Post by hoya on Jan 1, 2018 2:10:26 GMT
I haven't posted in a long time, but I'm still around. This is still the best board for smart college football discussion.
I've become convinced that a 4 team playoff isn't enough. There are always going to be deserving teams left out, and that hurts the legitimacy of the teams that get in. As much as people can argue about Alabama getting in vs Ohio State, it will always just be an argument. We'll never really know the answer, and after OSU's beatdown of USC, they look like they've got a legitimate gripe.
So, here's what I've been thinking. It should satisfy everyone short of Bluehen. I'm sure he'll still complain, but I think it covers everyone that has any sort of realistic argument. The problem with including every single conference champ is that college football's competitive power is pretty centralized. Conferences like the Sun Belt and the Mid-American usually suck, and most people don't want to see a 4 loss Toledo (or whoever) go up against #1 Clemson, particularly if they're taking up a spot that an Ohio State or an Alabama would have filled.
Of course, almost every year we have a school like Boise State or UCF this year, who do very well and are undefeated heading into the bowl games. Most of the time they get matched up against a major power with a few losses (Boise St vs OU, UCF vs Auburn), and we never really find out how good they are.
So my proposal is this:
8 team playoff. Take the conference champs from the top 5 highest rated conferences. That's not necessarily the P5 conferences (though it will be most years). Remember how the Big East used to suck, and often the Mountain West would be stronger than them? Leave open the possibility for something like that. Have a rating system to determine which conferences get the 5 auto-bids. Then have an auto-bid for the highest rated champ outside of those conferences. Then have the last two spots selected by committee, with a Kansas State rule like they had in the BCS, where if you were ranked in the top 6 or something, you automatically got it (even if you're not a popular or "sexy" team). And the committee has to follow clearly defined standards when they make a selection. Two teams per conference, max. Finally, the committee has the ability to move teams around as far as seeding goes, but only to ensure that there isn't a 1st round regular season rematch.
So this year, we'd have Clemson, OU, Georgia, Ohio State, and USC as the top 5 auto-bids. UCF would get in as the highest rated non-auto-bid team. Then you'd have Bama and Wisconsin as the at-large teams.
#1 Clemson vs #12 UCF
#2 Oklahoma vs #8 USC
#3 Georgia vs #6 Wisconsin
#4 Bama vs #5 Ohio State
Looks pretty good to me.
In 2016, you'd have had (just going from Week 15 playoff rankings):
#1 Alabama vs #15 Western Michigan (non-P5)
#2 Clemson vs #7 Oklahoma (flips with USC to prevent round 1 rematch w/ Ohio State)
#3 Ohio State vs #9 USC (at large) (Michigan out per 2 team rule)
#4 Washington vs #5 Penn State (at large)
In 2015, you'd have:
#1 Clemson vs #18 Houston (non-P5)
#2 Alabama vs #8 Notre Dame (at-large, counts as ACC)
#3 Michigan State vs #6 Stanford
#4 Oklahoma vs #5 Iowa (at-large)
And in 2014 you'd have:
#1 Alabama vs #20 Boise State (non-P5)
#2 Oregon vs #7 Mississippi State (at-large)
#3 Florida State vs #6 TCU (at-large)
#4 Ohio State vs #5 Baylor
Every year, this includes every team that has even a halfway decent argument for the title.
I've become convinced that a 4 team playoff isn't enough. There are always going to be deserving teams left out, and that hurts the legitimacy of the teams that get in. As much as people can argue about Alabama getting in vs Ohio State, it will always just be an argument. We'll never really know the answer, and after OSU's beatdown of USC, they look like they've got a legitimate gripe.
So, here's what I've been thinking. It should satisfy everyone short of Bluehen. I'm sure he'll still complain, but I think it covers everyone that has any sort of realistic argument. The problem with including every single conference champ is that college football's competitive power is pretty centralized. Conferences like the Sun Belt and the Mid-American usually suck, and most people don't want to see a 4 loss Toledo (or whoever) go up against #1 Clemson, particularly if they're taking up a spot that an Ohio State or an Alabama would have filled.
Of course, almost every year we have a school like Boise State or UCF this year, who do very well and are undefeated heading into the bowl games. Most of the time they get matched up against a major power with a few losses (Boise St vs OU, UCF vs Auburn), and we never really find out how good they are.
So my proposal is this:
8 team playoff. Take the conference champs from the top 5 highest rated conferences. That's not necessarily the P5 conferences (though it will be most years). Remember how the Big East used to suck, and often the Mountain West would be stronger than them? Leave open the possibility for something like that. Have a rating system to determine which conferences get the 5 auto-bids. Then have an auto-bid for the highest rated champ outside of those conferences. Then have the last two spots selected by committee, with a Kansas State rule like they had in the BCS, where if you were ranked in the top 6 or something, you automatically got it (even if you're not a popular or "sexy" team). And the committee has to follow clearly defined standards when they make a selection. Two teams per conference, max. Finally, the committee has the ability to move teams around as far as seeding goes, but only to ensure that there isn't a 1st round regular season rematch.
So this year, we'd have Clemson, OU, Georgia, Ohio State, and USC as the top 5 auto-bids. UCF would get in as the highest rated non-auto-bid team. Then you'd have Bama and Wisconsin as the at-large teams.
#1 Clemson vs #12 UCF
#2 Oklahoma vs #8 USC
#3 Georgia vs #6 Wisconsin
#4 Bama vs #5 Ohio State
Looks pretty good to me.
In 2016, you'd have had (just going from Week 15 playoff rankings):
#1 Alabama vs #15 Western Michigan (non-P5)
#2 Clemson vs #7 Oklahoma (flips with USC to prevent round 1 rematch w/ Ohio State)
#3 Ohio State vs #9 USC (at large) (Michigan out per 2 team rule)
#4 Washington vs #5 Penn State (at large)
In 2015, you'd have:
#1 Clemson vs #18 Houston (non-P5)
#2 Alabama vs #8 Notre Dame (at-large, counts as ACC)
#3 Michigan State vs #6 Stanford
#4 Oklahoma vs #5 Iowa (at-large)
And in 2014 you'd have:
#1 Alabama vs #20 Boise State (non-P5)
#2 Oregon vs #7 Mississippi State (at-large)
#3 Florida State vs #6 TCU (at-large)
#4 Ohio State vs #5 Baylor
Every year, this includes every team that has even a halfway decent argument for the title.
