2016 NCAA Football Thread

[JQK]

Michigan is higher ranked than WISC or PSU. If the B1G Championship game is close, and Clemson loses, could we have a situation where two B1G teams are in the College Playoffs, and neither one of them be the conference champion?

 

Conference Championships in college football mean fu•k all...

[Burmy]

Let us all take this moment to reflect on the sharp sense of humor the football gods have this year; specifically, the last New Year's Six bowl game berth being up for grabs between a team whose slogan is #RowTheBoat...and the US Naval Academy.

[HedleyLamarr]

8 minutes ago, OnWis97 said:

Aren't we already there?  If Penn State wins then the committee either will discount their non conference loss or their conference championship.

I would think beating #2 Ohio State and beating #6 Wisconsin (on a neutral site in a championship game) and winning arguably the best conference in America (that also contains #5 Michigan) would be more than enough to offset losing to top-25 Pitt.

 

Washington already won. Let's assume Alabama, Clemson, and Penn State win.  13-0 Alabama will probably be #1.  Since #2 and #3 don't really matter other than picking what jersey to wear, 12-1 Clemson stays in the other semifinal spot but goes to #2.  I think the committee and the bowl would prefer the Pac-12 champion to be in the more western-based bowl, so a 12-1 Washington team goes up to #3.  So, at best, Ohio State (which won't be getting a 13th data point) could be #4.  Now for 11-2 Big Ten champion Penn State...definitely getting to #6, highly likely to jump previous #5 and idle Michigan.  This would leave #4 and #5 to Ohio State and Penn State.  With these two spots, to start doing comparisons, and what jumps out right away is both head-to-head and championships won....PSU holds the edge over OSU in both.  Even with two losses, whatever edges OSU has in schedule strength and common opponents gets nullified with what happened on the field between the two.  I've mentioned it before...the closer OSU and PSU get in the rankings, the harder it becomes to explain to Penn State why they shouldn't be ahead of OSU when they both beat them on the field and won the conference they're both a part of, two of the components the CFP committee has prefered in the first two seasons of their final rankings.

 

Ohio State is in trouble if:

-Clemson and Alabama win (Washington losing was probably the most likely of the three, and the Huskies were making a point last night)

-Penn State beats Wisconsin

-Oklahoma loses to Oklahoma State (schedule strength takes a hit for Ohio State)

[MJWalker45]

1 hour ago, MBurmy said:

Let us all take this moment to reflect on the sharp sense of humor the football gods have this year; specifically, the last New Year's Six bowl game berth being up for grabs between a team whose slogan is #RowTheBoat...and the US Naval Academy.

Navy doing their best to avoid putting off bowl selections.

[DS729]

11 hours ago, kcchiefsfan said:

This is exactly what I was fearful of. A division champ CAN'T be punished for playing an extra game against a CFP opponent but that is exactly what I think will happen. 

 

That was my issue with the CFP and Ohio State, If you are truly deserving of a top 4 ranking (or Rose Bowl birth) why didn't you win your conference? Can you imagine this type of thing happening in the NFL? Is there anyone in the world that thanks the 18-1 Patriots aren't a better team than the Giants? No, but they lost to the wrong team at the wrong time and that one loss excludes them from being the best team. OSU lost the wrong game, USC lost two conference games CU lost one. There shouldn't even be a discussion IMO.

Conference championships aren't exhibition games, and the results still impacts how the committee will judge that team. Now, if Colorado played Washington tight the whole way and lost a close game late? that'd be one thing. But they didn't, they were soundly beaten. Factor in that USC also beat Colorado and beat a playoff team on the road (Let's face it, the Huskies are a lock at this point.) I don't see the problem with USC getting to play in the Rose Bowl over Colorado. 

 

Let's also remember what these bowls are really about: money. Regardless of who we think has the better resume, these games are still about selling tickets and getting butts on couches to watch them. While I'm sure they'd get a lot of both with the Buffs playing, USC is a bigger name, and thus an easier sell. 

[Kramerica Industries]

It's likely irrelevant because the Big XII sucks by and large and the playoff system, as current, was almost specifically designed to ensure some conference (or two) gets screwed every year, but, frankly, if Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma, they should be (and should have been all along) treated as a one-loss team, because their season opening loss was a referee screw-up and the play should have never happened. I know, should've prevented it regardless, yada yada, but, much like Penn State beating Ohio State on a blocked field goal return, the truth is that flukes happen in this sport, but it's not Okie St.'s fault that the referee's illegally extended that game. 

 

Again, surely won't be enough anyway, but they aren't a true "two-loss" team unless they lose to the Sooners today, which is, of course, entirely possible and my render this entire post irrelevant in the next 90 minutes or so.

[TheRicSlick]

No need to worry about Navy.

 

Row the Boat! Hopefully they don't lay an egg in the Cotton.

[JWhiz96]

Thank god Navy lost, Western Michigan is (in my opinion) better and more deserving than Navy, especially since WMU is undefeated.

 

With Washington winning in dominating fashion yesterday, I think they sealed their fate as a playoff team. It's up to Clemson and the B1G champ to put their resumes up.

[stumpygremlin]

5 hours ago, HedleyLamarr said:

So...it makes championship weekend less important if a team can lose their conference championship game and still get in. 

 

Plus, you can lose all of your non-conference games and those games not mean anything because you won your conference championship game and finished the season 9-4.  Which means the regular season meant less.

The NCAA does this in all the other sports. If a team finished 9-4, winning all their conference games and none of their nonconference, they'd still get a bid in this scenario. They'd promptly get an 8-seed and lose in the first round anyway.

 

I, personally, like the idea of a 6+2 system. You give autobids to the ACC, SEC, Pac-12, Big Ten, and Big XII champs, as well as the highest-ranked Group of Five team. Then, you'd get two at-larges. This year, it'd be Alabama/Florida, Clemson/VT, Washington, PSU/Wisconsin, likely Oklahoma, and WMU. Then your at-larges would be Alabama and/or Clemson, should they lose their championships, and OSU and Michigan if UA and Clemson win. I have no problem with that field. Most of the time, it's generally clear who the best two non-champs are, and this system gives the Group of Five team a chance to prove that they can win the whole thing.

[HedleyLamarr]

11 minutes ago, stumpygremlin said:

The NCAA does this in all the other sports. If a team finished 9-4, winning all their conference games and none of their nonconference, they'd still get a bid in this scenario. They'd promptly get an 8-seed and lose in the first round anyway.

 

I, personally, like the idea of a 6+2 system. You give autobids to the ACC, SEC, Pac-12, Big Ten, and Big XII champs, as well as the highest-ranked Group of Five team. Then, you'd get two at-larges. This year, it'd be Alabama/Florida, Clemson/VT, Washington, PSU/Wisconsin, likely Oklahoma, and WMU. Then your at-larges would be Alabama and/or Clemson, should they lose their championships, and OSU and Michigan if UA and Clemson win. I have no problem with that field. Most of the time, it's generally clear who the best two non-champs are, and this system gives the Group of Five team a chance to prove that they can win the whole thing.

NCAA doesn't have a say in the FBS proceedings.

[Cosmic]

6 hours ago, HedleyLamarr said:

You "may not care" who #9 is, but the bigger point is that figuring out who that #8 team is.  More teams can make a claim in being that 8th team than they could with 2 or 4 teams.

There would be more teams screaming, but it wouldn't be as loud. In 2014, TCU and Baylor were looking at Ohio State and thinking, "That could have been us to go all the way!" By the time you get down to the #8 team, it's much more likely #9-12's complaints would be, "That could have been us that got blown out by the #1 seed!"

[stumpygremlin]

1 hour ago, HedleyLamarr said:

NCAA doesn't have a say in the FBS proceedings.

I know they don't. I'm just proposing an idea for an 8-team 6+2 playoff system.

[FinsUp1214]

Boy, so how about this Bama/Florida game?

 

 

[JWhiz96]

Florida's playing better than last year, they're showing toughness and grit and I like that...

 

...still no match for Bama though.

[MJWalker45]

Big question for whomever plays Alabama is, Can you run the ball? Florida's best runner has 17 yards.

[HedleyLamarr]

20 minutes ago, JWhiz96 said:

Florida's playing better than last year, they're showing toughness and grit and I like that...

 

...still no match for Bama though.

Great first drive on offense, then a 3-and-out on defense, things were looking good.....then the INT happened.  At one point, Alabama had -7 yards of offense....but with 16 points on the scoreboard.

 

Alabama's offense woke up and their defense remembered who they are.

 

If Alabama is to be beat, someone is going to have to score a ton of points early on and hope Alabama can't catch up.    If a team can get up big and be able to run the ball effectively (not necessarily for a ton of yards, but more eating clock), Alabama's offense may not have enough time to catch them.  They can be had, but it's going to take explosive plays early on, then ball control and being smart in the second half.

[4_tattoos]

Alabama is the final boss of major college football. M. Bison's theme music from Street Fighter 2 should be played throughout their games.

[oldschoolvikings]

TBH, I like the 4 team format just fine.  I'd probably be OK with 8 teams, but only if there are absolutely no automatic bids, period.  This "conference champs should be in" nonsense only works if you have 16 or more teams in.  The last thing I want to see is some 3 loss team stumbling into winning a weak division, having one great game in the conference championship, and knocking out some other team that everyone acknowledges is better... no thanks.  If its 8, I want the best 8 teams, period.    

[Cosmic]

7 minutes ago, 4_tattoos said:

Alabama is the final boss of major college football. M. Bison's theme music from Street Fighter 2 should be played throughout their games.

"For you, it was the most important game of your life; for me, it was a Tuesday."

[TheRicSlick]

23 minutes ago, oldschoolvikings said:

TBH, I like the 4 team format just fine.  I'd probably be OK with 8 teams, but only if there are absolutely no automatic bids, period.  This "conference champs should be in" nonsense only works if you have 16 or more teams in.  The last thing I want to see is some 3 loss team stumbling into winning a weak division, having one great game in the conference championship, and knocking out some other team that everyone acknowledges is better... no thanks.  If its 8, I want the best 8 teams, period.    

Unless that team is Ohio State...