Week 15 FBS Conference Championship Games for Dec 6-7

[Horn88]

Hey Alabama, don’t get smoked by a terrible Oklahoma team.

I’m not saying at all that Bama is a juggernaut that deserves to be in. But you need 12 teams. And when comparing resumes for team #12 announcing year one that who you play and who you beat doesn’t matter is a very slippery slope.

 

[Horn88]

How would it set a precedent?
Teams would just come down with the Blue flu from now on and not even play in the Championship game if they were already a lock for the playoffs.

I don’t think the programs with winning cultures who are actually a threat to win would have that mentality.

I can see why you would take that stance if you’re an SMU type which is probably a loud enough statement on its own that they don’t belong in.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[sufan59]

I was listening to Paul Finebaum this morning and he even has conceded that this will probably be the case, but you know where he stands on this matter.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Why? Who you play and who you beat should matter. Committee would be saying it doesn’t if they move SMU in over Bama. If you don’t get rewarded for big wins and only penalized for the loss column why wouldn’t everyone try to make their schedule easy as possible?

And whether you agree or not I feel very comfortable saying that the SEC will not just sit and shrug their shoulders towards a system that has Bama, Ole Miss, SC sitting at home because they’re in a tougher conference and SMU plays two teams with a pulse and goes 0-2.

Who you play and who you beat matters, but apply that to the conference championship games, which not every team qualifies for. Pulling a team from the playoffs that lost a conference championship in favor of a team that didn't make their championship is a worse incentive than the one you fear about programs trying to schedule light. Even against a light schedule you have to win the games, and good wins shouldn't totally erase bad losses. Alabama has bad losses.

 

[SWC75]

SMU should be in the Big 12 and Stanford and Cal could have gotten together with the remains of the Pac 12 and joined the Mountain West. Also, West Virginia and Connecticut should be in the ACC. There, fixed.

 

[Horn88]

Who you play and who you beat matters, but apply that to the conference championship games, which not every team qualifies for. Pulling a team from the playoffs that lost a conference championship in favor of a team that didn't make their championship is a worse incentive than the one you fear about programs trying to schedule light. Even against a light schedule you have to win the games, and good wins shouldn't totally erase bad losses. Alabama has bad losses.

Plenty of examples of teams falling out of the playoff for losing their conference championship. Just last year it happened to undefeated two time defending champ Georgia. And I would argue Clemson took SMU’s spot from them on the field last night not Bama.

Alabama has bad losses and good wins. SMU has neither and the schedule was a gift and a curse that it was easy but when you played someone ranked make it count. They went 0-2.

But this isn’t really a Bama vs. SMU argument. It’s a does strength of schedule matter argument. The CFP website has strength of schedule as the first bullet point listed under their principles. The SEC schools all being considered for spot 12 probably all have a better argument than SMU it’s just that Bama has the best argument of those 3. And I agree with most that Indiana is getting off really easy in all of this.

CFP Selection Committee Protocol

 

[HRE Otto IV]

I think SMU is in and that’s probably pretty bad for the sport in the bigger picture.

Heavily incentives schools to play as easy a schedule as possible so less big regular season non-conference games and also likely expedites SEC and Big Ten breaking away much sooner than later.

How so? SMU played 2 P4 OOC games and 11 P4 games total on the year. That isn't scheduling soft.

 

[JustPherU]

How so? SMU played 2 P4 OOC games and 11 P4 games total on the year. That isn't scheduling soft.

Not all P4 teams are equal

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Not all P4 teams are equal

SEC > ACC not arguing that. But SMU played 2 P4 games OOC and both were better than Bama's one team. You cannot control you conference schedule. You can OOC. Bama chose to play weak, not SMU.

 

[Horn88]

How so? SMU played 2 P4 OOC games and 11 P4 games total on the year. That isn't scheduling soft.

They played two teams all year that finished ranked. They went 0-2 and it wasn’t against top 5-10 teams either. They’re getting in because of the number in the loss column, not because they have any wins of note they can point to.

If your schedule is your schedule that’s fine but then you have to atleast split with the tough games.

Bama has non-conference home and homes scheduled with Notre Dame and Ohio State in the future. I genuinely see no upside for any of the three schools to play those games as is and I think that’s bad for the sport.

I also think it very likely expedites SEC and Big Ten breaking off from the rest when the current CFP contract ends which is also bad for the sport.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

They played two teams all year that finished ranked. They went 0-2 and it wasn’t against top 5-10 teams either. They’re getting in because of the number in the loss column, not because they have any wins of note they can point to.

If your schedule is your schedule that’s fine but then you have to atleast split with the tough games.

Bama has non-conference home and homes scheduled with Notre Dame and Ohio State in the future. I genuinely see no upside for any of the three schools to play those games as is.

If Bama scheduled 4 cupcakes OOC they are still 9-3.

 

[JustPherU]

SEC > ACC not arguing that. But SMU played 2 P4 games OOC and both were better than Bama's one team. You cannot control you conference schedule. You can OOC. Bama chose to play weak, not SMU.

There’s no right answer, everyone has their opinion.On a neutral field Bama would be at least a 7 point favorite over SMU though.
No right answer to who should be in though.

 

[Horn88]

If Bama scheduled 4 cupcakes OOC they are still 9-3.

I think you missed the broader point.

 

[Orangezoo]

They played two teams all year that finished ranked. They went 0-2 and it wasn’t against top 5-10 teams either. They’re getting in because of the number in the loss column, not because they have any wins of note they can point to.

If your schedule is your schedule that’s fine but then you have to atleast split with the tough games.

Bama has non-conference home and homes scheduled with Notre Dame and Ohio State in the future. I genuinely see no upside for any of the three schools to play those games as is and I think that’s bad for the sport.

I also think it very likely expedites SEC and Big Ten breaking off from the rest when the current CFP contract ends which is also bad for the sport.

Even now much of the SEC that is ranked is insulated in that ranking and thus playing one another and playing other ranked teams meets that. You only have to look at the non conference wins across the SEC ranked teams and notice how there isn’t much that stands out beyond Georgia really. Everyone else had some P4 wins and some by large margins but not against teams that ended up unranked.

 

[Horn88]

Even now much of the SEC that is ranked is insulated in that ranking and thus playing one another and playing other ranked teams meets that. You only have to look at the non conference wins across the SEC ranked teams and notice how there isn’t much that stands out beyond Georgia really. Everyone else had some P4 wins and some by large margins but not against teams that ended up unranked.

I don’t know it seems like every year people have an issue with the conference that has the best recruiting classes, most guys drafted, most national championships being considered the best conference and usually say “in the past they were but not this year” every year.

And to be clear Bama only has themselves to blame for not showing up in Norman. They aren’t elite by any stretch. But that’s not the question it’s who has the best resume for team #12.

Clemson was embarrassed by Georgia and lost last week at home to South Carolina. Then they go out and are in control all game for the most part against SMU who also lost to the only other ranked team they played all year. Bama best both SC and Georgia. At some point who you play and who you beat has to be relevant.

There’s a lot of SEC fatigue which leads to people being happy about SMU making it in but I think today is going to be looked back on as the start of some big changes that aren’t good for the sport or the fan experience.

 

[SmilinBob]

Win your conference and if you don't it's all a crap shoot.

 

[Archimedes]

I don’t know it seems like every year people have an issue with the conference that has the best recruiting classes, most guys drafted, most national championships being considered the best conference and usually say “in the past they were but not this year” every year.

And to be clear Bama only has themselves to blame for not showing up in Norman. They aren’t elite by any stretch. But that’s not the question it’s who has the best resume for team #12.

Clemson was embarrassed by Georgia and lost last week at home to South Carolina. Then they go out and are in control all game for the most part against SMU who also lost to the only other ranked team they played all year. Bama best both SC and Georgia. At some point who you play and who you beat has to be relevant.

There’s a lot of SEC fatigue which leads to people being happy about SMU making it in but I think today is going to be looked back on as the start of some big changes that aren’t good for the sport or the fan experience.

Well said. I want SMU in because they are new and different. Deep down, I know Bama would beat them by 3 touchdowns on a neutral field. If Klubnik wasn't such a nudnik, it would have been 31-7 at halftime last night.

 

[Newhouser]

I don’t know it seems like every year people have an issue with the conference that has the best recruiting classes, most guys drafted, most national championships being considered the best conference and usually say “in the past they were but not this year” every year.

And to be clear Bama only has themselves to blame for not showing up in Norman. They aren’t elite by any stretch. But that’s not the question it’s who has the best resume for team #12.

Clemson was embarrassed by Georgia and lost last week at home to South Carolina. Then they go out and are in control all game for the most part against SMU who also lost to the only other ranked team they played all year. Bama best both SC and Georgia. At some point who you play and who you beat has to be relevant.

There’s a lot of SEC fatigue which leads to people being happy about SMU making it in but I think today is going to be looked back on as the start of some big changes that aren’t good for the sport or the fan experience.

I think your last paragraph is spot on. The big two are going to use it to start the next evolution.

 

[Bball44]

I think your last paragraph is spot on. The big two are going to use it to start the next evolution.

Wasn't that the plan all along?

 

[Newhouser]

Wasn't that the plan all along?

Yes. As I posted earlier I want them to just get on with it. This will just be another faux reason they cite when Mr Cortland State makes his move

 

[kirbivore]

Hey Alabama, don’t get smoked by a terrible Oklahoma team.

It wasn't so much they lost, they looked like crapola. Also losing the Vandy didn't help. Split those two you might have been ranked ahead of Indiana. I can't wait to hammer the Irish in two weeks. Indiana played nobody this year and got smoked by the one good team they played, tOSU.