In 2017 Auburn went 2-2 vs playoff teams, they proved on the field in a large sample size that they were as good as any team in the playoffs. UCF went unbeaten and defeated them in the Peach Bowl. UCF did not earn a spot in the Top 4 that year, but they proved they were as good as any team in the playoffs. Teams like UCF in 2017 should have a shot, under the current system they do not.
In 2017 Auburn went 2-2 vs playoff teams, they proved on the field in a large sample size that they were as good as any team in the playoffs. UCF went unbeaten and defeated them in the Peach Bowl. UCF did not earn a spot in the Top 4 that year, but they proved they were as good as any team in the playoffs. Teams like UCF in 2017 should have a shot, under the current system they do not.
I agree completely.
This doesnât mean a team that is their conference champion should be included in this playoff.
My suggestion would be to take any team that loses 3 games out of consideration.
I donât care if you lose to Alabama, Clemson and the 27 Yankees, you lose three times and you are not In the conversation.
Fill your 12 team (Iâd prefer eight) from the teams that are undefeated, or lost one or two.
Iâd be good with an 8 team field, P5 champs (reg season or title game), highest ranked G5 and then 2 at large bids. That gets in all deserving teams, maybe a team that got hot late and a lower conference team ready to prove itself.
If you donât force them to include a G5er, they never will. Theyâll just keep moving the goal post. âWe took the top 8 teams regardless of conference - thatâs just never included a G5er based on the eye test.â All of a sudden, UCF would be the 9th best team instead of the 5th best team in their rankings.
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All conferences should play the same number of conference games whether it is eight or nine conference games.
I would get on board with this. ButâŚ
They play true road games. Here is LSUs road schedule last year. How would you like them to improve it?
@Texas
@Vandy
@Miss St
@Alabama
@Ole Miss
They have to play conference games. I was talking about OOC (not that last yearâs road conference schedule was particularly difficult for them - 3-9, 6-7, and 4-8 outside of Alabama - but they canât control the conference games).
LSU has played 2 true OOC road games in the last 8 seasons (Texas in 2019 and Syracuse in 2015).
Alabama has played 0 in that timeframe (sometimes a neutral site game like last year against Duke in ATL - not really neutral for Alabama, but okay).
Auburn played 2 true road OOC games in 8 seasons.
Clemson played 7 in those 8 seasons.
We played 10 in just the past 5 FBS seasons. If you donât think never going on the road OOC doesnât help pad a conferenceâs/teamâs win stats (which then plays out in conference âquality winsâ or SOS because it makes everyone in the conferenceâs record look better by a game or two), youâre nuts. Imagine if everyone in CUSA swapped two road games for two home games - the conferenceâs entire perception would likely change. Those SEC teams above play an average of 4 road games per year. We play 6. Even if we went from 1-9 (our actual record) to 3-6/4-4 in those games (because half of them would now be at home and probably against much weaker teams), weâd be in a much different place.
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What every single poster in this thread is missing, especially those trying to reinforce the establishments death grip on the sport, is that expanding the playoff to add more G5 inclusion effectively starts to level the playing field the more you do so.
So focusing on what happened in any one season since this thing started is utterly pointless. Itâs about how it will look down the road in 5-10 years when G5 teams can finally tell recruits they have a legit road to the playoffs. That will absolutely swing recruiting and increase support for G5 programs now that they are suddenly playing for the same trophy (though how narrow that window is does matter).
On that basis, that is a legit concession by the P5 ADs who may finally be getting their heads out of their asses and realizing that the divide is too drastic right now and they are at risk of losing the G5, which they need a little more than theyâd like to admit.
Following along this theme, though I have long been a 16 team w/10 auto bids proponent because itâs the most equitable for the long haul, I really like the 12 team model as long as at least 2 guaranteed bids go to G5 teams. The 4 byes add stakes to the frontrunners too. I think it creates compelling drama for all levels and weekends of football.
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For 2019, in total the SEC played 11 OOC games on the road or at a neutral site. These teams had a combined 90-55 record and played in 8 bowl games and a national championship game. SEC was 6-5 in these games.
You can dislike the SEC but to pretend they arenât the best conference in CFB isnât really feasible.
I think youâre kind of proving the point. They only played 11 of them and went about .500 (and that includes neutral site games). Imagine if that was all that CUSA had to play or the AAC.
Actually- the case can be made- both logically and statistically- that theyâve simply learned to game the system/the system is rigged- but thatâs another argument for another time. More importantly for this conversation, the case is easily made that they are receiving a disproportionate opportunity at a national title because of how they do that (if youâre automatically given between a 25 and 50 percent chance at every title game, then you should win 25 to 50 percent of the titles), and how that behavior shuts out other deserving teams.
CUSA teams went 4-20 in OOC away or neutral site games. Those teams were 196-129 and included 16 bowl teams.
The point is the SEC is so strong that the conference schedule gives you enough of a challenge as it is. No need to beef up the OOC schdeule. The exact opposite is true for most other leagues.
Iâm not going to explain why thatâs flawed, yet again. Not the point of this thread and itâs been detailed enough.
For this thread, you canât shut out 2/3 of the teams in NCAAF from the start (i.e., they have ZERO paths to a national title before any games are played), and call the championship legitimate. If you donât develop a mechanism which at least gives those teams some way to play their way in, then that championship structure will still be flawed.
I canât think of any other NCAA sport where not every team has some opportunity (of varying degree) to be the national champion on Day 1.
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