Best suggestion I've seen for expanding the playoffs without actually expanding the number of games

What if there are six deserving teams; this only resolves 5. Which would be ok if we go strict conference champs (with a threshold possibly which would allow a back door for G5 or at-large).

 

There is no and never will be a perfect solution. No two seasons end up alike and must have flexible criteria for the selection process to get the best teams in.

 

The best resolution would be a severe penalty in the final rankings if a team PLAYED an out of conference game with a team, which at the time, was, oh . . . 30 rankings below it.

By eliminating the cupcakes and packing the schedule with real games, I expect a lot of the ambiguity would resolved itself. When nearly 25% of a teams record is against cupcakes, it makes it much harder to differentiate those teams at the top! Ten or 11 games against top-flight competition would probably sort things out, nicely!

 

Don’t necessarily disagree but I’ve determined that’ll never fly.

 

I think Clemson would rather play UCF.

 

9 teams with a play-in? Conference championships really shouldn’t be part of the playoff; if #23 upsets #1, still not necessarily deserving.

 

The big thing about the conference championships is they are the final games of the schedule. Teams playing the best get in. I like the idea of strengthening the conferences by utilizing the championship games instead of trivializing or eliminating them.

 

I don’t support more than 8, but theoretically each conference champ could go undefeated and you have such a small sample size that trying to say one is better than the other can easily get derailed by stats or popularity. A long while ago I supported a flexible playoff, which could work, but it isn’t a simple elegant solution like 8 teams would be.

I don’t support saying Bama “looks” better when OHST won their conference and we’re picking nits. It is so much cleaner to have 8 teams, let in champions who meet a threshold (including Cinderella G5’s), and let the at-larges fall where they may. Who would cry if Bama or Wisconsin we’re left out? Very few.

 

I’ve heard it is a piece of the pie, and it should be (probably more than it currently is). But it isn’t all or nothing.

 

The sanctity of college football’s regular season is unparalleled in sports. Every game approaches the fervor of a playoff game (more or less). The number of people who give a shit about baseball or basketball regular seasons are way less than football (and in all cases, pro has less fervor than college because the value of one game is a fraction of what it is in college).