College Football - Championship Week

[Ding Dong Johnson]

41 minutes ago, javy knows my name said:

This game is officially awesome 

The 2nd half better not suck

[We Got The Whole 9]

Felt like I was watching a Bears Packers game with those 2 recovered fumbles on Georgias last drive. Absolutely ridiculous fortune.

[Derwood]

Penn State cannot match Oregon's speed

[Derwood]

Putting up 37 on Oregon and losing sucks.

[Andy]

Well, here we are. Alabama or SMU will be the debate.

I don't know who is better but I know if the committee thought SMU was 3 spots better 5 days ago, it would be really weird if losing at the buzzer in a game Bama failed to qualify for changed their mind.

[Derwood]

Punishing a team for their 2nd loss while letting in an idle team with 3 losses would be complete bullsh!t and also exactly what I expect

[Andy]

20 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Punishing a team for their 2nd loss while letting in an idle team with 3 losses would be complete bullsh!t and also exactly what I expect

One of our teams will probably be playing against them too

[UMFan83]

33 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Punishing a team for their 2nd loss while letting in an idle team with 3 losses would be complete bullsh!t and also exactly what I expect

If they put Bama in over SMU, the drama would be FSU last year x1000

The fallout would be teams flat out declining conference championship game appearances and more drama with ACC teams desperately trying to bail from the conference getting us closer to the Big Ten/SEC super league. 

I think the committee will do the right thing this time and keep SMU in over Bama. If SMU got blown out like it was looking like it might at times then maybe there’s a window where I could see them doing it (though still somewhat unlikely) but it just can’t happen without massive repercussions, especially with Bama also sneaking in last year over an undefeated team. 

Funny thing is, if there was still a 4 team CFP, we’d be seeing not only our first 2 loss CFP team, but likely our first two 2 loss CFP teams. 

1. Oregon (13-0)

2. Notre Dame (11-1)

3. Georgia (11-2)

4. Umm…probably one of Texas/PSU/OSU/Tenn?

what a completely wild and wacky season of college football

[bukie]

If I got to pick...

1. Oregon - duh

2. Georgia - duh

3. Boise State - got to be now, right?

4. Arizona State - Likely ahead of Clemson, probably not ahead of Boise State.

5. Notre Dame - Tough luck for PSU, but they'll drop enough to leave room for ND here.

6. Ohio State - Annoying, but probably the next best team. PSU lost to them, and they just have plain better wins than Texas.

7. Texas - Played Georgia close enough that they'll probably stay ahead of PSU, fair or not.

8. Penn State - Sucks to drop them below two teams that didn't play this week, but the resumes were close enough beforehand that they end up here. Good enough to keep a home game.

9. Tennessee - I have a hard time seeing them jump PSU. Resume just isn't as good.

10. Indiana - Still safely in, probably ahead of SMU

11. SMU - I think they earned this more than any 3 loss team, and I don't think Clemson jumps them.

12. Clemson - Somehow sneaks back into the playoff, at least I assume they are ahead of Army.

[UMFan83]

40 minutes ago, bukie said:

If I got to pick...

1. Oregon - duh

2. Georgia - duh

3. Boise State - got to be now, right?

4. Arizona State - Likely ahead of Clemson, probably not ahead of Boise State.

5. Notre Dame - Tough luck for PSU, but they'll drop enough to leave room for ND here.

6. Ohio State - Annoying, but probably the next best team. PSU lost to them, and they just have plain better wins than Texas.

7. Texas - Played Georgia close enough that they'll probably stay ahead of PSU, fair or not.

8. Penn State - Sucks to drop them below two teams that didn't play this week, but the resumes were close enough beforehand that they end up here. Good enough to keep a home game.

9. Tennessee - I have a hard time seeing them jump PSU. Resume just isn't as good.

10. Indiana - Still safely in, probably ahead of SMU

11. SMU - I think they earned this more than any 3 loss team, and I don't think Clemson jumps them.

12. Clemson - Somehow sneaks back into the playoff, at least I assume they are ahead of Army.

I know Army obviously isnt going to be in over Clemson but that makes me wonder, what if they were in contention for that spot with Navy still on the schedule?  Would the Navy game just not at all factor into the CFP?  Imagine the uproad if they snuck in at 12 and then lost to Navy next week.  I'm assuming the committee has considered this scenario when they came up with this playoff model knowing there was at least a small chance that Army (or Navy) would be in a positon to be the top G5 champion.

[soccer10k]

1 hour ago, Derwood said:

Punishing a team for their 2nd loss while letting in an idle team with 3 losses would be complete bullsh!t and also exactly what I expect

Except the schedules aren't the same. SMU played 2 ranked teams and lost to both. Alabama had two bad losses that SMU didn't have (completely fair criticism!) but they also beat Georgia, South Carolina and MIssouri, who are all ranked.

[soccer10k]

1 hour ago, UMFan83 said:

The fallout would be teams flat out declining conference championship game appearances and more drama with ACC teams desperately trying to bail from the conference getting us closer to the Big Ten/SEC super league.

And this would be the wrong takeaway. The problem with these 16-18 team conferences is that the schedules are so imbalanced. In the regular season, SMU didn't play Clemson, Miami or Syracuse, who were the other three ranked teams in the ACC. In the SEC, 6 teams besides Bama are ranked and Bama played 4 of them. Would SMU have been 11-1 before today if they played two of those three ranked teams? Maybe. But I've got no problem penalizing a team for losing their conference if they might have only made the conference title game because they got the benefit of schedule luck.

And if you want to ding Texas for this exact thing, that's totally fair too. They played Georgia but missed the other five ranked SEC teams. Not saying Texas should be out but the schedule matters more now than it did before.

[soccer10k]

Without doing a ton of research, I think I'd go:

1. Oregon
2. Georgia
3. Boise St.
4. Arizona St.
5. Ohio St.
6. Texas
7. Penn St.
8. Notre Dame
9. Tennessee
10. Indiana
11. Ole Miss
12. Clemson

If I'm going to ding Texas or Penn St for having a soft schedule, I have to do the same to Notre Dame. And Notre Dame is the only one of the three that lost to Northern Illinois.

I know the committee had Bama over Ole Miss last week so Ole Miss has no chance of getting in. But I'd still put Ole Miss in front.

[Derwood]

The SEC could move towards a better situation by replacing the late season FCS games with another conference game…

[soccer10k]

46 minutes ago, Derwood said:

The SEC could move towards a better situation by replacing the late season FCS games with another conference game…

Good point, the ACC teams don't play FCS teams. Oh wait.

SMU played Houston Christian
Syracuse played Holy Cross
Miami played Florida A&M
Clemson played The Citadel (on Nov 23)

And I know the Big 10 plays 9 conference games but that didn't stop Oregon from playing Idaho and Indiana from playing Western Illinois.

That being said, yes, the ACC and SEC should be scheduling 9 conference games like the Big 10 and Big 12 do. It obviously wouldn't eliminate the problem of scheduling luck (case in point, Indiana this year) but it would help a little.

[I owned a Suzuki]

I think I'm more worked up by ASU,Boise St or Clemson getting a 1st round bye than who gets the 12th spot. 

[UMFan83]

9 hours ago, soccer10k said:

And this would be the wrong takeaway. The problem with these 16-18 team conferences is that the schedules are so imbalanced. In the regular season, SMU didn't play Clemson, Miami or Syracuse, who were the other three ranked teams in the ACC. In the SEC, 6 teams besides Bama are ranked and Bama played 4 of them. Would SMU have been 11-1 before today if they played two of those three ranked teams? Maybe. But I've got no problem penalizing a team for losing their conference if they might have only made the conference title game because they got the benefit of schedule luck.

And if you want to ding Texas for this exact thing, that's totally fair too. They played Georgia but missed the other five ranked SEC teams. Not saying Texas should be out but the schedule matters more now than it did before.

What about Indiana? A simple tiebreaker allowed them to avoid the Big Ten title game in favor of Penn State. Everyone has Indiana safely in even though their best win was by 5 points at home against a 7-5 Michigan team. They literally dont have another win against another +.500 team. Why does Indiana get to make it and SMU doesn’t? It’s a nearly identical situation. Indiana’s loss is slightly better (10-2 OSU vs 10-2 BYU) but SMU has beaten at 8-4 Louisville, at 9-3 Duke, vs 8-4 TCU. 

it’s complete crap to argue that SMU is out because they lost the extra game they had to play while Indiana gets in after beating literally no one.

The funny thing is, the tiebreaker that got Penn State into the title game over Indiana is Penn State having a harder Big Ten SOS. Indiana continues to get rewarded for playing no one except OSU who they lost by 3 scores to, while people are arguing a team that lost by 3 scores to a 6-6 Oklahoma team and had another loss to a 6-6 Vandy team should be in over SMU

Edited December 8, 2024 by UMFan83

[Derwood]

42 minutes ago, soccer10k said:

Good point, the ACC teams don't play FCS teams. Oh wait.

SMU played Houston Christian
Syracuse played Holy Cross
Miami played Florida A&M
Clemson played The Citadel (on Nov 23)

And I know the Big 10 plays 9 conference games but that didn't stop Oregon from playing Idaho and Indiana from playing Western Illinois.

That being said, yes, the ACC and SEC should be scheduling 9 conference games like the Big 10 and Big 12 do. It obviously wouldn't eliminate the problem of scheduling luck (case in point, Indiana this year) but it would help a little.

Don't need to convince me that they power conference schools should stop playing Marist and The Citadel.

I also wouldn't be mad if these mega conferences moved to 10 conference games

[bukie]

This selection show is interminable. Here's the only relevant news:

 

Now just spend the next half hour laughing at Nick Saban.

[UMFan83]

One thing that jumps out at me in these rankings: don’t lose to NIU. I have a hard time agreeing that Texas and Penn State should be ranked ahead of Notre Dame but I guess if I’m arguing SMU shouldn’t be penalized too much for losing the conference championship games then Texas and PSU shouldn’t either

[CubColtPacer]

Indiana and Notre Dame have only played once since the 1950's.  Indiana's only victory at Notre Dame was in 1898.

[Derwood]

Penn State has BY FAR the "easiest" path to the final four

[Andy]

32 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

One thing that jumps out at me in these rankings: don’t lose to NIU. I have a hard time agreeing that Texas and Penn State should be ranked ahead of Notre Dame but I guess if I’m arguing SMU shouldn’t be penalized too much for losing the conference championship games then Texas and PSU shouldn’t either

I always assumed ND would never be allowed to be 5 (highest they can get) because it would effectively mean that loss meant nothing. Whether that's just my conspiracy or not we'll never know.

Penn State has a dream path. Their best possible opponent prior to the title game is a Georgia team that's struggled offensively most of the year and might or might not have a healthy quarterback.

Edited December 8, 2024 by Andy

[UMFan83]

29 minutes ago, CubColtPacer said:

Indiana and Notre Dame have only played once since the 1950's.  Indiana's only victory at Notre Dame was in 1898.

That's insane.  Why havent they played?

[soccer10k]

1 hour ago, UMFan83 said:

What about Indiana? A simple tiebreaker allowed them to avoid the Big Ten title game in favor of Penn State. Everyone has Indiana safely in even though their best win was by 5 points at home against a 7-5 Michigan team. They literally dont have another win against another +.500 team. Why does Indiana get to make it and SMU doesn’t? It’s a nearly identical situation. Indiana’s loss is slightly better (10-2 OSU vs 10-2 BYU) but SMU has beaten at 8-4 Louisville, at 9-3 Duke, vs 8-4 TCU. 

it’s complete crap to argue that SMU is out because they lost the extra game they had to play while Indiana gets in after beating literally no one.

The funny thing is, the tiebreaker that got Penn State into the title game over Indiana is Penn State having a harder Big Ten SOS. Indiana continues to get rewarded for playing no one except OSU who they lost by 3 scores to, while people are arguing a team that lost by 3 scores to a 6-6 Oklahoma team and had another loss to a 6-6 Vandy team should be in over SMU

If you want to argue against Indiana, I’ve got no problem with that. One small difference between the two is SMU had 4 games decided by 10 or less whereas Indiana only had 1.