The CFP sucks!

[Redleg]

I'd love to see a report/analysis on exactly why all those 5* players chose Alabama over so many other great schools. How does Alabama manage to continually grab 1 to 3 ranked classes year after year? I've been to Tuscaloosa and it's not exactly a garden spot location for college football. There are many many locations with much nicer everything imo. So what's this huge attraction? We have 5* QB's piled on top of 5* QB's. Jalen Hurts was 24-2 and won a NC yet was replaced this year by another 5* yet decided NOT to transfer? So what's the big attraction for him to sit on the bench while he could probably start for most college teams?

Interesting questions which I believe will eventually get answered much to the chagrin of Alabama....

Riding the pine at Bama pays better than starting at other schools.

 

[Elwood von Kiowa]

Whatever it is, this is the first year I have had almost no interest in watching the Top four play each other. Part of it was my negative reaction to the excessive advertising by ESPN of those games, but part of it was that I simply didn't care much who won. I was much more into some of the other bowl games. So based on a sample of one, the lure has deminished.

What I REALLY want to see is the finale of the Dr. Pepper drama series (commercial).

 

[Elwood von Kiowa]

Nobody cared about the ACC until Florida State joined it in '92. Before that, it was rare that an ACC champion mattered. Clemson in '81 and Georgia Tech in '90 are about it, and Nebraska played them both times: Orange Bowl in '82 and Florida Citrus in '91.

The Southwest Conference used to be locked into the Cotton Bowl, so let's give that to the Big 12 and let the ACC have the Orange Bowl. The Rose can still be the B1G and the Pac 12. Pick two teams to play for the NC after those games.

That's actually a really good idea. I would choose that over the current system.

We would have had NU vs. Mich in '97 and solved it on the field.

And it would avoid games like Clemson-ND. Not that they wouldn't happen, but you'd be able to determine that a team didn't deserve it without putting them in the "playoff."

 

[Vinosker]

The CFP will suck until Nebraska, ranked fourth, has a shot at playing in the National Championship game. Then, the CFP will be great.

I'm not that old, but, I don't recall a time when all of the bowls "had meaning". The bowls mean something to the teams playing in them and to the fans of those teams. The bowls increase parity. Yes, the playoff decreases that parity a bit, but, not by much. The top ranked team has yet to win a National Championship since the CFP started, and the fourth ranked team has won twice. Aside from the OSU-Oregon game, the NC games have been fun to watch. The CFP is/was a good idea.

I, for one, love all the bowls. More football!!

 

[Florida Husker]

 

[HuskerJ]

I posted this in the Orange bowl thread but I wanted it to stand on it's own.

The CFP is a joke. 40 damn bowls and 38 of them don't mean squat. Alabama has the #1 recruiting class nearly every year because they are penciled in to go to the playoff every year because of past performance, SEC bias, weak schedule, but also good coaching. The fat get fatter because the best players are mainly going to go to the teams on top right now because there is only one goal - the CFP. Everything else is meaningless. The 85 schollie rule eventually brought parity to Division 1; the playoff has eliminated it, IMO.

I miss the drama of the bowls.


Comments?

I couldn't agree more. Well said. I posted a few weeks ago about what matchups might have been in place of the playoffs. Creating compelling and interesting matchups enjoyable to watch. Lots of fun inter-conference games that actually had some merit. Traditional bowls. Sure, everyone would be watching the top 2 against perhaps the same teams they played yesterday. But I would argue how much better the entertainment value. I would imagine the only real 'problem' would be both Alabama and Clemson clamoring for a chance to play each other. That 'problem' was replaced with 38 others you referenced above.

 

[HuskerJ]

The CFP will suck until Nebraska, ranked fourth, has a shot at playing in the National Championship game. Then, the CFP will be great.

I'm not that old, but, I don't recall a time when all of the bowls "had meaning". The bowls mean something to the teams playing in them and to the fans of those teams. The bowls increase parity. Yes, the playoff decreases that parity a bit, but, not by much. The top ranked team has yet to win a National Championship since the CFP started, and the fourth ranked team has won twice. Aside from the OSU-Oregon game, the NC games have been fun to watch. The CFP is/was a good idea.

My perspective is that you had the subjectivity of the rankings based on a variety of factors. You played the season in conference, then your out of conference schedule, then your conference championship. You then went to the contracted bowl and played who you got, creating perhaps some interesting matchups, rivalries, Cinderella stories etc. It's not that those are completely gone, it's just that those games have less relevance because they aren't part of the Playoff. So, there is NO chance of a #1 versus #5 and #2 versus #6 and #3 versus #9 or whatever. I liked watching everything play out, then sitting back and sorting it all out. Expanding the playoffs solves the Inclusion criteria, but not the fact or perception that only those in the Playoffs actually 'matter'.

I used to hate watching Nebraska play in warm sunny Miami at the Orange Bowl and wished for the Hurricanes to for once have to play in Lincoln in 20 degree weather. But I realized it was more about a reward and tradition than it was about perhaps other things. It's hard to articulate without being duplicitous. There just seems to be something missing. Yes, for us a good Nebraska team is missing. But there is a disconnect for me at this point going beyond that with the current system.

 

[Husker Mort]

The CFP is a joke. 40 damn bowls and 38 of them don't mean squat.
...there is only one goal - the CFP. Everything else is meaningless. The 85 schollie rule eventually brought parity to Division 1; the playoff has eliminated it, IMO.

I miss the drama of the bowls.

I miss the drama of the bowls but ESPN put an end to that.

I’ve never understood this critique.

I’ve been watching bowl games for 30 years and well over 85% of them have been exhibitions. Literally nothing has changed. This year, roughly 3-5 games will “matter”. Roughly the same as every year before. The rest are for fun, bragging rights, and national perception.

What has the CFP done to change those dynamics?

I used to hate watching Nebraska play in warm sunny Miami at the Orange Bowl and wished for the Hurricanes to for once have to play in Lincoln in 20 degree weather. But I realized it was more about a reward and tradition than it was about perhaps other things. It's hard to articulate without being duplicitous. There just seems to be something missing. Yes, for us a good Nebraska team is missing. But there is a disconnect for me at this point going beyond that with the current system.

This is solved by on-campus sites for first round games in an 8-team playoff.

This year, Washington would have gone to Tuscaloosa, OSU to Southbend, Georgia to Norman, and UCF to Death Valley. Even the blowouts would be somewhat entertaining on campus. (And we would have been able to dispense with ND and Okla and have more meaningful semifinals.)

 

[Husker Mort]

Dup

 

[Bigger Ed]

Why isn't there a consolation game to determine 3rd and 4th place? The same reason all the bowl games are duds--it's irrelevant.

 

[Farmer Jake]

What I REALLY want to see is the finale of the Dr. Pepper drama series (commercial).

Must see TV.