ESPN already setting the CFP narrative

[ShelbourneVol]

It is insightful to know where the CFP Committee members are from.

It's not an exact science, because they're all sports or journalism professionals who have held jobs across the country: in college, in the pros (not just football, other sports), and in the media. But if you read their bios, you get a pretty good feel for where their hearts might be now.

I'll give just two examples of the complexity involved: Gary Pinkel played football at Kent State in Ohio; then bounced as an assistant coach from there to Washington, back to Ohio at Bowling Green, and back to Washington. His longest stint in those days was 6 years at Washington. Then as a head coach, he was with Toledo 10 years, then Mizzou for 15. Mizzou is where he retired from coaching.

Hard to say which of those holds his heart foremost, but his lifetime footprint is mostly in the Mid-west, from Ohio across to Mizzou. The time out west in Washington is the outlier. BECAUSE my suspicion is that the SEC is way under-represented in the Committee, I went with Mizzou as Gary Pinkel's first love. But it could be Toledo.

Second example: Kelly Whiteside. She was a student at Rutgers, then Columbia, studying journalism. She has served as a journalism professor at Columbia and Montclair for a decade and a half, and has written mostly for USA Today (14 years) but also for Newsday, Sports Illustrated, and the New York Times. So her footprint is all over the northeast. She probably thinks of herself as a New Yorker. I put her star at Rutgers, in Jersey.


The 13 committee members map out like this:

Chris Ault -- Nevada
Chet Gladchuk -- Navy or Boston College (charted him Navy)
Jim Grobe -- Wake Forest or Virginia (charted him Wake)
Warde Manuel -- Michigan
Randall McDaniel -- Arizona State
Gary Pinkel -- Mizzou or Toledo (charted him Mizzou)
Mack Rhoades -- Baylor
Mike Riley -- Oregon State or Nebraska (charted him Oregon St)
David Sayler -- Miami
Will Shields -- Nebraska
Kelly Whiteside -- USA Today writer; Rutgers or Columbia (charted Rutgers)
Carla Williams -- Virginia
Hunter Yuracheck -- Arkansas

On a map, that looks like this:
View attachment 702316

Three of the 13 are from the Pacific/Mountain West area ... Three are mid-western ... one is B12 ... and five are Atlantic Coast footprint. Only one, Arkansas, is SEC. Well, two if you count Mizzou. Most of us probably don't, lol.

That big, open nothing from the SEC part of Texas, across Louisiana, all across the deep south plus up into South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky, that could be a sign of SEC under-representation.

The Committee might counter that two of its members played sports in the SEC (Mike Riley, the Oregon State star on the map, was a Bama football player; and Carla Williams, the Virginia star, was an UGa women's BBall athlete). That's not where their hearts seem to be based on a lifelong career.

Is this a problem? Dunno. Maybe it's something for Sankey to spend more time on, or maybe it's not as anemic for our conference as it seems.

Just thought it was worthy of us being aware of it.

Go Vols!

This is good work. You certainly put a lot of thought, effort and logic in to this.

 

[DeepSpringsVol]

That (the fight) could play a role in it if there are players getting suspended. Remember what happened to FSU after their QB got injured? The committee came out and said they look at what players/coaches are available.

I wonder if the B1G would get involved to force suspensions though. I don't think have any faith Ryan Day is pulling any of his players outside of maybe make them sit the first possession. I see no way the way his comments were after the game he will discipline his players. It would have to come from B1G office and I don't trust they want to challenge Ohio State. Just replace that situation of being the SEC and it's Alabama. We know how that would be handled.

 

[UTFranklinVol]

I guess it's the element of the unknown. Georgia beats us and head to head should matter to most. So how do we reward a lower team by avoiding the opportunity to lose that game. So I agree with you optics wise is sit house money where if you play and win you get rewarded but if lose no consequences at all. So to me I think it's very subjective. And reality is just like we have seen in the Mens basketball tournament. There will always be someone's feelings hurt. I guess we will find out together after conference championship weekend.

Head to head only matters when the teams have the same record. A 3 loss Georgia team is not better than a 2 loss Tennessee team. Especially when Tennessee didn't need 8 overtimes to beat Vanderbilt.

If Georgia wins the SECCG then they earn their auto bid but if they lose that should count for something too in a negative way. It always has in the past anyway.

Heck the only reason Georgia is in the discussion is they backed into the SECCG because Bama and Ole Miss choked it away.

 

[Shaun1985]

Head to head only matters when the teams have the same record. A 3 loss Georgia team is not better than a 2 loss Tennessee team. Especially when Tennessee didn't need 8 overtimes to beat Vanderbilt.

If Georgia wins the SECCG then they earn their auto bid but if they lose that should count for something too in a negative way. It always has in the past anyway.

Heck the only reason Georgia is in the discussion is they backed into the SECCG because Bama and Ole Miss choked it away.

I agree. I've said from the beginning there is no way you lose conference championship games and it not at least affect your seed line. If Georgia loses to Texas, they shouldn't be penalized and be dropped out of the playoffs but being right on the line, no chance you reward them with a game in Athens. The Big 10 is different. 1 vs 3 means the winner gets a bye and the loser gets to host. I can't see you justifying dropping either to a traveling team. So I think the only way to be fair is not let the losers of conference championships drastically change the landscape of the playoffs but it has to matter some. Unfortunately for leagues like the big12 or ACC, it's all or nothing because the body of work is just trash

 

[UTFranklinVol]

I agree. I've said from the beginning there is no way you lose conference championship games and it not at least affect your seed line. If Georgia loses to Texas, they shouldn't be penalized and be dropped out of the playoffs but being right on the line, no chance you reward them with a game in Athens. The Big 10 is different. 1 vs 3 means the winner gets a bye and the loser gets to host. I can't see you justifying dropping either to a traveling team. So I think the only way to be fair is not let the losers of conference championships drastically change the landscape of the playoffs but it has to matter some. Unfortunately for leagues like the big12 or ACC, it's all or nothing because the body of work is just trash

I agree that Georgia should not be bumped completely out of the playoffs. But they shouldn't be allowed to host. If Georgia were currently undefeated or 1 loss then I think it's justified that they stay ranked above Tennessee but that's not the case.

My opinion with the B10 and the SEC is this:

The champion gets the bye
The second best team gets to host
The 3rd/4th best teams go on the road

If Georgia loses I see no justification that Tennessee isn't the 2nd best team in the SEC

 

[BradentonVol]

I wonder if the B1G would get involved to force suspensions though. I don't think have any faith Ryan Day is pulling any of his players outside of maybe make them sit the first possession. I see no way the way his comments were after the game he will discipline his players. It would have to come from B1G office and I don't trust they want to challenge Ohio State. Just replace that situation of being the SEC and it's Alabama. We know how that would be handled.

The NCAA can issue the suspensions, remember the fight, that occurred after the Ohio State / Michigan game? The NCAA stepped in and imposed suspensions for players on both teams. Having said that, I don’t know that they will but, something needs to be done to discourage that type of behavior.

 

[JMSqb11]

Yeah we’d be in the playoff regardless of how the SEC Championship went it we only had one loss. We’d have a chance to get a bye and would be guaranteed to host if we lost in Atlanta.

You have a lot of really bad takes.

We are going to have 3 weeks to prepare for our playoff game. This is the best of the best now so lighten up Francis..... There is zero excuse such as home field to lay a goose egg in the first round if we have to go on the road

 

[vol_sec]

CBS articles also setting the narrative, saying UGA and UT had similar “late” comeback games when UGA needed a miracle down 14 with 4 minutes left while UT was leading
at halftime. I’m holding the AP and coaches drops Ohio state behind, seems the committee is influenced by those polls.


“No. 2 Ohio State and No. 6 Miami lost stunners, while No. 7 Georgia and No. 8 Tennesseeneeded late comebacks to pull away from far lesser opponents. ‘

 

[orangepenez]

Just win baby. I don’t care who. I don’t care where. I don’t care when. Get fired up to have a shot at winning a national championship and go take care of business.

 

[ddubb76]

The NCAA can issue the suspensions, remember the fight, that occurred after the Ohio State / Michigan game? The NCAA stepped in and imposed suspensions for players on both teams. Having said that, I don’t know that they will but, something needs to be done to discourage that type of behavior.

They are now paid players. Fine them

 

[BradentonVol]

We are going to have 3 weeks to prepare for our playoff game. This is the best of the best now so lighten up Francis..... There is zero excuse such as home field to lay a goose egg in the first round if we have to go on the road

This I can’t agree with. Having home field advantage, to playoff teams, can make a difference. Remember, the visiting school is only allotted 3500 tickets. Crowd noise has proven that it can affect a game.

 

[JMSqb11]

This I can’t agree with. Having home field advantage, to playoff teams, can make a difference. Remember, the visiting school is only allotted 3500 tickets. Crowd noise has proven that it can affect a game.

Well then lets get Heupel to open up Neyland for a week of practice so we can get the boys ready.... Big game coaches win on the road.... We have plenty of time to prepare.

 

[BradentonVol]

They are now paid players. Fine them

That wasn’t really the point, we’re talking about the committee dropping a teams playoff ranking due to availability of players/coaches. They left out FSU after their QB got injured. If Ohio State has players getting suspended, the committee could drop them lower.

 

[BradentonVol]

Well then lets get Heupel to open up Neyland for a week of practice so we can get the boys ready.... Big game coaches win on the road.... We have plenty of time to prepare.

Well, I agree but the NCAA also limits the number of practices a team can have. I think it’s 4 hour a day, 20 hours per week.

 

[GiveHim6InSC]

With their latest projections they have Ohio State ranked 6 and us at 7. That would have them as the last team hosting and us going on the road to Columbus.

Their reasoning is that Ohio State has 2 “statement” wins- Penn State and Indiana while we only have 1.

I’m happy with going to whip them at their place- just wild how ESPN is trying to justify the masses towards them.

(I realize a lot can and will change- but they dropped 6 spots with their first loss last year. Now losing at home to a .500 team they think they should only drop 4)

Hopefully, the committee won’t pay any attention to ESPN. Their opinion shouldn’t matter

 

[fossilfiction]

Sane people don’t want to play a meaningless game either and have one less bye week

The championship winners get a bye in the playoff. It would be better for Tennessee to be able to go, to win the championship, and get a first-round bye-week.
To say a conference championship game is meaningless is not true and is a bad take.

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

We are going to have 3 weeks to prepare for our playoff game. This is the best of the best now so lighten up Francis..... There is zero excuse such as home field to lay a goose egg in the first round if we have to go on the road

You will 100% come up with excuses. Probably say the committee and the world have it out for Tennessee

 

[JMSqb11]

The championship winners get a bye in the playoff. It would be better for Tennessee to be able to go, to win the championship, and get a first-round bye-week.
To say a conference championship game is meaningless is not true and is a bad take.

We also have the same amount “off time” as the winner of the SEC title. 3 weeks off is 3 weeks off.

 

[JMSqb11]

You will 100% come up with excuses. Probably say the committee and the world have it out for Tennessee

No. I’m not one of those pearl clutchers who whine and cry like half this fan base did at having to play Vandy. We have a top defense in the nation that is formidable and Nico is improving. I will ride with this team regardless of the venue we play in

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

No. I’m not one of those pearl clutchers who whine and cry like half this fan base did at having to play Vandy. We have a top defense in the nation that is formidable and Nico is improving. I will ride with this team regardless of the venue we play in

And if we lose a road game you’ll say we don’t actually struggle on the road, it was the refs and the committee conspiring to screw us.

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

We also have the same amount “off time” as the winner of the SEC title. 3 weeks off is 3 weeks off.

You are arguing against yourself now. You claimed 3 weeks off was better than winning the SEC (insane take) despite the fact the SEC winner gets three weeks off.

 

[JMSqb11]

And if we lose a road game you’ll say we don’t actually struggle on the road, it was the refs and the committee conspiring to screw us.

We will review all the evidence at the time and form a conclusion that is merit and fact based.

 

[JMSqb11]

You are arguing against yourself now. You claimed 3 weeks off was better than winning the SEC (insane take) despite the fact the SEC winner gets three weeks off.

I never once said having 3 weeks off was better.

I’m simply saying that we get the same time off as the winner of the SEC and will have to play one less game to do so. No one with a brain is turning that down.

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

I never once said having 3 weeks off was better.

I’m simply saying that we get the same time off as the winner of the SEC and will have to play one less game to do so. No one with a brain is turning that down.

We don’t play one less game. And yes, many people with brains would turn down not winning the SEC for the chance to win the SEC and get a playoff bye.

 

[JMSqb11]

We don’t play one less game. And yes, many people with brains would turn down not winning the SEC for the chance to win the SEC and get a playoff bye.

Last I checked the loser of the SEC (And Big Ten) will have played 13 games before their first round playoff game. We will have played on 12 prior to our first round game.

As I said, not having to play in the SEC title game is far more reward than risk