College Football Playoff

[oldschool2]

I just wrote this letter and emailed to [email protected]:

 

To whom it may concern,

 

Hello.  My name is (name) and I would like to share a serious concern of mine regarding the current BCS playoff format.  For years I held issue with the ways in which National Champions were decided in NCAA FBS football.  It never sat well with me that the two teams that were picked to compete for the title were based solely on the BCS ranking system.  While I agree with the way that the rankings are chosen (record, strength of schedule, etc..) I never believed that having one game between the two top-ranked teams could truly decide a champion.  When the decision was made to move to a playoff format I was beyond thrilled.  Thrilled until I realized that it was exactly the same way as previously done, except for the adding of the 3rd and 4th ranked teams according to BCS rankings.  If history tells us anything it is that rankings do not always mean anything.  This is evident in the fact that your own rankings change weekly.  Every single week during the season ranked teams are beaten by unranked teams, and high ranked teams are beaten by lower ranked teams.  This is not only evident in this regard but also in every single sport that is or has ever been played.  There are so many variables that can determine or affect the outcome of a football game (or any sport).  I am urging whoever will read this to please consider the following:

 

In literally every single sport in the history of sports, there are leagues/conferences that are used to determine seeding in a post-season tournament.  To decide a post-season champion.  While I know that FBS football is slightly different than most other NCAA sports, I believe that a similar format can be used to determine a National Champion.  It's obvious that the competition level in certain conferences is stronger than other conferences from year to year but that doesn't change the fact that a conference champion does at least deserve a shot to play for some kind of post-season championship.  I'm not talking about bowl games.  I'm also not referring to FCS schools.  I'm suggesting that the conference champion of each of the Power 5 conferences not only deserves to be in a National Championship playoff but need to be in order to truly know who the team will be that should represent NCAA football as the best team in the country.  Every single year there has been a very legitimate argument for at least one team that has been left out of the playoff, as well as a very legitimate argument why a team in the playoff shouldn't have been.  What I'm suggesting would not only eliminate that issue but make for more exciting post-season as well as pre-season FBS football.  Let me explain.  By simply adding 4 more teams to the playoff and one more round of the playoff you could include each of the FBS conference champions as well as 3 other highly ranked teams that didn't win their conference.  That's not only fair, but it's the way that every sport that has ever been played decides a champion.  From High School all the way up to Professional in both men and women's sports.  I've never understood why FBS football has to be the only one who doesn't follow this format.  Now.. The BCS ranking system could be used to determine seed matchups for the National Tournament.  This year the tournament would be as followed:

 

1 Alabama (SEC champ) vs.
8 Washington (Pac12 champ) (take the place of an at-large bid since they won the Pac12)

 

4 Oklahoma (Big12 champ) vs.

5 Georgia (at-large)

 

2 Clemson (ACC champ) vs.

7 Michigan (at large)

 

3 Notre Dame (at-large) vs.

6 Ohio State (Big10 champ)

 

This ^ is the format that is literally used with every sport to have ever been played that decides a champion.  FBS football should be no different.  Here is the reason that pre-season games would be better and possibly more of a money maker for each of the schools.  I played 4 years of college basketball and happen to know for a fact that preseason games are supposed to be used as a preparation for actual conference games.  By including the conference champion into the post-season tournament (no matter the rank or record) you will eliminate the fear of a team getting a loss.  You know as well as I do that teams shy away from playing tough games in the preseason because they know that overall record can have an effect on their post-season chances.  This would not only bring FBS football up to par with the rest of the sports world but would also bring in the power matchups before conference play that all schools and fans aspire to see.  

 

I thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter.  I am very hopeful to see the continued and much-needed change in D1 football... so as to be done a similar way as D1 basketball, D1 baseball, D1 softball, D1 soccer, D1 volleyball, and every other champion that has ever been decided. 

[Tigers2010]

If Texas would have beaten Oklahoma Saturday, would they have deserved to play for a title? After losing to Maryland, West Virginia, and Oklahoma State? I am a Longhorn fan and that answer is hell no.

If Pitt would have beaten Clemson in the ACC title game, shoud PITT be in the playoff? Or Northwestern? Then Clemson would have to get an "at large bid". Then you have Clemson and Northwestern in the playoff.

[Tigers2010]

The whole conference champ should automatically be in is great in all if it plays out like it should. But, to often "it all goes to hell". I will the the scenario where the proven and better teams are getting in than risking Pitt, Texas, and Northwestern all sneaking in because they pulled an upset late, but lost 3 or more games.

[oldschool2]

1 hour ago, Tigers2010 said:

The whole conference champ should automatically be in is great in all if it plays out like it should. But, to often "it all goes to hell". I will the the scenario where the proven and better teams are getting in than risking Pitt, Texas, and Northwestern all sneaking in because they pulled an upset late, but lost 3 or more games.

Any top 25 team is capable of beating another top 25 team.  It literally happens every week.  And yeah you're right there's a chance that a weak team wins their conference and sneaks into the tournament but that's no different than any other sport.  That's just life.  And that's what the 3 at large bids would be for.  You can say what you want but I played for a team that not only won our conference tournament (when we had no business being in it) but went on to win the first game of the NCAA tournament..when we had no business being in it.

My mind won't be changed and more times than not the best teams are always there in the end.

[Tigers2010]

4 minutes ago, oldschool2 said:

Any top 25 team is capable of beating another top 25 team.  It literally happens every week.  And yeah you're right there's a chance that a weak team wins their conference and sneaks into the tournament but that's no different than any other sport.  That's just life.  And that's what the 3 at large bids would be for.  You can say what you want but I played for a team that not only won our conference tournament (when we had no business being in it) but went on to win the first game of the NCAA tournament..when we had no business being in it.

My mind won't be changed and more times than not the best teams are always there in the end.

Not trying to change your mind. And I couldn't agree more, more often than not the best teams are in.

[oldschool2]

4 minutes ago, Tigers2010 said:

Not trying to change your mind. And I couldn't agree more, more often than not the best teams are in.

Every year that the playoff has happened if you took the 5 Power 5 champs and added the next 3 best ranked "non champs" it would've been a fair indicator.  I believe that that would be the case every year.  But that way it would be a lot more exciting, interesting, and make for better preseason games.  I, for one, am tired of seeing Bama vs Appalachian St or whatever for the first 3 weeks of college football.  Let the conference champs in so we can see some top 10 matchups early in the year.

[Tigers2010]

Say there were some craziness in the last week, like there is so often. Pitt beats Clemson and Northwestern beat Ohio State.

1.Alabama (SEC) vs Pitt (ACC)

2.Notre Dame (At-Large) vs Northwestern

3.Oklahoma (Big 12) vs Washington (PAC 12)

4. Clemson (At Large) vs Georgia (At Large)

This scenario doesn't look near as enticing as the other. 3 out of 8 teams have 0 chance of running through and pulling off 3 upsets in a row. Maybe in basketball, not football. 

[Tigers2010]

19 minutes ago, oldschool2 said:

Every year that the playoff has happened if you took the 5 Power 5 champs and added the next 3 best ranked "non champs" it would've been a fair indicator.  I believe that that would be the case every year.  But that way it would be a lot more exciting, interesting, and make for better preseason games.  I, for one, am tired of seeing Bama vs Appalachian St or whatever for the first 3 weeks of college football.  Let the conference champs in so we can see some top 10 matchups early in the year.

Alabama opened with FLORIDA STATE, who have spent the better half of this decade at the top of the rankings. It's not Bama's fault they couldn't play.

[oldschool2]

36 minutes ago, Tigers2010 said:

Alabama opened with FLORIDA STATE, who have spent the better half of this decade at the top of the rankings. It's not Bama's fault they couldn't play.

What I used was an example.  That may be the case with Bama but you know good and well that a majority of games for the first few weeks are blowouts.  Zero fun to watch.  For me anyway..

[Tigers2010]

7 minutes ago, oldschool2 said:

What I used was an example.  That may be the case with Bama but you know good and well that a majority of games for the first few weeks are blowouts.  Zero fun to watch.  For me anyway..

I think having the 4 team playoff is fixing some of that. Schools are realizing that you can play big matchups early without fear of losing one and not getting in. Schedules are made so far in advance, it hasn't been able to be noticed. Texas and Alabama just locking in for like 2022 or 2024 or something like that. It is changing.

[oldschool2]

6 minutes ago, Tigers2010 said:

I think having the 4 team playoff is fixing some of that. Schools are realizing that you can play big matchups early without fear of losing one and not getting in. Schedules are made so far in advance, it hasn't been able to be noticed. Texas and Alabama just locking in for like 2022 or 2024 or something like that. It is changing.

Fixing some.. but I still think that expanding to 8 teams will eliminate the possibility of someone getting left out that shouldn't have.  Every single year you could easily make the argument someone got hosed.  To be honest.. that's true.  You could've slid Georgia or Ohio St in this year and either would've been fine.  Me personally.. I think that Notre Dame could've been left out.  It's all debatable but the fact remains that by expanding one more round there is no more "well they are one of the best but got left out".  Should it just be top 8?  Possibly.  I happen to like the Power 5 champs plus 3 more because it makes it like every other sport.  I have a conference championship ring that I barely wear that I wouldn't have if only the "top 2/4" got to compete for everything. 

[Whoopi Goldberg's Lips]

3 hours ago, oldschool2 said:

I just wrote this letter and emailed to [email protected]:

 

To whom it may concern,

 

Hello.  My name is (name) and I would like to share a serious concern of mine regarding the current BCS playoff format.  For years I held issue with the ways in which National Champions were decided in NCAA FBS football.  It never sat well with me that the two teams that were picked to compete for the title were based solely on the BCS ranking system.  While I agree with the way that the rankings are chosen (record, strength of schedule, etc..) I never believed that having one game between the two top-ranked teams could truly decide a champion.  When the decision was made to move to a playoff format I was beyond thrilled.  Thrilled until I realized that it was exactly the same way as previously done, except for the adding of the 3rd and 4th ranked teams according to BCS rankings.  If history tells us anything it is that rankings do not always mean anything.  This is evident in the fact that your own rankings change weekly.  Every single week during the season ranked teams are beaten by unranked teams, and high ranked teams are beaten by lower ranked teams.  This is not only evident in this regard but also in every single sport that is or has ever been played.  There are so many variables that can determine or affect the outcome of a football game (or any sport).  I am urging whoever will read this to please consider the following:

 

In literally every single sport in the history of sports, there are leagues/conferences that are used to determine seeding in a post-season tournament.  To decide a post-season champion.  While I know that FBS football is slightly different than most other NCAA sports, I believe that a similar format can be used to determine a National Champion.  It's obvious that the competition level in certain conferences is stronger than other conferences from year to year but that doesn't change the fact that a conference champion does at least deserve a shot to play for some kind of post-season championship.  I'm not talking about bowl games.  I'm also not referring to FCS schools.  I'm suggesting that the conference champion of each of the Power 5 conferences not only deserves to be in a National Championship playoff but need to be in order to truly know who the team will be that should represent NCAA football as the best team in the country.  Every single year there has been a very legitimate argument for at least one team that has been left out of the playoff, as well as a very legitimate argument why a team in the playoff shouldn't have been.  What I'm suggesting would not only eliminate that issue but make for more exciting post-season as well as pre-season FBS football.  Let me explain.  By simply adding 4 more teams to the playoff and one more round of the playoff you could include each of the FBS conference champions as well as 3 other highly ranked teams that didn't win their conference.  That's not only fair, but it's the way that every sport that has ever been played decides a champion.  From High School all the way up to Professional in both men and women's sports.  I've never understood why FBS football has to be the only one who doesn't follow this format.  Now.. The BCS ranking system could be used to determine seed matchups for the National Tournament.  This year the tournament would be as followed:

 

1 Alabama (SEC champ) vs.
8 Washington (Pac12 champ) (take the place of an at-large bid since they won the Pac12)

 

4 Oklahoma (Big12 champ) vs.

5 Georgia (at-large)

 

2 Clemson (ACC champ) vs.

7 Michigan (at large)

 

3 Notre Dame (at-large) vs.

6 Ohio State (Big10 champ)

 

This ^ is the format that is literally used with every sport to have ever been played that decides a champion.  FBS football should be no different.  Here is the reason that pre-season games would be better and possibly more of a money maker for each of the schools.  I played 4 years of college basketball and happen to know for a fact that preseason games are supposed to be used as a preparation for actual conference games.  By including the conference champion into the post-season tournament (no matter the rank or record) you will eliminate the fear of a team getting a loss.  You know as well as I do that teams shy away from playing tough games in the preseason because they know that overall record can have an effect on their post-season chances.  This would not only bring FBS football up to par with the rest of the sports world but would also bring in the power matchups before conference play that all schools and fans aspire to see.  

 

I thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter.  I am very hopeful to see the continued and much-needed change in D1 football... so as to be done a similar way as D1 basketball, D1 baseball, D1 softball, D1 soccer, D1 volleyball, and every other champion that has ever been decided. 

Inevitably, their response will be...

tl; dr

[Tigers2010]

4 minutes ago, oldschool2 said:

Fixing some.. but I still think that expanding to 8 teams will eliminate the possibility of someone getting left out that shouldn't have.  Every single year you could easily make the argument someone got hosed.  To be honest.. that's true.  You could've slid Georgia or Ohio St in this year and either would've been fine.  Me personally.. I think that Notre Dame could've been left out.  It's all debatable but the fact remains that by expanding one more round there is no more "well they are one of the best but got left out".  Should it just be top 8?  Possibly.  I happen to like the Power 5 champs plus 3 more because it makes it like every other sport.  I have a conference championship ring that I barely wear that I wouldn't have if only the "top 2/4" got to compete for everything. 

When it goes to 8, 9 and 10 will be debated. UCF has won 24 straight, beating a highly ranked Auburn team in the process, how are they not in an 8 team playoff? What is the point of those school even playing football if you can't even get in the top 8 when you when 24 games in a row and knock of what was a national power in Auburn? 

[oldschool2]

25 minutes ago, Tigers2010 said:

When it goes to 8, 9 and 10 will be debated. UCF has won 24 straight, beating a highly ranked Auburn team in the process, how are they not in an 8 team playoff? What is the point of those school even playing football if you can't even get in the top 8 when you when 24 games in a row and knock of what was a national power in Auburn? 

UCF didn't beat any ranked teams this year... and beat Memphis by 1 point.  I understand what you're saying but that's also just more proof that the field needs to be expanded.  Any team in the top 25 is capable of beating or losing to any other on any given night.  Bama has also been in the field of 4 before when having their only loss to an unranked team.  Is that fair?  You could argue that they were still one of the best in the country and maybe they were...but again...that proves that it can be done.  The current playoff system has no requirement of getting in other than finishing in the top 4 by the end of the season.  I would hope that every FBS school in the country has the goal of winning the national championship.  That's basically saying to a school that you're not allowed to have a single off game or have any key injuries.  That very thing happened to Penn St a couple seasons ago.  Had some injuries and lost big to Michigan...then came back, beat OhSt, beat top 10 Wisconsin, and won the Big10...but because of the current system was left out.  That's crap.  

[Tigers2010]

1 hour ago, oldschool2 said:

UCF didn't beat any ranked teams this year... and beat Memphis by 1 point.  I understand what you're saying but that's also just more proof that the field needs to be expanded.  Any team in the top 25 is capable of beating or losing to any other on any given night.  Bama has also been in the field of 4 before when having their only loss to an unranked team.  Is that fair?  You could argue that they were still one of the best in the country and maybe they were...but again...that proves that it can be done.  The current playoff system has no requirement of getting in other than finishing in the top 4 by the end of the season.  I would hope that every FBS school in the country has the goal of winning the national championship.  That's basically saying to a school that you're not allowed to have a single off game or have any key injuries.  That very thing happened to Penn St a couple seasons ago.  Had some injuries and lost big to Michigan...then came back, beat OhSt, beat top 10 Wisconsin, and won the Big10...but because of the current system was left out.  That's crap.  

Part of the problem is Notre Dame should have to be in a conference. Whichever one they go in doesn't matter. I'm not against expansion. The years where there are multiple upsets in Championship week would suck due to having teams like Northwestern and Pitt taking up two spots. Consequently, two at large bids would have to go to those teams that got upset.

If UCF were to beat LSU in the Bowl, that would be 2 undefeated seasons, and 2 wins over highly ranked SEC schools. By the time they finally get put in, Milton and them bad boys will be gone and we will have missed the only real chance we had for a mid-major to make a real run at it. UCF last year was very very good.  

[oldschool2]

47 minutes ago, Tigers2010 said:

Part of the problem is Notre Dame should have to be in a conference. Whichever one they go in doesn't matter. I'm not against expansion. The years where there are multiple upsets in Championship week would suck due to having teams like Northwestern and Pitt taking up two spots. Consequently, two at large bids would have to go to those teams that got upset.

If UCF were to beat LSU in the Bowl, that would be 2 undefeated seasons, and 2 wins over highly ranked SEC schools. By the time they finally get put in, Milton and them bad boys will be gone and we will have missed the only real chance we had for a mid-major to make a real run at it. UCF last year was very very good.  

If Clemson and Ohio St lose their championship games to the likes of Pitt and Northwestern.. do they deserve to be in the playoff?

When underdogs get in and make deep runs in basketball and baseball they’re heroes.

[Tigers2010]

6 minutes ago, oldschool2 said:

If Clemson and Ohio St lose their championship games to the likes of Pitt and Northwestern.. do they deserve to be in the playoff?

When underdogs get in and make deep runs in basketball and baseball they’re heroes.

Wouldn't Clemson be entitled to one bad game?  "That's basically saying to a school that you're not allowed to have a single off game or have any key injuries". According to you Clemson would still deserve to be in there.

And football is not basketball. Evadale can play Newton in football a million times and never win.

[SmashMouth]

I like the thought of a playoff expansion to 8 teams or even to 6 teams (with 1 and 2 getting a first round bye); however, these are student athletes. They don't get paid any extra, the more games they play, the bigger chance they have to screw up their draft chances with injuries, it adds even more practice time, road time, media time and game time to their already busy schedule IN ADDITION to their school work. I know the school work part might make some chuckle, but when I was in that situation (albeit not playing for a D1 school), my grades were important to me. I knew I would never go further than college. I needed my degree. The same applies to these student athletes, and it's way tougher on them than it was on me. I think it's easy for us fans to add games to the schedule, but we should probably step back and think about the harm with injuries and grades that may cause to the kids playing these games...

[TxHoops]

5 hours ago, oldschool2 said:

Every year that the playoff has happened if you took the 5 Power 5 champs and added the next 3 best ranked "non champs" it would've been a fair indicator.  I believe that that would be the case every year.  But that way it would be a lot more exciting, interesting, and make for better preseason games.  I, for one, am tired of seeing Bama vs Appalachian St or whatever for the first 3 weeks of college football.  Let the conference champs in so we can see some top 10 matchups early in the year.

I agree.  Some of these early season CBB matchups are amazing.  

[oldschool2]

2 hours ago, Tigers2010 said:

Wouldn't Clemson be entitled to one bad game?  "That's basically saying to a school that you're not allowed to have a single off game or have any key injuries". According to you Clemson would still deserve to be in there.

And football is not basketball. Evadale can play Newton in football a million times and never win.

Of course!  You should be entitled to one bad game.  And at the end of the season if you take the 5 champs plus 3 at large bids the chances are high that you’ll get to redeem the loss (cough cough Georgia).  According to my suggestion ^ Clemson could still lose just their title game and likely be ok.

According to the current playoff system Georgia was punished for one bad decision..not even game.  Them trying a fake punt at midfield after an absolutely stellar season cost them a chance at the National Championship.

[oldschool2]

2 hours ago, Tigers2010 said:

Wouldn't Clemson be entitled to one bad game?  "That's basically saying to a school that you're not allowed to have a single off game or have any key injuries". According to you Clemson would still deserve to be in there.

And football is not basketball. Evadale can play Newton in football a million times and never win.

By the way.. if Clemson would’ve lost their conference championship game just look at their resume.  They would have only beaten two ranked teams.  A two point win over #19 and a 4 point win over #20.

Yeah that’s not very impressive.  The only thing they have going for them is the fact they haven’t lost and they won their conference.

[Tigers2010]

15 hours ago, oldschool2 said:

Of course!  You should be entitled to one bad game.  And at the end of the season if you take the 5 champs plus 3 at large bids the chances are high that you’ll get to redeem the loss (cough cough Georgia).  According to my suggestion ^ Clemson could still lose just their title game and likely be ok.

According to the current playoff system Georgia was punished for one bad decision..not even game.  Them trying a fake punt at midfield after an absolutely stellar season cost them a chance at the National Championship.

No Georgia was punished for 1 bad decision (even if they punted, the game was tied so it is not like that was the only thing that cost them the game) and a putrid performance against LSU. One play didn't cost them a chance at a National Championship. 

[Tigers2010]

A 20 point blowout loss to LSU cost Georgia.

[oldschool2]

32 minutes ago, Tigers2010 said:

No Georgia was punished for 1 bad decision (even if they punted, the game was tied so it is not like that was the only thing that cost them the game) and a putrid performance against LSU. One play didn't cost them a chance at a National Championship. 

But you understand my point.. I'll never say that 1 play is the sole reason for the overall outcome of a game but at that particular point in the game, it was a huge deal.  Momentum swings are enormous.  Since we're speculating anyway.. they had led the entire game up to that point. You telling me it isn't plausible for them to have punted, gone to OT, and won in OT? 

28 minutes ago, Tigers2010 said:

A 20 point blowout loss to LSU cost Georgia.

A 20 point loss to the #11 team in the country shouldn't cost a team a playoff spot if they're truly one of the best and had a stellar season other than that.  I know this is this year and that's all that matters but Alabama has been in the 4 team playoff before with a loss to an unranked team.  Unranked.  

[Tigers2010]

8 minutes ago, oldschool2 said:

But you understand my point.. I'll never say that 1 play is the sole reason for the overall outcome of a game but at that particular point in the game, it was a huge deal.  Momentum swings are enormous.  Since we're speculating anyway.. they had led the entire game up to that point. You telling me it isn't plausible for them to have punted, gone to OT, and won in OT? 

Plausible, yes. You could feel them losing control, but yes it would have been plausible. But it didn't happen.

A 20 point loss to the #11 team in the country shouldn't cost a team a playoff spot if they're truly one of the best and had a stellar season other than that.  I know this is this year and that's all that matters but Alabama has been in the 4 team playoff before with to an unranked team.  Unranked.

Again, a 20 point loss to the #11 team didn't cost them a spot.. That loss and the loss to Alabama cost them. We can what if on Alabama, and well bad game on LSU all we want. What happeneded happened and I am okay with a 2 loss team not having a chance to win it. But, I get the arguement. Just playing Devil's Advocate