2024 College Football Playoffs

[Jiggafini19Deux]

This will be 16 teams before too long. The three loss SEC stuffed animal parade is going to be way too loud to ignore.

 

[china423]

 

[yankeehater]

If the committee values SOS and then puts in a team with the 60th ranked schedule and zero wins against top 25 teams over the 9th ranked SOS and three wins over current top 25 teams they sure didn’t show it.

End of the day, if this is how they are going to choose playoff teams, then it’s bad for CFB. There will be plenty of teams trying to cancel really good OOC games and just schedule down. It’s just bad for marquee matchups and bad for a team like Notre Dame. Who wants to play a perennial top 10-15 team anymore if this is the criteria that’s going to be used?

C'mon man! You didn't miss the playoff due to a tough non-conference schedule. You missed out because you lost three games and two of the teams were towards the bottom of the conference standings. Your non-conference schedule consisted of a down Wisconsin program, Western Kentucky and a 6-6 USF team. Keep telling yourself what you want about why you missed out, but the fact is at the end of the year the team just didn't play well enough to make it in.

I also love that the major programs/conferences basically set up the very system they are now crying about.

 

[stlnd01]

Move forward. Beat Indiana.

Is it 2026 when the CFB will re-evaluate? If so, it may be straight rankings at that point.

I will say the playoff worked as far as TV ratings. I would not have watched any of the games this weekend had it not been for ND's seed. Due to that interest, I watched all the games on Saturday.

I think it made the last few weeks of the season a lot more fun in general. Many more teams had things to play for. The playoff plus greater parity made for the most entertaining season in some time.
I'm sure they'll screw it up eventually by overexpanding the playoff, but I'll enjoy while it lasts.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

3 SEC teams had winning records on the road. Alabama was 2-3 on the road.

 

[Free Manera]

It was shocking (but not) that during the playoff show nobody was talking about who Bama's losses were. It was all generic strength of schedule talk. ¥ou would have thought Bama lost to the Chiefs, Bills, and Eagles. Bro you can't lose to Vanderbilt and the shell of Oklahoma, plus lose one of your hard games, and go to the playoffs. If you want to seed the field by recruiting rankings then just say that. Otherwise, the games matter.

 

[Plankton]

2024-25 CFP, bowl picks: Predicting college football scores

We made predictions on the final score of every bowl matchup. Check back to see how we fared.

www.espn.com

ESPN projects Notre Dame vs. Oregon in the title game, with Oregon winning 38-27.

They have ND beating Indiana 31-21, then beating Georgia 19-17, and Penn State 27-26 to make the title game.

 

[KMac151993]

Until we have a NFL style divisional winner playoff based on W and L, the subjectiveness of selecting the best teams is a dog and pony show.

The problem is you still won't get the desired result as in the NFL if a team loses their starting QB to injury they go out and sign ANOTHER pro QB. In college someone like Travis gets injured for F$U last year and they have to turn to a 18 year old kid.

 

[RDU Irish]

If ND were on the bubble we wouldn't stop hearing about how terrible bowl eligible 7-5 NIU is.

How you win matters too - Freeman finally curb stomps people versus down to the wire every damn week. SMU may have lost to Clemson but they beat themselves (not unlike overcoming -7 TO margin vs Duke). Their losses were to BYU by a field goal with the game tied with two minutes remaining and Clemson last second FG after gifting Clemson 14 first half points on TOs. Not exactly getting your poop pushed in by a team struggling for bowl eligibility. With a 12 team playoff - give that cardiac kid a shot and screw the juggernaut that lost 25% of its games.

Love the SEC avoiding the dark horses and provided the cleanest path as always. Tennessee has to go through OSU and Oregon - no shame in losing to either, sacrificial lamb. UGA gets ND, no shame in losing to Irish and arguably a good match up for them defensively. Texas isn't a real SEC school but still has clean path to semis with weakest round one opponent and weakest round two opponent by far. Texas and UGA in good position to make semis with Oregon and a Cinderella Boise or SMU.

 

[RDU Irish]

2024-25 CFP, bowl picks: Predicting college football scores

We made predictions on the final score of every bowl matchup. Check back to see how we fared.

www.espn.com

ESPN projects Notre Dame vs. Oregon in the title game, with Oregon winning 38-27.

They have ND beating Indiana 31-21, then beating Georgia 19-17, and Penn State 27-26 to make the title game.

Penn State isn't making the Semis. I need to find a way to bet on that.

 

[arrowryan]

2024-25 CFP, bowl picks: Predicting college football scores

We made predictions on the final score of every bowl matchup. Check back to see how we fared.

www.espn.com

ESPN projects Notre Dame vs. Oregon in the title game, with Oregon winning 38-27.

They have ND beating Indiana 31-21, then beating Georgia 19-17, and Penn State 27-26 to make the title game.

Those would be stress inducing games

 

[benneboy]

Penn State isn't making the Semis. I need to find a way to bet on that.

Taking the money line on the opposing team each game. And I'm with you, even with their relative cakewalk to the semis I think it's more likely they fall one of those 2 games than not.

 

[ab2cmiller]

I think there has to be a subjective element to the process, but I would argue it needs to be very minimal.

In all likelihood, Oregon is viewed differently this year because they are in the BIG10 vs the PAC 12. Subjectively, Texas is viewed differently because suddenly they are SEC. If Texas played the same strength of schedule this year but be in the Big 12 conference, I can almost guarantee that we would be ranked ahead of them. We are all subject to our built up biases, CFP members included.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Those close wins involved ND kicking FGs? If so....

 

[Irish#1]

It was shocking (but not) that during the playoff show nobody was talking about who Bama's losses were. It was all generic strength of schedule talk. ¥ou would have thought Bama lost to the Chiefs, Bills, and Eagles. Bro you can't lose to Vanderbilt and the shell of Oklahoma, plus lose one of your hard games, and go to the playoffs. If you want to seed the field by recruiting rankings then just say that. Otherwise, the games matter.

I don't know why they keep talking about recruiting rankings. We've already seen a couple of examples where the results didn't match the rankings. You also have to have a coaching staff that can capitalize on the talent and we've seen a lot of examples there as well.

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

Those close wins involved ND kicking FGs? If so....

No, the 19-17 over Georgia includes 2 missed PATs and the 27-26 win over Penn St includes 1.

 

[OhioIrish]

SIAP — Sources: Georgia QB Carson Beck likely out for Sugar Bowl with elbow injury

 

[NDPhilly]

2024-25 CFP, bowl picks: Predicting college football scores

We made predictions on the final score of every bowl matchup. Check back to see how we fared.

www.espn.com

ESPN projects Notre Dame vs. Oregon in the title game, with Oregon winning 38-27.

They have ND beating Indiana 31-21, then beating Georgia 19-17, and Penn State 27-26 to make the title game.

We would be like a 1pt dog to Oregon. Losing by 2 scores after those wins would be brutal.

 

[CoachB]

I think UGA is better without Beck. Don't love that there is limited film on him. And Kirby has three weeks to prep for ND, while ND would only have one week to prep for UGA.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

I think UGA is better without Beck. Don't love that there is limited film on him. And Kirby has three weeks to prep for ND, while ND would only have one week to prep for UGA.

Agreed on UGA being better w/ the backup. It could breathe new life into their stagnant offense. Maybe their WR corps stops dropping so many passes. Backup is more dual threat giving Bobo more flexibility. He also only has one half of competitive film out there.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

The problem is you still won't get the desired result as in the NFL if a team loses their starting QB to injury they go out and sign ANOTHER pro QB. In college someone like Travis gets injured for F$U last year and they have to turn to a 18 year old kid.

The desired result is having a team who won their division be the divisions representative in the playoff without any subjectivity. CFB rosters allow many more players than NFL so they would have plenty backups in place even if they end up being walk-ons or players planning to redshirt or grey shirt. So its fair in that the W/L record determines who makes the playoffs not the injury itself. It behooves a team to have adequate backups in place but doesnt penalize the team for injuries. If a team loses its starting QB in the last game before playoffs but their W/L record dictates they won their division, then they go into the playoffs and do what they can. There is no subjectivity there.

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

Yeah, I'd rather Beck be healthy

 

[OhioIrish]

I think UGA is better without Beck. Don't love that there is limited film on him. And Kirby has three weeks to prep for ND, while ND would only have one week to prep for UGA.

I see your point, but Beck was the starter for a reason. If the backup was seasoned, I’d be more concerned. Assuming we beat IU, I’d much rather have a green QB try to deal with Golden’s pressure schemes. Also, UGA has to prepare for two teams, ND actually knows there next two opponents and could start game planning UGA now (if they were so inclined). If ND can’t beat Georgia with their backup QB then we don’t need to be disappointed because a natty was never gonna happen.

 

[NDRock]

I just want to beat Indiana. Think it will be a tough game.

 

[GATTACA!]

I see your point, but Beck was the starter for a reason. If the backup was seasoned, I’d be more concerned. Assuming we beat IU, I’d much rather have a green QB try to deal with Golden’s pressure schemes. Also, UGA has to prepare for two teams, ND actually knows there next two opponents and could start game planning UGA now (if they were so inclined). If ND can’t beat Georgia with their backup QB then we don’t need to be disappointed because a natty was never gonna happen.

That backup also got absolutely rocked at the end of the game and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s one good shot from being in concussion protocol.

 

[NDohio]

Is this who we are more afraid of than Beck?

In 2023, his redshirt freshman year, he completed 12 passes on 19 attempts for 148 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also had 11 carries for 63 yards, his longest rush being 14 yards, but no scores there. His best game last year was during the second half of the Orange Bowl versus Florida State, where he went 6-for-10 on passing for 96 yards and two touchdowns.

Stockton's 2024 stats​

Stockton has completed 13 passes on 16 attempts for 135 yards with no interceptions for zero touchdowns this season. His best game was Tennessee Tech, where he went 10-for-12 on passing for 90 yards.

 

[SeekNDestroy]

I see your point, but Beck was the starter for a reason. If the backup was seasoned, I’d be more concerned. Assuming we beat IU, I’d much rather have a green QB try to deal with Golden’s pressure schemes. Also, UGA has to prepare for two teams, ND actually knows there next two opponents and could start game planning UGA now (if they were so inclined). If ND can’t beat Georgia with their backup QB then we don’t need to be disappointed because a natty was never gonna happen.

Great post

 

[Katzenboyer]

Is this who we are more afraid of than Beck?

I don't think the correct term is "afraid," but there's no question 1) the offense looked like dog caca in the first half with Beck in there, and 2) the second half production of UGA's offense with Stockton was much better.

 

[PigtownIrish]

With Beck out, Georgia committed to running the ball and had success. We will need to stop the run if we make it to this game.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I just want to beat Indiana. Think it will be a tough game.

Agreed. Tougher for IU, though.

Could care less about everyone else other than ND and IU right now.