ESPN discusses IOWA crashing the CFP! Says we are down to 15 teams that could make CFP

[Franisdaman]

If you were to project the CFP, who would you have in?

Here is mine:

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Notre Dame
4. Clemson

This of course leaves 2 Power 5 conferences OUT: Big 12 & PAC 12.

This is based on:

The following lost Saturday:
#5 LSU
#7 Oklahoma
#8 Auburn
#13 Kentucky
#14 Stanford

The following won & remain undefeated (4 conferences & one independent):
#1 Alabama--SEC
#2 Georgia--SEC
#3 Ohio State--B1G
#4 Clemson--ACC
#6 Notre Dame--INDEPENDENT
#9 West Virginia--Big12

 

[RIGHTWINGHAWK]

If you were to project the CFP, who would you have in?

Here is mine:

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Notre Dame
4. Clemson

This of course leaves 2 Power 5 conferences OUT: Big 12 & PAC 12.

This is based on:

The following lost Saturday:
#5 LSU
#7 Oklahoma
#8 Auburn
#13 Kentucky
#14 Stanford

The following won & remain undefeated (4 conferences & one independent):
#1 Alabama--SEC
#2 Georgia--SEC
#3 Ohio State--B1G
#4 Clemson--ACC
#6 Notre Dame--INDEPENDENT
#9 West Virginia--Big12

Living in Indy I put up with obnoxious irish fans and really hope ND loses soon. My top 4:

1.Bama
2. Buckeyes
3.Irish
4. Georgia

 

[Franisdaman]

Living in Indy I put up with obnoxious irish fans and really hope ND loses soon. My top 4:

1.Bama
2. Buckeyes
3.Irish
4. Georgia

If 2 Power 5 conferences get left out again (for the 2nd straight year), it makes me wonder if the CFP gets increased to 8 teams

My gosh, what would happen if 2 SEC teams, a B1G team and ND got in, leaving the Big 12, ACC and PAC 12 champs out?

Hopefully chaos!

 

[RIGHTWINGHAWK]

If 2 Power 5 conferences get left out again (for the 2nd straight year), it makes me wonder if the CFP gets increased to 8 teams

My gosh, what would happen if 2 SEC teams, a B1G team and ND got in, leaving the Big 12, ACC and PAC 12 champs out?

Hopefully chaos!

I prefer an eight team playoff with the Power 5 conference champions as automatic qualifiers which leaves three at large spots.

 

[SoDakHawk]

Until it's at least an eight team playoff, it's little better than the BCS. Anytime you have a committee, you have subjective opinions and politics at work, and that's always a disaster. As many of us on here have said over and over, you can't have a viable playoff unless it automatically includes ALL FIVE major conference champions. To begin with, it's not "national" if it excludes two-thirds of the country and two major conferences. That's ludicrous on the face of it.

So have at least 8 teams--five conference champs and 3 at large teams. Only then will the CFP be even close to what it claims to be.

Correct. And the idea that only 9 teams (perceived) have a shot at the CFP (4 spots) and it is the second week of October is a problem for college football. There is a growing problem with attendance issues, there is growing apathy at many programs who feel like they don't have a shot, well then they need to do something to keep more fan bases engaged. Expanding the playoffs to 8 would do that. As long as you are in the hunt for your division then you have a shot at the CFP, whether you can win it or not, it's about remaining in the race and your games meaning something other than determining if you will play in the Music City Bowl or the Pinstripe Bowl.

 

[Franisdaman]

If you were to project the CFP, who would you have in?

Here is mine:

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Notre Dame
4. Clemson

This of course leaves 2 Power 5 conferences OUT: Big 12 & PAC 12.

This is based on:

The following lost Saturday:
#5 LSU
#7 Oklahoma
#8 Auburn
#13 Kentucky
#14 Stanford

The following won & remain undefeated (4 conferences & one independent):
#1 Alabama--SEC
#2 Georgia--SEC
#3 Ohio State--B1G
#4 Clemson--ACC
#6 Notre Dame--INDEPENDENT
#9 West Virginia--Big12

If you were to project the CFP now, who would you have in?

Here is mine (no change):

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Notre Dame
4. Clemson

This of course leaves 2 Power 5 conferences OUT: Big 12 & PAC 12.

 

[Franisdaman]

#3

I prefer an eight team playoff with the Power 5 conference champions as automatic qualifiers which leaves three at large spots.

i think that's where we are heading. I would imagine the revenues would be pretty good, too.

Would you have the quarterfinals set up like this, where the higher seed hosts the week after the conf championship games? And then the 4 winners go to the "final 4" bowls on Jan 1, just like now?

#8 at
#1

#4 at
#5

#6 at
#3

#7 at
#2

 

[Big Hawk D-Port]

#3
i think that's where we are heading. I would imagine the revenues would be pretty good, too.

Would you have the quarterfinals set up like this, where the higher seed hosts the week after the conf championship games? And then the 4 winners go to the "final 4" bowls on Jan 1, just like now?

#8 at
#1

#4 at
#5

#6 at
#3

#7 at
#2

I don’t think it will go to 8 for a few reasons:

-top 4 teams are all that can legitimately say they were the best team that year. I don’t think they are leaving a serious contender out in the current format

- right now every game still matters. With a top 8 gets in you will have 2 loss teams get in regularly making the regular season games less important

- right now the bowls are still interesting and get good ratings. That might slip with an 8 team playoff

- right now the “are they in or are they out” drama gives media something to discuss the entire season long. Remove some of that suspense and controversy and eatings go down

- look at what the nfl did to itself with thursday games, Sunday night games and Monday night games...they overexposed their product and folks have lost interest. Hopefully CFB learns to not do the same.

 

[RIGHTWINGHAWK]

#3
i think that's where we are heading. I would imagine the revenues would be pretty good, too.

Would you have the quarterfinals set up like this, where the higher seed hosts the week after the conf championship games? And then the 4 winners go to the "final 4" bowls on Jan 1, just like now?

#8 at
#1

#4 at
#5

#6 at
#3

#7 at
#2

I like the #1 vs #8, etc. matchups week following conference championship games but wonder if they could possibly all be "neutral site" games??

Took my wife and youngest daughter to the game yesterday(oldest daughter goes to Bama)- Hawk's offense is for real. Had some Indiana fans sitting near us who said they thought Hawks would match up well with Ohio State,

 

[Franisdaman]

I don’t think it will go to 8 for a few reasons:

-top 4 teams are all that can legitimately say they were the best team that year. I don’t think they are leaving a serious contender out in the current format

- right now every game still matters. With a top 8 gets in you will have 2 loss teams get in regularly making the regular season games less important

- right now the bowls are still interesting and get good ratings. That might slip with an 8 team playoff

- right now the “are they in or are they out” drama gives media something to discuss the entire season long. Remove some of that suspense and controversy and eatings go down

- look at what the nfl did to itself with thursday games, Sunday night games and Monday night games...they overexposed their product and folks have lost interest. Hopefully CFB learns to not do the same.

If 2 Power 5 conference champs get left out of the CFP for the 2nd consecutive year, do you think the conference commissioners will raise hell?

this could be the 2nd straight year the PAC 12 gets left out, for example

 

[Big Hawk D-Port]

If 2 Power 5 conference champs get left out of the CFP for the 2nd consecutive year, do you think the conference commissioners will raise hell?

this could be the 2nd straight year the PAC 12 gets left out, for example

I think they have a financial argument but not a competitive argument. I don’t know if revenue from the playoff is shared equally across all power 5 conferences, but it should be. Otherwise, this isn’t a participation trophy, everybody gets to play, tee ball game.

 

[Franisdaman]

I think they have a financial argument but not a competitive argument. I don’t know if revenue from the playoff is shared equally across all power 5 conferences, but it should be. Otherwise, this isn’t a participation trophy, everybody gets to play, tee ball game.

IMO, it would have been nice to have had Ohio State in the playoff last year and the only way, of course, for that to have happened is if there were a 6 or 8 team playoff

With a 6 team playoff you could give the top 2 seeds a bye and have the other 4 teams play the weekend after the conf championship games.

 

[Big Hawk D-Port]

IMO, it would have been nice to have had Ohio State in the playoff last year and the only way, of course, for that to have happened is if there were a 6 or 8 team playoff

With a 6 team playoff you could give the top 2 seeds a bye and have the other 4 teams play the weekend after the conf championship games.

They lost twice. Once in gloriously humiliating fashion.

 

[Franisdaman]

They lost twice. Once in gloriously humiliating fashion.

but Ohio State was a conference champion

Alabama, on the other hand, was not a conference champ & they get into the CFP?

i know, i know. we want the best 4 teams BUT there are so many opinions on how to arrive at those 4 teams.

 

[Tim Dodge Rules]

Until it's at least an eight team playoff, it's little better than the BCS

No way.
The BCS was fine!
Far more often than not, the 2 teams selected for the NC were correct.
Nobody complained, at least not anywhere near the level about who makes the 4 team playoff.
AND the other bowl games still felt like they mattered!
Now, the bowls games are reduced to being called "exhibition games" (we never heard that during BCS era).

4 team playoff has been terrible, and has rendered weekly AP rankings and all other bowl games meaningless.

I miss the BCS, until we get 8 teams.

 

[SconnieAlum]

No way.
The BCS was fine!
Far more often than not, the 2 teams selected for the NC were correct.
Nobody complained, at least not anywhere near the level about who makes the 4 team playoff.
AND the other bowl games still felt like they mattered!
Now, the bowls games are reduced to being called "exhibition games" (we never heard that during BCS era).

4 team playoff has been terrible, and has rendered weekly AP rankings and all other bowl games meaningless.

I miss the BCS, until we get 8 teams.

Nobody complained about the BCS? That's not accurate at all.

 

[Big Hawk D-Port]

but Ohio State was a conference champion

Alabama, on the other hand, was not a conference champ & they get into the CFP?

i know, i know. we want the best 4 teams BUT there are so many opinions on how to arrive at those 4 teams.

The question is whether or not Ohio State was the best team in the country, the answer is no.

 

[Franisdaman]

The question is whether or not Ohio State was the best team in the country, the answer is no.

The debate was over the final team that should get in. Alabama (who did not win their division in their conference) or Ohio State (a conference champion). ? Opinions were all over the place. And then, of course, the discussion of whether there should be more than 4 teams surfaced, again.

 

[Big Hawk D-Port]

The debate was over the final team that should get in. Alabama (who did not win their division in their conference) or Ohio State (a conference champion). ? Opinions were all over the place. And then, of course, the discussion of whether there should be more than 4 teams surfaced, again.

The debate you and are having is whether or not Ohio State 2017 is a compelling example of why we need to expand the playoff. I don’t think they deserved to be there. I will grant you that the way Alabama got it was unfair, but they were the best team last year.

 

[coreyzbizkits]

I have a hard time accepting someone's arguments when they use "da" instead of "the." Just my opinion.

 

[Tim Dodge Rules]

Nobody complained about the BCS? That's not accurate at all.

Try reading.
I said nowhere near the level of the current controversy with 4 teams.
And sometimes it was cleary the top 2 teams.

 

[Tim Dodge Rules]

But equally important for college football,
the other bowl games still mattered.
The Rose Bowl was the Rose Bowl.
Now, its called an exhibition game.
Never heard that during the BCS era.

 

[MeetTheFerentz]

My humble and naive way of looking at it -

Going into Week 8:

10 teams control their own destiny, in that I see no way that any of these teams could be left out of the CFP if they win out:

Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky
Clemson, N.C.State
Ohio State, Michigan
Notre Dame

Of the above teams, I think Alabama is the only team that could get into the CFP with a loss.

In addition, these 7 teams are also in the running for the CFP, but in addition to winning out, would need help:

Oklahoma, Texas, W. Virginia
Oregon, Washington State, Colorado
Iowa

I guess we'll see. There could be a lot of college football chaos between now and Dec 1st.

 

[Big Hawk D-Port]

Try reading.
I said nowhere near the level of the current controversy with 4 teams.
And sometimes it was cleary the top 2 teams.

The controversy around the playoff is good for the sport. It generates a lot of interest and talk radio/espn segments. Remember what this is REALLY all about...selling advertising for cars, razors, and 5 hour energy. They are doing that from August-January under the current set up.

 

[SconnieAlum]

Try reading.
I said nowhere near the level of the current controversy with 4 teams.
And sometimes it was cleary the top 2 teams.

Try saying things that aren't blatantly false. People complained just as much about the BCS system, if not more. Prove me wrong.

 

[Tim Dodge Rules]

Try saying things that aren't blatantly false. People complained just as much about the BCS system, if not more. Prove me wrong.

Pick two BCS NC games that had MORE controversy than now?
And do you really think the other bowls games haven't lost some meaning?

 

[Tim Dodge Rules]

The controversy around the playoff is good for the sport. It generates a lot of interest and talk radio/espn segments. Remember what this is REALLY all about...selling advertising for cars, razors, and 5 hour energy. They are doing that from August-January under the current set up.

OK, put this way, you are right. I'll agree with the controversy being good, at least for the sake of argument. So, that's a wash then between the two eras.

But the remaining bowl games have lost some prestige since the playoff IMO.
BCS was a NC game with some healthy talking points and discussion and 3 other GREAT bowl games that still mattered.
Now, its a 4 team playoff with a LOT of controversy and other bowl games that feel less prestigious.

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

If you really think iowa is good enough to be mentioned with the top 4 teams then you need your head examined. The 86 Rose Bowl team is likely the only one talented enough in the modern era to lay that claim. Kirks best team was 2002 and they got thir asses handed to them in front of the world

Weird- a negative backhanded post about KF and a positive about Fry

 

[cheerscoach]

All I know is that after Iowa wins out (and Whisky loses one more) and they beat Michigan (yes, I think they'll beat OSU) for the B1G championship, they better make the playoffs. The Longhorns have a tough schedule remaining so they will lose again, so is Oklahoma going to sneak in the back door again? I know for certain the loser of the W. Virginia and Oklahoma game is definitely out.
Oregon is the only team in the PAC 12 that still has an outside shot in my opinion. They only have one more ranked team (#25 Washington St.) on their schedule before the conference championship game, but their resume will look worse than Iowa's in 2015 with only 2 wins over ranked teams. It will be a 'mess' again in my opinion, but all the Hawks can do is control what they can control. It will be interesting.

 

[Big Hawk D-Port]

OK, put this way, you are right. I'll agree with the controversy being good, at least for the sake of argument. So, that's a wash then between the two eras.

But the remaining bowl games have lost some prestige since the playoff IMO.
BCS was a NC game with some healthy talking points and discussion and 3 other GREAT bowl games that still mattered.
Now, its a 4 team playoff with a LOT of controversy and other bowl games that feel less prestigious.

We agree. If it goes to 6 or 8 teams the bowl games will be even more of an afterthought.

 

[WhoaNellieCy]

Ya, looks like a repeat of a last year with Alabama, Georgia, Clemson and Oklahoma.

Notre Dame and Ohio State will lose down da stretch. Dont see a 1 loss B1G west team receiving any consideration or benefit of doubt over team #2 from SEC. Mark it down.

 

[MeetTheFerentz]

Ya, looks like a repeat of a last year with Alabama, Georgia, Clemson and Oklahoma.

Notre Dame and Ohio State will lose down da stretch. Dont see a 1 loss B1G west team receiving any consideration or benefit of doubt over team #2 from SEC. Mark it down.

I've marked it down, and I will wager whatever amount you want the those 4 teams will not repeat as the 4 CFP participants.

 

[The_Joker13]

It’s stupid that a power 5 conference champ doesn’t get a shot at the National championship. It will be 8 teams soon, it’s what the fans want.

 

[Big Hawk D-Port]

It’s stupid that a power 5 conference champ doesn’t get a shot at the National championship. It will be 8 teams soon, it’s what the fans want.

You guys are like 5 year olds that want ice cream for dinner every night. Sometimes less is more. It’s good like it is.

 

[GarryO37]

Ya, looks like a repeat of a last year with Alabama, Georgia, Clemson and Oklahoma.

Notre Dame and Ohio State will lose down da stretch. Dont see a 1 loss B1G west team receiving any consideration or benefit of doubt over team #2 from SEC. Mark it down.

The Big 12 will not get a team in the CFP this year. Mark it down.

 

[The_Joker13]

You guys are like 5 year olds that want ice cream for dinner every night. Sometimes less is more. It’s good like it is.

You’re old and no its not.

 

[ANYCHawk]

Until it's at least an eight team playoff, it's little better than the BCS. Anytime you have a committee, you have subjective opinions and politics at work, and that's always a disaster. As many of us on here have said over and over, you can't have a viable playoff unless it automatically includes ALL FIVE major conference champions. To begin with, it's not "national" if it excludes two-thirds of the country and two major conferences. That's ludicrous on the face of it.

So have at least 8 teams--five conference champs and 3 at large teams. Only then will the CFP be even close to what it claims to be.

says who?

An 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 playoff. It's all subjective anyways. Having the power 5 teams all get a spot does no more to validate it then the current model.

 

[Big Hawk D-Port]

It’s stupid that a power 5 conference champ doesn’t get a shot at the National championship. It will be 8 teams soon, it’s what the fans want.

Let me put it this way. Northwestern still has a chance to be the B1G conference champion, even with three out of conference losses including to Akron. Even if they won the CCG there is no reason they need to be in the CFP.

 

[BioHawk]

The only proper playoff system is the one where every team can play their way into it. It takes all of the talk of who "deserves" to be in out of it because if you aren't happy with not getting an at-large birth you can just win your conference. Does it diminish the regular season? Maybe a little, but people will still go to the game, games will still be exciting, and in many cases, any more than 1 loss probably means you are not winning your conference. You will get some 2 loss teams in, but who cares? The playoffs will sort that stuff out.

Of course, this system would require 16 teams which seems to be "too many" for a lot of people. Meh, have the first two rounds at the higher seed's stadium the weeks following conference championship week. You could even have a bye week for the week after championship week if you wanted. Take two weeks off for the holidays (where you could still have all of your bowl games) and then pick up again at the beginning of January at neutral site bowl games like they currently have. The current format hasn't seemed to have affected attendance much. Evidently college teams have enough people that make enough money and have enough time off to travel to these games and fill the stadium.

 

[Tim Dodge Rules]

One more thing,
I can't remember any players sitting out their bowl games during the BCS era.
I wonder how many this year will sit out?