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I seriously don't understand the outcry for an 8-team playoff

MeetTheFerentz

MeetTheFerentz

HB Heisman
Nov 20, 2006
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This year there are 3 teams worthy of competing for the national championship. The big discussion for the past day is if the Committee chose the right unworthy team to take the 4th spot, which had to be filled. Is having 5 unworthy teams instead of 1 the solution?

Of the 6 semi-final games played thusfar, 5 have been blowouts.

How the heck is adding teams to this playoff going to make it better? The only positive is that it will stop the whining of the fans of the 1-2 conferences that has their champ left out in a particular year. Instead, there will be more whining about why so-and-so team wasn't given the #8 seed when it was clearly the logical choice. Then, there will be more bad games, with more unworthy teams competing.

I'm ok with the 4-team playoff and leaving it at that. It is extremely rare that more than 4 teams have had a good enough regular season to warrant a chance at the title, much less 8 teams. I know I'm in the minority, but I don't like where this is headed.
 
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I agree 100%. If everybody has the opportunity to make the playoff and control it's destiny the objectives of the format have been met. 2 issues bother me about 4 teams though -

1) The non-conference scheduling thing is a problem. The big matchups are awesome and needed that time of year, but it is borderline foolish to agree to those games. The benefits you get from winning just do not outweigh the risk. If the Oklahoma/Ohio State game is changed and each beat a MAC opponent what does that do to the final 4?

2) Everybody doesn't really control their own destiny. If an undefeated UCF doesn't belong in the playoff they shouldn't be in the same league.
 
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I completely agree with OP. There will always be "But (insert team here) is 5th and should be in because...", but the problem is that this argument will just turn into "But (insert team here) is 9th but they should be in because". I love that college football is one of the few sports where every game truly does matter.
 
64 P5 teams. 4 16-team conferences with 2 divisions. You play each divisional team and 2 out of the other division each year, rotating every 2 years. So play a team from other division 2 out of 8 years. Then play a team from each of the other 3 conferences. Gives you a look at conference strength. 8 team playoff with divisional winners.
 
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UCF is undefeated - regardless of their conference they should be in before someone that didn't even play in their conf championship. I guess we will see how they do against Auburn.
 
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If there were an 8 team playoff. fans would only beg for 16. Would Notre Dame still get a free invite if they made it to a field of the top ranked(8?....16? .....that would kinda jack up the party and there would be chaos again. How about a P5 conference that doesn't play a conference championship game? It still becomes a tireless mess of politics, rankings and uneven numbers.
 
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Floyd_Of_Rosedale said:
If there were an 8 team playoff. fans would only beg for 16. Would Notre Dame still get a free invite?.....that would kinda jack up the party. How about a conference that doesn't play a conference championship game?
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That is BS. Only team bitching would be #9. Right now you have 2-5 teams complaining.
If the #1 team's QB goes down on week 3 & 4, which they lose both games, then roll through the schedule, but does not play in Conference championship because they are tied in the standings with the team that beat them. If you are trying to get the "best" 4 teams, how do you do it fairly? Is it overall, or best at the end of the season. Supposedly, the committee does not want 31 point blow outs.
About 10 years ago, a writer projected that an 8 team playoff would generate $250 million. Not sure what the numbers would be today, but it would help the finances of all teams, if distributed evenly.
 
LuteHawk said:
College Football needs to honor the Champions of
the Big Ten, Pac 10, SEC, ACC, and the Big 12, all
of the Power 5. This takes all the politics out of the
equation. One at large team would make 6 teams.
Give the top 2 a bye.
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HoustonHawkeye said:
That is BS. Only team bitching would be #9. Right now you have 2-5 teams complaining.
If the #1 team's QB goes down on week 3 & 4, which they lose both games, then roll through the schedule, but does not play in Conference championship because they are tied in the standings with the team that beat them. If you are trying to get the "best" 4 teams, how do you do it fairly? Is it overall, or best at the end of the season. Supposedly, the committee does not want 31 point blow outs.
About 10 years ago, a writer projected that an 8 team playoff would generate $250 million. Not sure what the numbers would be today, but it would help the finances of all teams, if distributed evenly.
Click to expand...

Would you travel to 3 (4 including the B1G championship game) post season IOWA games if they would ever have such a chance?
 
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What three teams are “worthy”, just so we know based off of your opinion?

The one who lost to a (4-8) Syracuse?
The one who lost at home to a (7-5) ISU?
The one who is undefeated, but played a SOS near the 70’s?

Georgia and Alabama both only have one loss, to the same opponent. Ironically one is worthy of being while the other is not? If it goes by wins, why shouldn’t the team that beat them both (Auburn) be in?

Does OSU have a gripe? #4 overall rating in the Sagarin rankings and champions of arguably the toughest conference.

There are arguments for several teams both good and bad. A 6 to 12 team playoff would make the most sense. Don’t act like the reason the NCAA doesn’t do it this way is because it doesn’t make the most sense or that nobody wants it. The real reason why a true playoff hasn’t been accomplished is because we’re talking about NY6 games/teams here and there is too much control/money wrapped up in them.
 
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MeetTheFerentz said:
This year there are 3 teams worthy of competing for the national championship. The big discussion for the past day is if the Committee chose the right unworthy team to take the 4th spot, which had to be filled. Is having 5 unworthy teams instead of 1 the solution?

Of the 6 semi-final games played thusfar, 5 have been blowouts.

How the heck is adding teams to this playoff going to make it better? The only positive is that it will stop the whining of the fans of the 1-2 conferences that has their champ left out in a particular year. Instead, there will be more whining about why so-and-so team wasn't given the #8 seed when it was clearly the logical choice. Then, there will be more bad games, with more unworthy teams competing.

I'm ok with the 4-team playoff and leaving it at that. It is extremely rare that more than 4 teams have had a good enough regular season to warrant a chance at the title, much less 8 teams. I know I'm in the minority, but I don't like where this is headed.
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Are you sure those top 4 would not have been capable of losing to what would have been the next 4 in if we had a 8 team playoff? Personally I'd be happy to dump all the bowls and go to a 16 team playoff like the rest of the college football world does. Having a 4 team playoff of "selected" teams tells us nothing about who the best team really is.
 
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soybean said:
Are you sure those top 4 would not have been capable of losing to what would have been the next 4 in if we had a 8 team playoff? Personally I'd be happy to dump all the bowls and go to a 16 team playoff like the rest of the college football world does. Having a 4 team playoff of "selected" teams tells us nothing about who the best team really is.
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This x1000. If you don’t make it, season over, like every other level.
 
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Im with you because I never understood the outcry for a playoff at all. Thats just me.
 
EpenesaEpenesa said:
This x1000. If you don’t make it, season over, like every other level.
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The problem, like everything else in life, is money. Get rid of bowls and go to the model of every other level and you are costing these schools millions.

(not to mention nobody cares about the lower level playoffs. Even in this football crazed country, nobody watches as their ratings are about the same as UPN)
 
Fan In Black said:
Im with you because I never understood the outcry for a playoff at all. Thats just me.
Click to expand...

You’ve never wondered why every other sport, from high school to the highest level of professional sports, has determined their champion from some sort of playoff?
 
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I almost wish we could go back to the days of bowl tie-ins and polls. Big Ten and PAC in the Rose Bowl. Since that is gone and we have a playoff then the playoffs should be done the right way. This 4 spots but 5 Power conferences is a farce, one conference champ is always going to get the shaft. It devalues the conference race and what it means to be a conference champion.

College football would change for the better by simply expanding to a 6 team playoff. 5 - P5 champs and 1 at-large. The at-large bid is there in case of huge CCG upset or a Notre Dame/Independent/G5 were worthy. Give the top 2 seeds a first round bye, a reward for a stellar season, and hold the first round games this weekend at the higher seed's campus. Maybe we can get one of those southern teams to finally come north in late November/December and they will see what it is like. It may even change how teams are constructed given coaches have to consider playoff games in a cold weather environment.

You want to increase the importance of the regular season this is the way to do it.

Reason 1: Scheduling huge OOC matchups won't hurt you to lose. If you win it enhances your chances for the at-large. If you lose you still have your conference to play for. Coaches & ADs would schedule big profile games with big interest and for big dollars because there is little downside. Coaches would have a chance to really test the mettle of their team before the conference season.

Reason 2: Divisional races would intensify. Many, many more games would matter as these divisional races would have an impact on the National Title race. The path to the title is through the division, then conference, then playoff.

Reason 3: The money would be off the charts with this and this would enable us to better fund women's athletics. Or maybe Iowa could get a men's hockey program started with the cash.
 
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SoDakHawk said:
Reason 3: The money would be off the charts with this and this would enable us to better fund women's athletics. Or maybe Iowa could get a men's hockey program started with the cash.
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Since I already addressed the on-campus site issue. I'll address this one. I doubt this reason 3 to be the case. In fact I think a lot of your post sounds OK in theory, but in the real world doesn't work.
 
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iahawks10 said:
Don’t act like the reason the NCAA doesn’t do it this way is because it doesn’t make the most sense or that nobody wants it. The real reason why a true playoff hasn’t been accomplished is because we’re talking about NY6 games/teams here and there is too much control/money wrapped up in them.
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The NCAA doesn't control anything about the CFB bowl season, other than approving of new bowls.

The P5 conferences control the CFP/NY6.
 
ANYCHawk said:
They are a pain in the butt to pull off in a week's time. It's hard enough to pull off seven home games when you have a year to prepare let alone a week.
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That argument falls flat when you consider every other level of CFB is able to pull it off. NFL teams don't have any idea once playoffs start if their team will be eliminated or will be hosting in a week. Heck, baseball and hockey are able to pull it off on one or two days notice when series are extended and many of them are housed in multi-use facilities that host concerts and multiple pro sports franchises. But a CFB program couldn't pull off a one week notice?
 
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ANYCHawk said:
Since I already addressed the on-campus site issue. I'll address this one. I doubt this reason 3 to be the case. In fact I think a lot of your post sounds OK in theory, but in the real world doesn't work.
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Reason 3 was said as a joke. But it is true, it would mean more money.
 
ANYCHawk said:
They are a pain in the butt to pull off in a week's time. It's hard enough to pull off seven home games when you have a year to prepare let alone a week.
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I agree that it wouldn’t be an easy task, but given the opportunity, every AD in the country would jump at the chance to host a playoff game on their home field / campus.

The rankings came out yesterday, 12/3. The first game wouldn’t be until around 12/24, give or take a few days for Christmas. That’s three weeks to prepare. ADs would have an idea of possibility of playing a semifinal home game depending on their seed. If for some reason you can’t host like Iowa this year, do what the NIT does, give the lower seed an opportunity to host. Find a neutral site willing to host. There is money to be made here.
 
iahawks10 said:
I agree that it wouldn’t be an easy task, but given the opportunity, every AD in the country would jump at the chance to host a playoff game on their home field / campus.

The rankings came out yesterday, 12/3. The first game wouldn’t be until around 12/24, give or take a few days for Christmas. That’s three weeks to prepare. ADs would have an idea of possibility of playing a semifinal home game depending on their seed. If for some reason you can’t host like Iowa this year, do what the NIT does, give the lower seed an opportunity to host. Find a neutral site willing to host. There is money to be made here.
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Ton of money to be made. Look at the TV contract for the NCAA tournament
 
iahawks10 said:
What three teams are “worthy”, just so we know based off of your opinion?
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Since you asked, I'd say the three teams that won their conference championships handily, with only 1 loss during the season. Everyone else in the Power-5 either:

1) Wasn't a conference champion, or
2) Was a conference champion, but had 2 losses, including an arse-whipping
 
SoDakHawk said:
That argument falls flat when you consider every other level of CFB is able to pull it off. NFL teams don't have any idea once playoffs start if their team will be eliminated or will be hosting in a week. Heck, baseball and hockey are able to pull it off on one or two days notice when series are extended and many of them are housed in multi-use facilities that host concerts and multiple pro sports franchises. But a CFB program couldn't pull of a one week notice?
Click to expand...

Again, think real world and not theory. Those other levels. How many people fit in a stadium? 20K? Kinnick is 60K. Lots more support staff needed when you're triple or quadruple the size. (not to mention those schools pay to host playoff games so there must be a demand for them)

And pro stadium do pull it off, in one or two days, but all those dates are set in advance. It's not just a surprise. Those teams, workforces, know the possibility a year in advance.

They also pull it off on a short turnaround, such as the wild card. But, some logistical things to think about here. At most you are going to have 3 or 4 teams facing a wild card home game possibilty. So they can start getting the logistics in order a couple of weeks before. You can also build it into contract and hold the staff on call so to speak and that one extra game isn't going to cost you and arm and a leg cause its only extends the overall contract by a couple days.

Not to mention every pro stadium even in the NFL is smaller than most colleges. Also you don't have to deal with things like student tickets, bands, etc at the pro level.

College football is a bit different, do 120 teams build contracts for 8 or 9 weeks instead of 6 or 7? How much more is that going to cost them?

I think the issue here is many don't understand how hard and complex it is to put together a Power 5 football game. See if you can go behind the scenes and find out. It's a hell of a challenge and way more complicated than even a pro event.
 
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