions matter, point in season matters, injuries matter - and most importantly of all, these are college kids whose emotions and focus can be up or down.

The best we can do is going to be hated by several teams.Down the road the P5 will have obtained such an advantage in talent, coaching, facilities etc. that we will probably have system of conference champions and one at-large team. Then the real complaining will begin.

Cynical? Yeah, but with the money at stake I just don't see how the P5 doesn't rule the whole process.

How about the "look test"? My original post was based on that. I don't know who should be in based on these other criteria or who will be picked. But who do your eyes tell you are the four best teams in the country?

 

[KaiserUEO]

How about the "look test"? My original post was based on that. I don't know who should be in based on these other criteria or who will be picked. But who do your eyes tell you are the four best teams in the country?

1. 13 games?
2. 0-1 losses?
3. If you can't find 4 teams to meet those criteria, u look at 12 game teams.

#3 is not applicable this year.

Bama, Oregon, Ohio St, Florida St.

The TV talk and committee voting...dog & pony show is quite amusing though.

 

[PoppyHart]

I don't know why human beings are on this committee is they are not meant to make subjective decisions, and their charge is to find the 4 BEST teams, which is not synonymous with the 4 most DESERVING teams. If undefeated is the end all and be all, it should be explicitly stated and FSU would be an AQ.

But I truly hope that the committee is asking "How do we create the best, most exciting and most competitive playoff" and "which 4 teams have the best chance of winning."

In my view, it's Bama, Oregon, TCU and OSU. But I fear the committee will be scared to do its job.

 

[Crusty]

How about the "look test"? My original post was based on that. I don't know who should be in based on these other criteria or who will be picked. But who do your eyes tell you are the four best teams in the country?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The look test is the most subjective of all.

BTW- Baylor is going to get screwed and that is a travesty. The Big 12 Commissioner should be ashamed of himself.

 

[SmilinBob]

Imagine if Mississippi St beat Mississippi? 1 more one loss team added to the equation and an SEC west team to boot. Oh the fun we could have had!

 

[NKR1978]

Isn't this kind of similar to FSU this year? They haven't looked dominant (not even against Syracuse) at all this season despite being in one of the weakest P5 conferences. They deserve to go, but should have to play either Oregon or Alabama first and prove themselves.



Beating P5 opponents should not matter - playing Vanderbilt, Syracuse and Wake Forest (or other comparable "P5" teams) is not the same as playing Marshall, Boise State and Colorado State (or other non "P5" teams that are really good).

The whole "P5" argument is silly considering there are some awful P5 teams out there. The relative strength of the team should be considered, not what conference they are in.

Some people seem to want to turn college football in figure skating.

OSU lost to Virginia Tech. The best win of any OSU opponents is Indiana over Missouri. Georgia beat Missouri 34-0. Georgia Tech beat Georgia at
Georgia. FSU just beat Georgia Tech.

The B1G's "best" out of conference wins are Syracuse, Pitt and Wazzu along with Missouri. The ACC may not have set the world on fire, but wins over USC, Ohio State, Georgia and Notre Dame x2 are better than anything the B1G has.

 

[Alsacs]

If winning becomes negated by how you look I will stop following football. Perfect analogy this isn't figure skating or how good you look. If are in a P5 team and go undefeated your a top 4 team even if you win every game 3-2.

If you win every game and your a top 4 team. GAme control or how you look matters when you lose and are being judged evenly. Undefeated and in a P5 league your in unless there are 5 undefeated teams then you look at the other factors.

 

[CuseOnly]

OSU being left out would push for an 8 team playoff way more than TCU or Baylor. The Big 10 has the power to do so and will not stand for their champion being left out. This is why I'd love OSU not to make it, they have the good ole boy politics behind him and a helluva lot of power.

I think OSU being left out will definitely push more for going to 8 teams. I think also that Baylor AND TCU being left out would push the Big12 to expand to 12-14 teams and a Conf Championship game.

Can't wait to see what happens...then BOOM goes the dynamite.

 

[gocraz4dasu]

As for the supposed bad loss. Do the 11 consecutive wins and conference championship count for anything?

Yeah, it accounts for them being ranked fifth and ahead of TCU in my rankings. They have the worst loss out of the 1 loss teams and play in a weaker conference. I said I would understand them receiving the fourth place nod without any sort of real annoyance so it's not like I'm vehemently against them getting in.

 

[SmilinBob]

I think OSU being left out will definitely push more for going to 8 teams. I think also that Baylor AND TCU being left out would push the Big12 to expand to 12-14 teams and a Conf Championship game.

Can't wait to see what happens...then BOOM goes the dynamite.

I hope the Big 12 doesn't concede or give in to this. Oklahoma St got bounced out by Bama before after they already lost to LSU but the "worst loss" theory came into play to give them the boot.