2014 NCAA Football Thread

[hailstateunis]

At first, I was against only four playoff teams and wanted either 6 or 8, but after seeing it in action I don't want to see it expanded. I thought it was fantastic. It keeps the special feeling that these are the nation's elite teams and it squeezes importance out of two bowl games rather than 0, but it expands it just enough to eliminate errors that may be caused by biased voters and an imperfect system. The 3rd place team usually had an argument for being in the NCG, but the 5th place team not as much.

I really like this system and the first one delivered big time. I mean, at least as an OSU fan.

Agreed. I'd rather have one team too few than three too many.

Too many would be the certain result of 8 teams. FiveThirtyEight posted this today to apply the rules of the BCS, current playoff, and proposed 8-team playoff systems to the last 17 seasons.

What we have now is great. The games themselves kind of sucked, but they're to determine who's #1. Past #4, I don't know how much of a claim to #1 a team could legitimately have.

That graphic's not entirely accurate. Alabama, a 1-loss non-conference champion (with 0% chance), made the two-team title game in 2011.

[Sport]

At first, I was against only four playoff teams and wanted either 6 or 8, but after seeing it in action I don't want to see it expanded. I thought it was fantastic. It keeps the special feeling that these are the nation's elite teams and it squeezes importance out of two bowl games rather than 0, but it expands it just enough to eliminate errors that may be caused by biased voters and an imperfect system. The 3rd place team usually had an argument for being in the NCG, but the 5th place team not as much.

I really like this system and the first one delivered big time. I mean, at least as an OSU fan.

Agreed. I'd rather have one team too few than three too many.

Too many would be the certain result of 8 teams. FiveThirtyEight posted this today to apply the rules of the BCS, current playoff, and proposed 8-team playoff systems to the last 17 seasons.

What we have now is great. The games themselves kind of sucked, but they're to determine who's #1. Past #4, I don't know how much of a claim to #1 a team could legitimately have.

That graphic's not entirely accurate. Alabama, a 1-loss non-conference champion (with 0% chance), made the two-team title game in 2011.

That season didn't actually happen and should be wiped from the record books and everybody's memories. I applaud fivethirtyeight for (probably unintentionally) taking a stand against that farce of a championship game.

[infrared41]

At first, I was against only four playoff teams and wanted either 6 or 8, but after seeing it in action I don't want to see it expanded. I thought it was fantastic. It keeps the special feeling that these are the nation's elite teams and it squeezes importance out of two bowl games rather than 0, but it expands it just enough to eliminate errors that may be caused by biased voters and an imperfect system. The 3rd place team usually had an argument for being in the NCG, but the 5th place team not as much.

I really like this system and the first one delivered big time. I mean, at least as an OSU fan.

Agreed. I'd rather have one team too few than three too many.

Hypothetically, if TCU holds on to their 21 point 4th quarter lead on the road against Baylor, then an undefeated conference champ TCU is in the playoff and Ohio State is left out. Would you feel the same way if the Buckeyes were the team left out? Especially now that we know they proved to be the best team of the 4?

If you go back and look, you'll see that I wasn't entirely sure the Buckeyes deserved the 4th spot when the teams were announced. So to answer your question, yes, I would feel the same way.

EDIT: I am in 100% agreement with McCarthy's reply to your question.

[j'villejags]

At first, I was against only four playoff teams and wanted either 6 or 8, but after seeing it in action I don't want to see it expanded. I thought it was fantastic. It keeps the special feeling that these are the nation's elite teams and it squeezes importance out of two bowl games rather than 0, but it expands it just enough to eliminate errors that may be caused by biased voters and an imperfect system. The 3rd place team usually had an argument for being in the NCG, but the 5th place team not as much.

I really like this system and the first one delivered big time. I mean, at least as an OSU fan.

Agreed. I'd rather have one team too few than three too many.

Hypothetically, if TCU holds on to their 21 point 4th quarter lead on the road against Baylor, then an undefeated conference champ TCU is in the playoff and Ohio State is left out. Would you feel the same way if the Buckeyes were the team left out? Especially now that we know they proved to be the best team of the 4?

If you go back and look, you'll see that I wasn't entirely sure the Buckeyes deserved the 4th spot when the teams were announced. So to answer your question, yes, I would feel the same way.

EDIT: I am in 100% agreement with McCarthy's reply to your question.

I am new to this thread so I hadn't read your prior posts but I appreciate the responses. Just to be clear, I've got nothing against the Buckeyes. I got to go to the Big House with some Ohio State friends for the 100th game and had a great time. I was just curious how some may react. I think TCU handled the situation with class this year, and with their returning starters they should be right in the mix to make it next season.

[charger77]

Paterno gets his wins back.

[IceCap]

That's a G-ddamned disgrace.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The only surprise with the NCAA is not if they'll be horribly depraved but instead by how much.

Eff them and they're intentional walking back of all the minor sanctions imposed in 2012. The clear lesson is that NCAA teams can do whatever they want; it'll all work our after a minor hand slap.

[JayMac]

Who cares if he gets his wins back? It isn't affecting anyone of you. We already know that the NCAA is a joke and a disgrace anyway.

[FiddySicks]

I mean, the NCAA can "Take" his wins away from him if they really want, but it doesn't change the fact that they actually happened. Rivisionist history is just about the lamest form of "punishment" one can receive anyway.

I'm actually more upset with the bowl ban lift than I am with this one. At least that's somewhat tangible. But either way, this whole thing shows just how royally the NCAA f****d this whole thing up. The punishments were incredibly arbitrary and mostly meaningless, anyway.

They should've hit them WAAAY harder in the wallet, or what was suggested by many, given them the death penalty.

[Geoff]

Should Penn State have been punished? Do I really need to answer that? Was it within the jurisdiction of the NCAA? Not by a long shot.

I just think it is funny that without either man coaching another game the career wins leader has changed from JoePa to Bobby Bowden back to JoePa.

[OnWis97]

The NCAA's next step: Giving Mike McQueary a job.

[pmoehrin]

Nice to see that the culture of enabling and denialism is still intact at Penn State and working very hard to make sure there are no consequences for anyone outside of Jerry Sandusky.

To them I say congrats. The penalties handed down to the program ultimately amounted to little more then a slap on the wrist. The football program didn't lose a dollar in funding from the school. And today, Saint Joe Pa got all his wins back.

They won.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Who cares if he gets his wins back? It isn't affecting anyone of you. We already know that the NCAA is a joke and a disgrace anyway.

You punish to hurt the transgressor, but also to set an example for future trangressees. If you don't follow through with your punishments, you enable future bad actors.

[See Red]

Well, it does restore him as the winning-est coach of all-time. It's significant in that regard if you care about those things. Then again, he passed Bobby Bowden, who was no stranger to scandals himself (though obviously none as significant as what happened at Penn State).

As far as if Ohio State missing it would make me rethink a four team playoff -- I'm with McCarthy and Infrared in that it would not. Ohio State wasn't a team that clearly belonged in the playoffs at the time as a result of their terrible loss at home to a bad Virginia Tech team. Had they not beaten Wisconsin in the fashion they did, I think most people would have had them outside of the final four. I'm fine with that... it keeps an emphasis on the regular season. In fact, if a power five conference is missing the playoff every year, it may lead to teams attempting to play tougher schedules.

[IceCap]

I mean, the NCAA can "Take" his wins away from him if they really want, but it doesn't change the fact that they actually happened. Rivisionist history is just about the lamest form of "punishment" one can receive anyway.

I'm actually more upset with the bowl ban lift than I am with this one. At least that's somewhat tangible. But either way, this whole thing shows just how royally the NCAA f****d this whole thing up. The punishments were incredibly arbitrary and mostly meaningless, anyway.

They should've hit them WAAAY harder in the wallet, or what was suggested by many, given them the death penalty.

To me it wasn't so much revisionist history as much as it was a well-earned mark of shame. Paterno acted in self-interest, allowing a known pedophile to hurt children under his watch while he did nothing to preserve his own cult of personality and the "reputation" of a G-ddamned football team. Taking the wins from that era away wasn't an attempt to deny that they happened, but to remind everyone that they occurred at the expense of people who were harmed by a monster who was enabled by the team and, ultimately, the school.

The best thing that could have happened would have been to shut the program down for four years and flush everyone out so that when it came back it had an entirely different culture. They didn't do that, and eventually backtracked on what meaningful penalties they did dish out.

Joe Paterno, Jerry Sandusky, Penn State, and the NCAA. The deepest, darkest pit of Hell was made for you people.

[JayMac]

I mean, the NCAA can "Take" his wins away from him if they really want, but it doesn't change the fact that they actually happened. Rivisionist history is just about the lamest form of "punishment" one can receive anyway.

I'm actually more upset with the bowl ban lift than I am with this one. At least that's somewhat tangible. But either way, this whole thing shows just how royally the NCAA f****d this whole thing up. The punishments were incredibly arbitrary and mostly meaningless, anyway.

They should've hit them WAAAY harder in the wallet, or what was suggested by many, given them the death penalty.

To me it wasn't so much revisionist history as much as it was a well-earned mark of shame. Paterno acted in self-interest, allowing a known pedophile to hurt children under his watch while he did nothing to preserve his own cult of personality and the "reputation" of a G-ddamned football team. Taking the wins from that era away wasn't an attempt to deny that they happened, but to remind everyone that they occurred at the expense of people who were harmed by a monster who was enabled by the team and, ultimately, the school.

The best thing that could have happened would have been to shut the program down for four years and flush everyone out so that when it came back it had an entirely different culture. They didn't do that, and eventually backtracked on what meaningful penalties they did dish out.

Joe Paterno, Jerry Sandusky, Penn State, and the NCAA. The deepest, darkest pit of Hell was made for you people.

Telling the whole university to F off is harsh and unfair. I am an alumnus of the university and I am somewhat offended. I couldn't care less if you tell Joe Paterno and the molester to F off. And I certainly agree with you about your opinion of the NCAA. However the majority of the school had nothing to do with this. Also, FTR, I really didn't care if Paterno got his wins back and that there was a bowl ban.

[IceCap]

I'm not keen on re-hashing this argument, but sure. I'm not blaming, say, the history department or the biology department for this mess. I am, however, blaming the general culture that permeated throughout the school. You had students rioting in defence of Paterno even after the full extent of his culpability had been exposed. Those weren't kids directly connected to to the football team. They were business, history, poli-sci, biology, psychology, etc... majors who were deeply invested in the myth Paterno cultivated for himself and for the football program.

It's a sad fact that this was allowed to happen because the football team became so big and so important that it was able to dictate policy and foster an atmosphere of protection where anything that could damage the reputation of the team was swept under the rug. Yes, most Penn State faculty, students, and alumni were innocent in this. That doesn't mean that the school was "clean" though. There were, and apparently still are, major cultural issues that need to be addressed yet won't be because the people running the school are delusional and the NCAA is happy to enable them.

That's what I mean when I say Penn State.

[JayMac]

I'm not keen on re-hashing this argument, but sure. I'm not blaming, say, the history department or the biology department for this mess. I am, however, blaming the general culture that permeated throughout the school. You had students rioting in defence of Paterno even after the full extent of his culpability had been exposed. Those weren't kids directly connected to to the football team. They were business, history, poli-sci, biology, psychology, etc... majors who were deeply invested in the myth Paterno cultivated for himself and for the football program.

It's a sad fact that this was allowed to happen because the football team became so big and so important that it was able to dictate policy and foster an atmosphere of protection where anything that could damage the reputation of the team was swept under the rug. Yes, most Penn State faculty, students, and alumni were innocent in this. That doesn't mean that the school was "clean" though. There were, and apparently still are, major cultural issues that need to be addressed yet won't be because the people running the school are delusional and the NCAA is happy to enable them.

That's what I mean when I say Penn State.

Thanks for clarifying. Trust me, I am not trying to rehash it either. I just wanted the story to go away. I feel like I'm a PSU alum who is a huge fan of the football team but is pretty unbiased about the situation. I agree that many were, and still are, brainwashed. I feel bad for those people because they can't look at it objectively. I apologize if I got a little emotional.

[OnWis97]

I'm not keen on re-hashing this argument, but sure. I'm not blaming, say, the history department or the biology department for this mess. I am, however, blaming the general culture that permeated throughout the school. You had students rioting in defence of Paterno even after the full extent of his culpability had been exposed. Those weren't kids directly connected to to the football team. They were business, history, poli-sci, biology, psychology, etc... majors who were deeply invested in the myth Paterno cultivated for himself and for the football program.

It's a sad fact that this was allowed to happen because the football team became so big and so important that it was able to dictate policy and foster an atmosphere of protection where anything that could damage the reputation of the team was swept under the rug. Yes, most Penn State faculty, students, and alumni were innocent in this. That doesn't mean that the school was "clean" though. There were, and apparently still are, major cultural issues that need to be addressed yet won't be because the people running the school are delusional and the NCAA is happy to enable them.

That's what I mean when I say Penn State.

It's amazing how rarely you see this argument. Do yourself a favor and don't read any "user comments" on the story.

Something happened that the idea of winning football games became so important that institutional integrity was so far gone that nobody even knew how to find it. And while the math major, defensive end, special teams coach, board member, etc. were not guilty of anything, several people were and the culture seems to be poisoned. And that's why I wanted to see the death penalty happen...the school seems to need it cleaned out of their system. Honestly, in a better world, the school shuts down the program itself. Instead the NCAA did what they did and backed off halfway through...I'd rather they just not punish them because now they send the message that they overreacted.

And with each lifting of punishment, the majority (those who's objective is to bring PSU back to prominence) feel more and more validated.

A person is smart. People are stupid.

[dbadefense1990]

Paterno gets his wins back.

I want to really know what, according to the NCAA, makes USC's actions much worse than a D-1 head coach and his school administration harboring a rapist/pedophile for decades on-end. Despicable.