The issue isn't CFB Playoff Committee, Issue was the SEC scheduling

[volbound1700]

Having teams like Texas have an SEC schedule with 0 top 25 wins is a great example.

Why load up Oklahoma with a gauntlet but give SEC a patty cake schedule? Could they have had Kentucky play OU and LSU play Texas instead? What about switch Ole Miss and Miss State (would have also helped Ole Miss SOS)?

The SEC Scheduling was just not balanced. This is on Sankey and the Conference scheduling.

Georgia should be in Atlanta. They played Alabama, Ole Miss, Texas, and Tennessee. Only 2-loss team to play a gauntlet like that.

I also think OOC scheduling should matter. Call me insane, but I am a fan of docking SEC teams for losing bad OOC games or scheduling weak OOC schedules.

Georgia played both Clemson and will play Georgia Tech. 2 G5 teams. Only Florida played a tougher OOC schedule. I was a fan of counting the Southern Cal loss against LSU when it came to SEC tie breakers because that was a garbage loss by LSU. Discovered LSU wasn't really a contender anyways so no argument.

Notre Dame also needs to be left out until they join a Conference and play a REAL schedule. Push them to join the B1G.

 

[knoxvol52]

You do realize Tennessee and Texas have 7 common opponents on this year's SEC schedule? The only difference is Tennessee played Alabama at Home and Won and Texas plays at Texas A&M next week.

So with 7 common opponents are you saying Tennessee's SEC schedule was soft as well?

 

[Halph66]

I urge you to look at the committee member's bios in the link below. Look how may are actively employed by NCAA Universities. This should never be allowed ever.

2024-25 Selection Committee Roster - College Football Playoff

The official 2024-25 Selection Committee Roster for the College Football Playoff

collegefootballplayoff.com

 

[Behr]

You do realize Tennessee and Texas have 7 common opponents on this year's SEC schedule? The only difference is Tennessee played Alabama at Home and Won and Texas plays at Texas A&M next week.

So with 7 common opponents are you saying Tennessee's SEC schedule was soft as well?

Last week In my mind I was bishing about Texas' schedule. Then I realized what you just pointed out. This is a good example why I don't start threads. Lol.

 

[volbound1700]

You do realize Tennessee and Texas have 7 common opponents on this year's SEC schedule? The only difference is Tennessee played Alabama at Home and Won and Texas plays at Texas A&M next week.

So with 7 common opponents are you saying Tennessee's SEC schedule was soft as well?

Tennessee did play 3 of the all-time bottom feeders: UK, Miss State, Vandy. Arkansas was also not that great. We did get Georgia away instead of at home. That is a MAJOR difference.

Compared to Georgia or Oklahoma's schedule, we definitely had it easy. This is why, I am alright, with Tennessee being ranked 5th among the contenders.

 

[volbound1700]

I urge you to look at the committee member's bios in the link below. Look how may are actively employed by NCAA Universities. This should never be allowed ever.

2024-25 Selection Committee Roster - College Football Playoff

The official 2024-25 Selection Committee Roster for the College Football Playoff

collegefootballplayoff.com

Agree but the SEC Scheduling was NOT fair this year.

Compare Georgia or Oklahoma's schedule against Texas's schedule.

 

[knoxvol52]

Agree but the SEC Scheduling was NOT fair this year.

Compare Georgia or Oklahoma's schedule against Texas's schedule.

Schedules will never be balanced when you play 8 conference games in a 16 team conference, especially when individuals keep screaming have to keep rivalry games alive.

 

[ArmchairQB]

I’m a fan of balanced scheduling, even though that likely means it’s harder to guarantee that you play all teams within however many years.

 

[Halph66]

Agree but the SEC Scheduling was NOT fair this year.

Compare Georgia or Oklahoma's schedule against Texas's schedule.

So how does one determine if a team is going to be good or not prior to the season when the schedules are set? Take Florida State as an example. There are many more.

 

[volbound1700]

So how does one determine if a team is going to be good or not prior to the season when the schedules are set? Take Florida State as an example. There are many more.

You generally know that some programs have a ceiling: Vandy, UK, Miss State, South Carolina, etc.

Sure, teams like Auburn or Florida are generally good. The SEC has 6 programs that compete for National Titles: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, and Tennessee. Oklahoma had 4 of those programs on the schedule. SEC also knew that Ole Miss was up and coming.

They loaded Oklahoma with Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Missouri. South Carolina generally has a ceiling but their are typically better than teams like UK or Vandy. They gave them to Oklahoma as well.

Meanwhile, Texas got Miss State, UK, and Vandy all three (the three WORSE programs all-time in the SEC) as well as an Arkansas team that we know has been struggling lately. Florida had been struggling for a few years as well and Texas got them. In fact, Texas got both Florida and Georgia AT HOME and got Oklahoma in Texas. So the perceived 3 hard games on their schedule where all in the state of Texas.

Texas had no meaningful road game like Tennessee had with Georgia and Oklahoma. Texas had all 3 of the bottom tier SEC programs. They had an Arkansas team that had struggled recently. They also had their 3 toughest games in Texas. The schedule was just NOT fair no matter how you put it. Give Texas LSU instead of Kentucky or Ole Miss instead of Miss State and it is probably a more decent schedule.

Texas currently has 0 wins against the top 25. That is unheard of from a 1-loss SEC program.

 

[ArmchairQB]

Remember the talk about pods when we went to 16 teams? What if we used that. Don’t even have to have four divisions, just use it to denote permanent opponents and figure out schedules.

Pod 1: Tennessee, Alabama, Vandy, Auburn

Pod 2: Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Kentucky

Pod 3: Ole Miss, LSU, Arkansas, Miss State

Pod 4: Texas, Texas A&M, Missouri, Oklahoma

Schedule is based on results from the previous year. Each team that finished top of its pod gets two others who finished top of theirs, and a second place finisher from the remaining pod. And you play one and four, and two and three.

It encourages parity and discourages dynasties because if you’re on top you have to prove you stayed there next year by playing a bit more of the best the next year. Ones play three ones, twos play two ones.

So say Texas beats A&M (and I’m not so sure they do). Next year their schedule could be, based loosely on what this year looks like:

Texas A&M, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Auburn, South Carolina, Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State

Our own schedule would be Alabama, Vandy, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma.

Edit: and obviously I would 100% go to a nine game schedule.

 

[knoxvol52]

You generally know that some programs have a ceiling: Vandy, UK, Miss State, South Carolina, etc.

Sure, teams like Auburn or Florida are generally good. The SEC has 6 programs that compete for National Titles: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, and Tennessee. Oklahoma had 4 of those programs on the schedule. SEC also knew that Ole Miss was up and coming.

They loaded Oklahoma with Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Missouri. South Carolina generally has a ceiling but their are typically better than teams like UK or Vandy. They gave them to Oklahoma as well.

Meanwhile, Texas got Miss State, UK, and Vandy all three (the three WORSE programs all-time in the SEC) as well as an Arkansas team that we know has been struggling lately. Florida had been struggling for a few years as well and Texas got them. In fact, Texas got both Florida and Georgia AT HOME and got Oklahoma in Texas. So the perceived 3 hard games on their schedule where all in the state of Texas.

Texas had no meaningful road game like Tennessee had with Georgia and Oklahoma. Texas had all 3 of the bottom tier SEC programs. They had an Arkansas team that had struggled recently. They also had their 3 toughest games in Texas. The schedule was just NOT fair no matter how you put it. Give Texas LSU instead of Kentucky or Ole Miss instead of Miss State and it is probably a more decent schedule.

Texas currently has 0 wins against the top 25. That is unheard of from a 1-loss SEC program.

They play Texas A&M next week so there's Texas last chance to shut the Media up.

 

[sami]

I urge you to look at the committee member's bios in the link below. Look how may are actively employed by NCAA Universities. This should never be allowed ever.

2024-25 Selection Committee Roster - College Football Playoff

The official 2024-25 Selection Committee Roster for the College Football Playoff

collegefootballplayoff.com

Exactly why I've been railing against the entire process and refer to them as the "committee". It's a f***king joke that a bunch of biased bureaucrats decide the fate of schools with this much revenue and recruiting on the line.

The explanation that when one "committee" member's school is being discussed he has to leave the room might be the most idiotic thing I've heard. That same member is in the room discussing other schools whose fate affects their own school!! After hearing the explanation of the fool in charge about why Indiana was ranked as highly as they were was nothing short of embarrassing.

 

[driscokid]

Tennessee did play 3 of the all-time bottom feeders: UK, Miss State, Vandy. Arkansas was also not that great. We did get Georgia away instead of at home. That is a MAJOR difference.

Compared to Georgia or Oklahoma's schedule, we definitely had it easy. This is why, I am alright, with Tennessee being ranked 5th among the contenders.

At the beginning of the year the schedule looked pretty tough. Usually KY, OK and ARK are better than they played this year..

 

[volbound1700]

They play Texas A&M next week so there's Texas last chance to shut the Media up.

True. If they lose that game, they should fall behind Tennessee to the 5th space IMO. We will see.

 

[volbound1700]

At the beginning of the year the schedule looked pretty tough. Usually KY, OK and ARK are better than they played this year..

Arkansas was 4-8 last year. UK had lost a lot of talent and everyone knew they would have a down year. IMO, UK has always been kind of a paper tiger and everyone knows it. They sometimes win 8 or 9 games against a soft schedule but they generally do not compete once they run into a real SEC contender like Georgia. Even when Tennessee was bad, we still have beaten UK most of the time.

It is clear that teams like UK and Vandy will never be top 10 programs and soften your Conference schedule. I can understand having a miss like Auburn or Florida when they are down but it is hard to argue that UK, Vandy, or Miss State are ever going to be a very challenging game.

 

[knoxvol52]

True. If they lose that game, they should fall behind Tennessee to the 5th space IMO. We will see.

I agree to this point as well.

 

[volbound1700]

Remember the talk about pods when we went to 16 teams? What if we used that. Don’t even have to have four divisions, just use it to denote permanent opponents and figure out schedules.

Pod 1: Tennessee, Alabama, Vandy, Auburn

Pod 2: Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Kentucky

Pod 3: Ole Miss, LSU, Arkansas, Miss State

Pod 4: Texas, Texas A&M, Missouri, Oklahoma

Schedule is based on results from the previous year. Each team that finished top of its pod gets two others who finished top of theirs, and a second place finisher from the remaining pod. And you play one and four, and two and three.

It encourages parity and discourages dynasties because if you’re on top you have to prove you stayed there next year by playing a bit more of the best the next year. Ones play three ones, twos play two ones.

So say Texas beats A&M (and I’m not so sure they do). Next year their schedule could be, based loosely on what this year looks like:

Texas A&M, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Auburn, South Carolina, Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State

Our own schedule would be Alabama, Vandy, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma.

Edit: and obviously I would 100% go to a nine game schedule.

At this point, we need the 9 game conference schedule. I prefer the 4 OCC and 8 Conf game format but that just doesn't work for a 16-team league.

I would be alright with the pod idea but I generally want the 3-8-8 where each team gets 3 annual rivals and then plays the other 8 teams every other year. Tennessee's 3 should be UK, Vandy, and Alabama.

Texas can do Arkansas, A&M, and Oklahoma.

Keep in mind that under this format you would still play the other teams very often. In fact, you would get every SEC team in a 2 year block. So Tennessee would play Georgia, not play them, play @ Georgia, not play them, play Georgia, etc. in that format. So you would still see the other SEC teams ALOT.

 

[Sarms58]

In general, the more teams available to be scheduled the higher the potential for uneven schedules. With sixteen teams, the odds are pretty good that schedule difficulty will vary greatly. It’s not just the SEC - the Big 10 has the same problem.
If conferences limit membership to 16 teams and set requirements for the minimum number of league games (9 or 10) it might help but you still have the out of conference problem. In an idea world , all non conference opponents should be power 4 schools instead of the cream puffs.

 

[Carp]

Having teams like Texas have an SEC schedule with 0 top 25 wins is a great example.

Why load up Oklahoma with a gauntlet but give SEC a patty cake schedule? Could they have had Kentucky play OU and LSU play Texas instead? What about switch Ole Miss and Miss State (would have also helped Ole Miss SOS)?

The SEC Scheduling was just not balanced. This is on Sankey and the Conference scheduling.

Georgia should be in Atlanta. They played Alabama, Ole Miss, Texas, and Tennessee. Only 2-loss team to play a gauntlet like that.

I also think OOC scheduling should matter. Call me insane, but I am a fan of docking SEC teams for losing bad OOC games or scheduling weak OOC schedules.

Georgia played both Clemson and will play Georgia Tech. 2 G5 teams. Only Florida played a tougher OOC schedule. I was a fan of counting the Southern Cal loss against LSU when it came to SEC tie breakers because that was a garbage loss by LSU. Discovered LSU wasn't really a contender anyways so no argument.

Notre Dame also needs to be left out until they join a Conference and play a REAL schedule. Push them to join the B1G.

You don't know how good teams are actually gonna be until they play the games. Most people thought Vandy would be terrible and Oklahoma would be competing for the SEC crown. It turns out the opposite was true. Michigan won the CFP a year ago, so most people assumed they would be a good team again this year. It turns out losing Harbaugh was a bigger loss than most thought. Texas surely had an easier schedule than some teams coming into the season, but I don't think anyone could have predicted some of these teams to be as bad as they have been.

 

[volbound1700]

In general, the more teams available to be scheduled the higher the potential for uneven schedules. With sixteen teams, the odds are pretty good that schedule difficulty will vary greatly. It’s not just the SEC - the Big 10 has the same problem.
If conferences limit membership to 16 teams and set requirements for the minimum number of league games (9 or 10) it might help but you still have the out of conference problem. In an idea world , all non conference opponents should be power 4 schools instead of the cream puffs.

Agree and probably argument for 9-game schedules. Still, Texas' schedule just stuck out heavily as a sore thumb.

Perhaps the logic was that Oklahoma would be better. That made sense for Tennessee's schedule as well.

However, if you take the OU vs Texas setup, it makes 0 sense why the SEC gave OU the schedule they did and Texas the schedule they did. It was clearly unbalanced no matter how you spin it. Any one with a functional brain could see that even this summer (and it was talked about in the off season).

 

[volbound1700]

You don't know how good teams are actually gonna be until they play the games. Most people thought Vandy would be terrible and Oklahoma would be competing for the SEC crown. It turns out the opposite was true. Michigan won the CFP a year ago, so most people assumed they would be a good team again this year. It turns out losing Harbaugh was a bigger loss than most thought. Texas surely had an easier schedule than some teams coming into the season, but I don't think anyone could have predicted some of these teams to be as bad as they have been.

But that isn't correct when you look at the SEC Schedule.

People could see Arkansas and Florida's struggles the last 4-5 years. People also know that generally Miss State, UK, and Vandy are just NOT contenders.

As stated, only 6 SEC programs (well now 8 with OU and Texas) have competed for National Titles in the last 25 years. 4 of those 6 where on Oklahoma's schedule. We also know that South Carolina and Missouri are typically tougher teams than Miss State, UK, Vandy, and Arkansas. That has been the trend over the past 10 years.

Even as "good" as people say Vandy is going to be, they will likely finish this season at 7-5 or 6-6. That isn't that good. It is good/great by Vandy standards but it isn't a top 25 elite team.

The only real unpredictable game on Texas' schedule was Oklahoma falling flat. That being said, they loaded Oklahoma with such a brutal schedule that people expected something of a drop-off.

 

[Carp]

But that isn't correct when you look at the SEC Schedule.

People could see Arkansas and Florida's struggles the last 4-5 years. People also know that generally Miss State, UK, and Vandy are just NOT contenders.

As stated, only 6 SEC programs (well now 8 with OU and Texas) have competed for National Titles in the last 25 years. 4 of those 6 where on Oklahoma's schedule. We also know that South Carolina and Missouri are typically tougher teams than Miss State, UK, Vandy, and Arkansas. That has been the trend over the past 10 years.

Even as "good" as people say Vandy is going to be, they will likely finish this season at 7-5 or 6-6. That isn't that good. It is good/great by Vandy standards but it isn't a top 25 elite team.

The only real unpredictable game on Texas' schedule was Oklahoma falling flat. That being said, they loaded Oklahoma with such a brutal schedule that people expected something of a drop-off.

We played the same schedule as Texas did, aside from Michigan, UL Monroe, and Texas A&M. Michigan certainly was assumed to be title contenders pre-season and they are probably still a better team than NC State. UL Monroe is 10x better than UTC. In the SEC Texas A&M instead of Bama. And now both A&M and Bama have the same record.

So did we play a weak schedule too?

 

[volbound1700]

We played the same schedule as Texas did, aside from Michigan, UL Monroe, and Texas A&M. Michigan certainly was assumed to be title contenders pre-season and they are probably still a better team than NC State. UL Monroe is 10x better than UTC. In the SEC Texas A&M instead of Bama. And now both A&M and Bama have the same record.

So did we play a weak schedule too?

We played one of the weaker schedules, yes. That is why I am not whining about our CFP ranking.

One key item is that we did get Georgia on the road versus at home. We also had to play in Norman versus getting OU in Dallas. So if you factor home/away, Tennessee's schedule was harder.

 

[Carp]

In general, the more teams available to be scheduled the higher the potential for uneven schedules. With sixteen teams, the odds are pretty good that schedule difficulty will vary greatly. It’s not just the SEC - the Big 10 has the same problem.
If conferences limit membership to 16 teams and set requirements for the minimum number of league games (9 or 10) it might help but you still have the out of conference problem. In an idea world , all non conference opponents should be power 4 schools instead of the cream puffs.

Even then, schedules would be uneven.

LSU scheduled USC as one of their OOC games. It looked like a great match up on paper. But now USC is 5-5 and will be lucky to make a bowl game.

Conversely, MS State scheduled AZ State, who most people thought would be terrible after a 3-9 season a year ago. Now AZ State is ranked 21st and has an outside shot at winning the Big 12 and making it into the CFP (and getting a BYE).

So you're likely going to have variation no matter what. It's not a perfect system and someone is always gonna feel like it's unfair for their team.