2024 College Football Playoffs

[DillonHall]

Yes please

This is the fairest bracket I've seen. If you're going to let 3-loss Alabama and Indiana (zero ranked wins) get in, then they should have to play against the two most talented teams that are playing in the first round

Unfortunately, there's no way they're going to put Georgia on a path to play Texas for a third time

 

[ACamp1900]

It does bring up an interesting point,… why no talk of tOSU and Bama?? You’d think the nation at large would be just as interested to see bama go to Columbus

 

[Wild Bill]

It does bring up an interesting point,… why no talk of tOSU and Bama?? You’d think the nation at large would be just as interested to see bama go to Columbus

I think they'd be completely fine with bama and OSU provided they can give a reasonable explanation for it and a reasonable explanation for ND playing Georgia.

 

[Irish#1]

Oh damn, you’re right, I guess I blocked out all those overtones last week.

Regardless, if UGA loses, they should not be in the playoffs. No team with three losses should be, period!

 

[Irish#1]

I think they'd be completely fine with bama and OSU provided they can give a reasonable explanation for it and a reasonable explanation for ND playing Georgia.

You're so funny.

 

[DillonHall]

Regardless, if UGA loses, they should not be in the playoffs. No team with three losses should be, period!

You can’t punish a team that much for losing a conference championship game. What would you do with 2–loss Tennessee that wasn’t good enough to get into the game?

 

[stlnd01]

Regardless, if UGA loses, they should not be in the playoffs. No team with three losses should be, period!

Georgia is currently ranked 5th. They’re not going to drop all the way out for losing to #2 in a 13th game that most of the other teams they’d be falling past didn’t have to play.

 

[wizards8507]

I still can’t accept the TV “wisdom” that we are the Friday night game. Let the cold weather teams play day games. 80k people freezing for a few ratings points.
And it’s the ratings points that’ll give us ND/Bama they’ll just manipulate the seeding to make it happen.

Disney sold the Saturday afternoon games to WBD. I would be absolutely shocked if ND is anything other than Friday or Saturday 8:00.

 

[wizards8507]

Georgia is currently ranked 5th. They’re not going to drop all the way out for losing to #2 in a 13th game that most of the other teams they’d be falling past didn’t have to play.

1. You don't get credit for 13 games when one of them is Tennessee Tech.

2. The privilege of playing in your conference championship is that you get to skip the first round. It's not a burden, it's an advantage. This bullcrap about 5 being the easiest seed, no. It's easier to win 3 games than 4 games even if the quality of opponent for the 5 seed is slightly less.

3. But yeah they probably wouldn't drop out completely. They'd fall, but not all the way out.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Yes please

I seriously despise how much weighting is being applied to conference champions. In no other world would Boise and ASU get a 3 and 4 seed. I'm not sure ASU and Clemson would get such a huge bump in rankings for winning either. They're essentially saying ASU (with a win) will go from #15 to #11 and get a #4 seed. Clemson (with a win) will go from #17 to #12 . The idle teams they will leap frog have almost identical records (some even have head to head victories). Is it normal for winners of CCG to rocket up the rankings (even ones not in contention for the BCS or 4-Team Playoff)? Maybe it's always been that way and I just never noticed. Idk.

I'm curious what the simulated BCS rankings look like after this weekend. I'm guessing the top 12 in those rankings are drastically different than the committee's rankings, based on the fact that the computer models won't be hamstrung by the arbitrary rules established with these CCG and the guarantees associated with them.

 

[Wild Bill]

1. You don't get credit for 13 games when one of them is Tennessee Tech.

2. The privilege of playing in your conference championship is that you get to skip the first round. It's not a burden, it's an advantage. This bullcrap about 5 being the easiest seed, no. It's easier to win 3 games than 4 games even if the quality of opponent for the 5 seed is slightly less.

3. But yeah they probably wouldn't drop out completely. They'd fall, but not all the way out.

It's not going to be slight.

 

[wizards8507]

It's not going to be slight.

Beating Arizona State and then beating SMU is not easier than having a bye and then beating Indiana or whatever.

None of these teams are horrible horrible and winning two games against any of them is harder than winning one game against any of them.

 

[irishjim]

I will be interested to see what happens if SMU loses to Clemson, also if Penn St loses to Oregon. I want to see how they handle losers of conference championships. Certainly Penn St would argue they want the 5th seed path and if they lose, you can't keep them there. So why play it? As an Irish fan that's what I want to happen, but it will still be an interesting case study.

I also think Georgia is going to beat Texas, which would probably keep Texas ahead of us.

 

[stlnd01]

I look forward to the analysis of how UNLV would handle winter weather in Northern Indiana.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

If SMU loses, moving them out of the playoff opens up a huge can of worms and would pose a significant threat to the future of the CCGs. I don't think they will do it.

 

[wizards8507]

I look forward to the analysis of how UNLV would handle winter weather in Northern Indiana.

I would love to know what logic leads to Texas beating Georgia in Atlanta to earn an extra week of rest while Georgia has to play another game, just for Georgia to beat Texas in the rematch in New Orleans.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Can someone explain to me why the Mountain West conference is getting so much credit in these play off scenarios?

You can't convince me that if UNLV wins against Boise St that suddenly they're worthy of being a top 12 playoff team.

 

[stlnd01]

I would love to know what logic leads to Texas beating Georgia in Atlanta to earn an extra week of rest while Georgia has to play another game, just for Georgia to beat Texas in the rematch in New Orleans.

The only thing in college football harder than beating a good team twice, is beating them three times!

But yeah I agree the Georgia/Texas re-re-match in the second round is the biggest fly in the ointment for a few of these projections.

 

[wizards8507]

Can someone explain to me why the Mountain West conference is getting so much credit in these play off scenarios?

You can't convince me that if UNLV wins against Boise St that suddenly they're worthy of being a top 12 playoff team.

The fifth best conference champion gets an auto bid. UNLV won't be top 12 but they'll be in automatically.

 

[stlnd01]

Can someone explain to me why the Mountain West conference is getting so much credit in these play off scenarios?

You can't convince me that if UNLV wins against Boise St that suddenly they're worthy of being a top 12 playoff team.

UNLV is #20 in the CFP rankings. Highest-ranked G5 other than Boise. If they win, why wouldn't they be the 12 seed?

 

[Irish#1]

Georgia is currently ranked 5th. They’re not going to drop all the way out for losing to #2 in a 13th game that most of the other teams they’d be falling past didn’t have to play.

I get that, but you could also argue that having to go 8 OT's to beat GT isn't a reward to bump them back to #5. I'm just saying three losses should be an automatic disqualifier for any team.

 

[SDIrishFan]

Everyone has to keep in mind this "system" was built on the idea of how the conferences looked before all the realignment. And, had teams not moved, it would have made sense. You'd likely have had Oregon (Pac 12), Texas (Big 12), Georgia/whomever (SEC) and Miami/Clemson (ACC) as your 4 highest conference champs, then Boise/UNLV out of the Mountain West.

I also love how conferences/teams are all bitching about possibly losing out on a bid if you lose the CCG when they are the ones that wanted the games TO MAKE MORE MONEY.

 

[SDIrishFan]

I get that, but you could also argue that having to go 8 OT's to beat GT isn't a reward to bump them back to #5. I'm just saying three losses should be an automatic disqualifier for any team.

Not to mention, Ohio State only dropping 3 spots after losing to a terrible .500 team at home! Other teams have dropped 8-10 spots in that situation earlier in the season. Apparently that game absolutely didn't matter to the committee.

 

[Irish#1]

Keep in mind that while teams like Boise or UNLV may not be as good as many others in the playoff hunt, the committee decided to include that conference champ to appease the lesser conferences and avoid a potential lawsuit that may have squashed the playoffs.

 

[stlnd01]

Everyone has to keep in mind this "system" was built on the idea of how the conferences looked before all the realignment. And, had teams not moved, it would have made sense. You'd likely have had Oregon (Pac 12), Texas (Big 12), Georgia/whomever (SEC) and Miami/Clemson (ACC) as your 4 highest conference champs, then Boise/UNLV out of the Mountain West.

I also love how conferences/teams are all bitching about possibly losing out on a bid if you lose the CCG when they are the ones that wanted the games TO MAKE MORE MONEY.

Yes. A good point that gets left out.
When they devised this, Oklahoma had been routinely winning the Big 12, and the ACC had a consistent powerhouse in Clemson. The four-team CFP field always included three and sometimes four conferences (or us). Last year, your final, pre-CFP top five were the five P5 conference champions.
Then the Pac-12 disappeared, Texas and Oklahoma joined the SEC and the ACC went back to sucking.
They'll adjust, but no one would've really complained about conference champions getting byes for most of the last decade.

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

Beating Arizona State and then beating SMU is not easier than having a bye and then beating Indiana or whatever.

None of these teams are horrible horrible and winning two games against any of them is harder than winning one game against any of them.

Give me Arizona St then Boise St all day over Ohio St, Georgia, Tennessee. Yes, I believe 2 games is better than one in that case.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

The fifth best conference champion gets an auto bid. UNLV won't be top 12 but they'll be in automatically.

I understand the playoff criteria. I'm asking why was it set up that way. Who cares about the Mountain West? They aren't on the same level playing field as the B1G, SEC, etc. Why were they included in the conversation of conferences deemed worthy of auto bids and byes?

UNLV is #20 in the CFP rankings. Highest-ranked G5 other than Boise. If they win, why wouldn't they be the 12 seed?

See above.

Keep in mind that while teams like Boise or UNLV may not be as good as many others in the playoff hunt, the committee decided to include that conference champ to appease the lesser conferences and avoid a potential lawsuit that may have squashed the playoffs.

Thanks. I didn't know this.

Everyone has to keep in mind this "system" was built on the idea of how the conferences looked before all the realignment. And, had teams not moved, it would have made sense. You'd likely have had Oregon (Pac 12), Texas (Big 12), Georgia/whomever (SEC) and Miami/Clemson (ACC) as your 4 highest conference champs, then Boise/UNLV out of the Mountain West.

I also love how conferences/teams are all bitching about possibly losing out on a bid if you lose the CCG when they are the ones that wanted the games TO MAKE MORE MONEY.

Thanks. This makes sense. All the more reason to blow this particular system up and rethink it given the new landscape post-reallignment.

 

[rtrn2glory]

Georgia and Texas play in two days. I doubt they’d do that set up. Probably each SEC team in their own pod

If the committee bases their selection on that criteria they need to be fired and replaced. Once the top 4 are placed they need to keep conference affiliation out of the picture. I don't care if Texas and Georgia have to play in the second round. Probably actually should be that way actually

 

[Giddyup]

It’s a tv show. Corporate runs this thing.

 

[LifelongFan]

This playoff would never get off the ground in the current set up if a majority of conferences were locked out. The votes wouldn't be there.