Under current playoff proposal would the 87 team been in final four?

[Orangeyes]

Were we ranked #4 at the end of the regular season before the bowl games?

AP

1987 After Bowl Games

1. Miami (Fla.)
2. Florida State
3. Oklahoma
4. Syracuse
5. Louisiana State
6. Nebraska
7. Auburn
8. Michigan State
9. UCLA
10. Texas A&M
11. Oklahoma State
12. Clemson
13. Georgia
14. Tennessee
15. South Carolina
16. Iowa
17. Notre Dame
18. USC
19. Michigan
20. Arizona State

UPI

1987

1. Miami (Fla.)
2. Florida State
3. Oklahoma
4. Syracuse
5. Louisiana State
6. Nebraska
7. Auburn
8. Michigan State
9. Texas A&M
10. Clemson
11. UCLA
12. Oklahoma State
13. Tennessee
14. Georgia
15. South Carolina
16. Iowa
17. USC
18. Michigan
19. Texas
20. Indiana

Miami beat Oklahoma 20-14 in the Orange Bowl

College Football Polls

This site attempts to fix the final poll.

There are a lot of problems to fix in this top 20, so let's get right to it.

#6 Nebraska's 10-2 record pales next to #4 Syracuse's 11-0-1, but let's really look at these teams. Nebraska's losses came to #2 Florida State and #3 Oklahoma, both rated higher than Syracuse, while Syracuse's tie came against #7 Auburn, who is rated lower than Nebraska.

Nebraska beat 4 ranked teams (#9 UCLA, #11 Oklahoma State, #15 South Carolina, and #20 Arizona State), while Syracuse beat none. Zip. Nada.

Nebraska stomped on all their unrated opponents, while Syracuse edged 6-6 West Virginia 32-31 at home in their regular season finale. There is simply no debate to be had here.

Move Nebraska to #4, dropping Syracuse one spot. #5 Louisiana State will be dropping anyway, as discussed next.

Fixing the Final 1987 AP College Football Poll

The consensus All American team had two Orangemen on the first team

Donnie finshed 2nd in the Heisman

But he won the Maxwell & Coach Mac won the AFCA Coach of the Year & FWAA Coach of the Year awards

 

[SURules]

I'm not sure we can sustain that type of level being in the top but getting there once a decade would be a great goal. We first have to get to a consistent top 25 level"ish" program again. Baby steps I guess. 'Cuse can do it if they are committed to it.

 

[Orangeyes]

I'm not sure we can sustain that type of level being in the top but getting there once a decade would be a great goal. We first have to get to a consistent top 25 level"ish" program again. Baby steps I guess. 'Cuse can do it if they are committed to it.

So much has changed with the recruiting landscape since 87. Back then we didn't have as much competition in Jersey, Connecticut, NYS and the 2nd tier prospects from Florida etc.

We are in the process of re-inventing ourselves and it's going to take a lot of hard work and dedication to get ourselves back where we once were.

Schools like UConn, Rutgers, Central Florida and South Florida were once non-factors.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Final regular season rankings:

1. Miami (11-0).
2. Oklahoma (11-0).
3. FSU (10-1) Loss to Miami.
4. Syracuse (11-0).
5. Nebraska (10-1) Loss to Oklahoma.
6. Auburn (9-1-1).

SU was #4 in both polls. Obviously if the coaches and the media felt that Nebraska was more deserving of a spot in the FF they would have been ranked ahead of us.

 

[Orangemen]

Let's be honest here.

I bleed orange and blue, but based on that guy's arguments, I'd vote Nebraska ahead of SU.

So, no, SU probably would not have made the 4 team playoff that year.

But I'm sure that would have been the straw that broke the camel's back and caused a national outcry that would have led to an 8 team playoff.

So the sacrifice would have been worth it.

 

[OrangePA]

Were we ranked #4 at the end of the regular season before the bowl games?

AP

1987 After Bowl Games

1. Miami (Fla.)
2. Florida State
3. Oklahoma
4. Syracuse
5. Louisiana State
6. Nebraska
7. Auburn
8. Michigan State
9. UCLA
10. Texas A&M
11. Oklahoma State
12. Clemson
13. Georgia
14. Tennessee
15. South Carolina
16. Iowa
17. Notre Dame
18. USC
19. Michigan
20. Arizona State

UPI

1987

1. Miami (Fla.)
2. Florida State
3. Oklahoma
4. Syracuse
5. Louisiana State
6. Nebraska
7. Auburn
8. Michigan State
9. Texas A&M
10. Clemson
11. UCLA
12. Oklahoma State
13. Tennessee
14. Georgia
15. South Carolina
16. Iowa
17. USC
18. Michigan
19. Texas
20. Indiana

Miami beat Oklahoma 20-14 in the Orange Bowl

College Football Polls

This site attempts to fix the final poll.

There are a lot of problems to fix in this top 20, so let's get right to it.

#6 Nebraska's 10-2 record pales next to #4 Syracuse's 11-0-1, but let's really look at these teams. Nebraska's losses came to #2 Florida State and #3 Oklahoma, both rated higher than Syracuse, while Syracuse's tie came against #7 Auburn, who is rated lower than Nebraska.

Nebraska beat 4 ranked teams (#9 UCLA, #11 Oklahoma State, #15 South Carolina, and #20 Arizona State), while Syracuse beat none. Zip. Nada.

Nebraska stomped on all their unrated opponents, while Syracuse edged 6-6 West Virginia 32-31 at home in their regular season finale. There is simply no debate to be had here.

Move Nebraska to #4, dropping Syracuse one spot. #5 Louisiana State will be dropping anyway, as discussed next.

Fixing the Final 1987 AP College Football Poll

The consensus All American team had two Orangemen on the first team

Donnie finshed 2nd in the Heisman

But he won the Maxwell & Coach Mac won the AFCA Coach of the Year & FWAA Coach of the Year awards

What was our rank at conclusion of 1992 season, following Fiesta Bowl?

 

[Orangeyes]

What was our rank at conclusion of 1992 season, following Fiesta Bowl?

AP

1992

1. Alabama
2. Florida State
3. Miami (Fla.)
4. Notre Dame
5. Michigan
6. Syracuse
7. Texas A&M
8. Georgia
9. Stanford
10. Florida
11. Washington
12. Tennessee
13. Colorado
14. Nebraska
15. Washington St.
16. Mississippi
17. N. C. State
18. Ohio State
19. North Carolina
20. Hawaii
21. Boston College
22. Kansas
23. Mississippi State
24. Fresno State
25. Wake Forest

USA Today

1992
1. Alabama
2. Florida State
3. Miami (Fla.)
4. Notre Dame
5. Michigan
6. Texas A&M
7. Syracuse
8. Georgia
9. Stanford
10. Washington
11. Florida
12. Tennessee
13. Colorado
14. Nebraska
15. N. C. State
16. Mississippi
17. Washington St.
18. Ohio State
19. Hawaii
20. North Carolina
21. Boston College
22. Fresno State
23. Kansas
24. Mississippi State
25. Penn State

 

[SURules]

quote="Orangemen, post: 303451, member: 106"]Let's be honest here.

I bleed orange and blue, but based on that guy's arguments, I'd vote Nebraska ahead of SU.

So, no, SU probably would not have made the 4 team playoff that year.[/quote]

This is exactly why they will go to eight teams someday as some "power" team from the SEC or Big1G will be left out due to the selection committee. The media will be in an uproar over it all and a change will be made. Note that the SEC wants 2 teams in annually.

 

[IthacaMatt]

quote="Orangemen, post: 303451, member: 106"]Let's be honest here.

I bleed orange and blue, but based on that guy's arguments, I'd vote Nebraska ahead of SU.

So, no, SU probably would not have made the 4 team playoff that year.

This is exactly why they will go to eight teams someday as some "power" team from the SEC or Big1G will be left out due to the selection committee. The media will be in an uproar over it all and a change will be made. Note that the SEC wants 2 teams in annually.[/quote]

Teams seeking multiple bids for their conferences better schedule a couple marquee OOC games to justify it. I think the SEC kind of builds up their RPI ratings artificially because they are all rated so high. I think the SEC in general doesn't play that great an OOC schedule because their own conference is so tough.

This is kind of like the Big East's argument in basketball scheduling - we don't need to go play 5 tough schools in the preseason - let's appear in a tournament, and then let the conference strength of schedule carry us.