College Football Playoffs to stay at four teams

[bilsker]

Why assume that 5 through 8 wouldn't get boat raced? Recently history suggests that is the more likely scenario.

Additionally expanding the CFP waters down the importance of the regular season - every game is important. As it is now - 1-loss doesn't necessarily eliminate your chance to making the playoff. Now an 8-team playoff opens the chance that a 3-loss team could make the playoffs. Especially if conference champs are guaranteed a spot.

Expanding to 8 (conference champs in) puts an incredible amount of importance on the regular season. It takes away a TON of subjectivity. Nothing subjective about a team that goes through a whole conference season and emerges as the champ.

 

[Hville]

Just ask Hville. Wait. It looks like you just did. He’ll tell you why it’s only about watching Alab-Clem and what an awesome game it was and how found the best team without needing even a four team play-off. All we neede was to open our eyes.

Go ahead and mis-state and over dramatize my comments. The truth of the matter is there have been no plans put forward by anyone that rationalizes anything more than what we have right now. There are about a half dozen ideas and plans out that do anything from adding 4, 12, or 28 more teams. Some plans include automatic qualifiers, some include automatic qualifiers for a G5, some plans include going back to all bowl games and some include a combination of all of them. There is no single plan that has any type of consensus. I'm guessing that if all the plans were put to a vote the most likely top vote receiver is the one presently in place. I guess if that bothers fans that the chairman of the playoff committee recognizes that than don't be upset at me for stating it or supporting it.

 

[Hville]

Every argument I've heard against expansion usually includes the statement that 'Alabama and/or Clemson will just beat the crap out of the other four teams'. I don't necessarily agree. There isn't always going to be the level of disparity between #1 and #8 that we see today and additionally, matchups can play a role in some interesting games in the 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7 slots. Upsets happen and it's usually based on favorable matchups either schematically or personnel wise for the underdog. Why should we just assume #1 and #2 would boat race any potential 5-8 slot teams? You might only see one or two upsets involving teams in the top two slots in a decade and more than likely the most intriguing early games will be in the middle of the seeding slots, but I still think it would increase the overall entertainment value of the CFP, involve more schools which will increase the interest and selfishly the likelihood that Nebraska could be in the mix more frequently. I really don't see a down side to it.

Good bad or indifferent.....every time you expand the CFP......you sacrifice the quality and importance of bowl games. While that might be fine......there are many which don't like that. I guess its a matter of what you want but there certainly doesn't appear there is a consensus to do that. And for the record. I don't have a problem going to 8. I just don't want to add an unfair conference championship automatic qualification rule to it. Just my opinion.

 

[bilsker]

Unfair conference champs!

It's literally the only thing that makes sense.

 

[707194959725]

"we meet alongside the commissioners, and Notre Dame’s Athletics Director" ???
Oh, that seems fair.

 

[wcbsas]

Expanding to 8 (conference champs in) puts an incredible amount of importance on the regular season. It takes away a TON of subjectivity. Nothing subjective about a team that goes through a whole conference season and emerges as the champ.

Absolutely it is till very subjective ... as it stands right now Georgia was viewed as the 5th best team in the country ... meaning they would have gotten into the playoffs before conference champs tOSU and Washington.

 

[bilsker]

Absolutely it is till very subjective ... as it stands right now Georgia was viewed as the 5th best team in the country ... meaning they would have gotten into the playoffs before conference champs tOSU and Washington.

Not in an 8 team system. An 8 team system will almost surely comprise of conference champs from the p5 and 3 others based on whatever. Georgia MAY have gotten in. OSU WOULD have.

 

[FeelLikeAStranger]

Good bad or indifferent.....every time you expand the CFP......you sacrifice the quality and importance of bowl games. While that might be fine......there are many which don't like that. I guess its a matter of what you want but there certainly doesn't appear there is a consensus to do that. And for the record. I don't have a problem going to 8. I just don't want to add an unfair conference championship automatic qualification rule to it. Just my opinion.

“Quality and importance of bowl games”

Good thing we don’t have to worry about either of those things.

 

[David3464]

.every time you expand the CFP......you sacrifice the quality and importance of bowl games.

There is no importance to bowl games that aren't deciding a National Championship. All they do is provide a vacation for fans of their teams, entertainment on TV, and rewards for players. What would a bigger playoff change about that? Nothing.

 

[Hville]

So let me get this straight. The people demanding an 8 team playoff say the bowl games are insignificant but refuse to watch the CFB championship game because of the two teams that are in it. Got it.

 

[wcbsas]

Not in an 8 team system. An 8 team system will almost surely comprise of conference champs from the p5 and 3 others based on whatever. Georgia MAY have gotten in. OSU WOULD have.

I recognize any playoff with 8-teams will likely have conference champs in it ... and probably at least 1 G5 team as well. But then you open the door for a 3, 4 or 5 loss team to be playing in the CFP (such as Northwestern this year).

To me that's not a playoff. I acknowledge its not going to happen every year but this year the conference championship games had a 4-loss Northwestern, a 5-loss Pitt, a 3-loss Washington/Utah and 3-loss Texas. If ANY one of those teams would have pulled an upset and be guaranteed a CFP berth ... then its not a playoff, its something else.

 

[BigRedAvenger]

So let me get this straight. The people demanding an 8 team playoff say the bowl games are insignificant but refuse to watch the CFB championship game because of the two teams that are in it. Got it.

It’s like watching Joe Dirt. A classic, but after 4 or 5 times, it loses its appeal.

 

[bilsker]

I recognize any playoff with 8-teams will likely have conference champs in it ... and probably at least 1 G5 team as well. But then you open the door for a 3, 4 or 5 loss team to be playing in the CFP (such as Northwestern this year).

To me that's not a playoff. I acknowledge its not going to happen every year but this year the conference championship games had a 4-loss Northwestern, a 5-loss Pitt, a 3-loss Washington/Utah and 3-loss Texas. If ANY one of those teams would have pulled an upset and be guaranteed a CFP berth ... then its not a playoff, its something else.

So a team with 3 or 4 losses gets in once in a blue moon. Who cares? How is it not still a playoff?

I know people will recoil at the idea referencing the NFL or pretty much ANY other sport at any level but teams get IN to the playoffs all the time by winning their division when a team that was better than they were maybe missed the playoffs. Tough luck. Everyone knew what you had to do way back in September...win your division and you are in. Don't...and you leave it up to the beauty pagent. Regardless, it's still a playoff.

And if a 3 loss team gets in and they truly do suck...that will reveal itself in the first round. Or maybe we find that that 3 loss team played a killer OOC schedule and picked up a loss and played in the toughest division in the nation and picked up another couple but when it all shook out they came out on top...and then went and punked some "deserving" team on the home field in the first round. Let's let these things play out ON THE FIELD. With everyone knowing the criteria at the start of the season. If Bama and Clemson come through the 8 team it doesn't mean 8 teams was a waste. If they don't...too bad...they could have.

 

[wcbsas]

So a team with 3 or 4 losses gets in once in a blue moon. Who cares? How is it not still a playoff?

I know people will recoil at the idea referencing the NFL or pretty much ANY other sport at any level but teams get IN to the playoffs all the time by winning their division when a team that was better than they were maybe missed the playoffs. Tough luck. Everyone knew what you had to do way back in September...win your division and you are in. Don't...and you leave it up to the beauty pagent. Regardless, it's still a playoff.

And if a 3 loss team gets in and they truly do suck...that will reveal itself in the first round. Or maybe we find that that 3 loss team played a killer OOC schedule and picked up a loss and played in the toughest division in the nation and picked up another couple but when it all shook out they came out on top...and then went and punked some "deserving" team on the home field in the first round. Let's let these things play out ON THE FIELD. With everyone knowing the criteria at the start of the season. If Bama and Clemson come through the 8 team it doesn't mean 8 teams was a waste. If they don't...too bad...they could have.

What is the reason for an 8-team playoff over a 4-team one?

To let more teams in? More qualified teams in? To fix some injustice/inconsistency with the current system?

Who got left out of this year’s version that deserved to be in?

 

[The Impaler]

Why assume that 5 through 8 wouldn't get boat raced? Recently history suggests that is the more likely scenario.

Additionally expanding the CFP waters down the importance of the regular season - every game is important. As it is now - 1-loss doesn't necessarily eliminate your chance to making the playoff. Now an 8-team playoff opens the chance that a 3-loss team could make the playoffs. Especially if conference champs are guaranteed a spot.

It does anything but water it down. Keep the current setup in place with 4 (at bowl games round 1) and then add in a first round. BUT, the first round is at the top 4 seeds home stadiums. Who wouldn’t want to see a Bama or FSU travel to PSU or Nebraska the second week of December? Makes landing in the top 4 significantly important.

I recognize any playoff with 8-teams will likely have conference champs in it ... and probably at least 1 G5 team as well. But then you open the door for a 3, 4 or 5 loss team to be playing in the CFP (such as Northwestern this year).

To me that's not a playoff. I acknowledge its not going to happen every year but this year the conference championship games had a 4-loss Northwestern, a 5-loss Pitt, a 3-loss Washington/Utah and 3-loss Texas. If ANY one of those teams would have pulled an upset and be guaranteed a CFP berth ... then its not a playoff, its something else.

.

No. It’s still a playoff.