Playoffs: And now extended playoffs

[sami]

How would that be any different than if we won the SEC this season and then lost to a TCU or undermanned FSU team? That comes with the territory of being the SEC champion.

The point of the thread was whether winning the SEC championship really means anything any more other than how it affects playoff seeding. To me it doesn't, and you keep agreeing with me but still arguing the point.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

The point of the thread was whether winning the SEC championship really means anything any more other than how it affects playoff seeding. To me it doesn't, and you keep agreeing with me but still arguing the point.

I don’t think winning the SEC means any less than it used to. Yes I think theres more to play for than there used to be, but in our own Southeastern Conference bubble it still matters a great deal to those within the conference.

 

[KTrain]

Winning the conference championship can be the difference between resting your guys w/ a bye in the first round or potentially traveling to Columbus or flying cross country to Eugene in December . I still think it’s a big dea

If you win a G5 conference you will not get a bye, and you will still have to travel because with SOS you will probably be one of the 9th 10th 11th or 12th team qualifying.
I suppose there will be no SECC game so a lot of years there will be ties and they will do some variables of head-to-head which may not happen on some years and most points scored or SOS OOC or something like that IMO that waters a Conference champion down not playing on the field. If you did try to slip one in before the 12-team playoff, nobody would want to go because the extra game before playoffs.

 

[DrTNT]

Ever since the NCAA / TV went to the playoff system I have noticed a loss of interest in Conference Championships. As an older fan, I felt the college game losing its roots. In the playoff era all I hear from Tenn fans is making the playoffs. Makes me wonder if mid pack teams like an Ok St, Kansas, UCLA, Miss St, etc would be disappointed in winning a conference championship if they don’t make the playoffs.

My question: Would you, as a Vol fan, rather win the SEC championship, or get in the 12 team playoff and lose the 1st round?

Why not just win both?

 

[DrTNT]

You could tell last night, not making the playoff (or hen they should have), led to FSU not being at all interested in their Bowl game…

 

[RDU VOL#14]

If you win a G5 conference you will not get a bye, and you will still have to travel because with SOS you will probably be one of the 9th 10th 11th or 12th team qualifying.
I suppose there will be no SECC game so a lot of years there will be ties and they will do some variables of head-to-head which may not happen on some years and most points scored or SOS OOC or something like that IMO that waters a Conference champion down not playing on the field. If you did try to slip one in before the 12-team playoff, nobody would want to go because the extra game before playoffs.

I think there will still by conference title games. They’re too much of a $$ maker for them to be cancelled. Maybe that changes if the CFP expands further to 16.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Ever since the NCAA / TV went to the playoff system I have noticed a loss of interest in Conference Championships. As an older fan, I felt the college game losing its roots. In the playoff era all I hear from Tenn fans is making the playoffs. Makes me wonder if mid pack teams like an Ok St, Kansas, UCLA, Miss St, etc would be disappointed in winning a conference championship if they don’t make the playoffs.

My question: Would you, as a Vol fan, rather win the SEC championship, or get in the 12 team playoff and lose the 1st round?

I think a 12-team playoff makes the conference title MORE elite than before.

For most of the CFP & BCS era, getting into the playoff or national title game has been harder than getting to our conference championship game. No longer.

Now, being one of the best two teams in the SEC is certainly more of an accomplishment than merely being one of the best 12 in the country.

So yeah, I think the conference championship now means MORE. For those who think about it even a llittle.

break/break

You could tell last night, not making the playoff (or hen they should have), led to FSU not being at all interested in their Bowl game…

Instead of whining over sour grapes, the FSU players and coaches (especially the coaches, they had a real chance to provide leadership and failed) should've realized: their bowl game vs UGa WAS A ONE-GAME NATIONAL TITLE MATCH. All they had to do was find a way to win that, claim their national title, and they'd have gotten probably HALF or more of the national title declaring bodies (Sagarin, Sports Illustrated, USA Today/Coaches, Massey, etc.) agreeing with them. Sure, the AP is in lockstep with the CFP, but the AP is just one of many agents who declare national champs.

FSU absolutely could've had a national title for the rest of history. Heck, Georgia may STILL go this route and claim a title. We'll see.

But FSU cried. They complained. They gave up. They quit. And they got nothing to show for it.

That's on them.

If we're ever a similar situation, I really hope our coaches are bright enough to see the opportunity in it, and can lead our players to that same realization.

Go Vols!

 

[adam.vol]

Gonna be honest here - I don't think I care much about either. The "SEC Championship" is sliding toward irrelevance. It's a chance to beat an SEC opponent in a game. A stop on the way to the almighty College Football Playoffs. In and of itself, it won't have meaning like it used to. So if that's the only win, it wouldn't really mean as much as it used to?

And getting into a 12 team playoff seems mostly irrelevant, so going out in the first round would be worthless. Being one of 12 teams is like being a Sweet 16 team in college basketball. Nobody remembers or cares about it by the time the next season rolls around. They certainly don't talk about teams getting to the Sweet 16 as an accolade the year after. So just making the CFP isn't really a big deal either.

Fact is, only the last two teams standing in the CFP will have any special significance. Everything else will be forgettable. Heh. It's the BCS all over again, except worse! A neat trick.

Which ... I guess ... makes my answer ... "these are about the same." So. Meh.

Not getting in to the playoffs is going to feel like being one of the losers who couldn’t get a date. Not getting laid (losing in the first round) will always be better than sitting at home playing with yourself. Nobody brags to their friends about what anybody could do at any time.

 

[sami]

I think a 12-team playoff makes the conference title MORE elite than before.

For most of the CFP & BCS era, getting into the playoff or national title game has been harder than getting to your conference championship game. No longer.

Now, being one of the best two teams in the SEC is certainly more of an accomplishment than merely being one of the best 12 in the country.

So yeah, I think the conference championship now means MORE. For those who think about it even a llittle.

Okay, so if UT wins the SEC title and loses their first playoff game, do you honestly believe that VolNation will see it as a positive, successful season? You and I might, but it is 'natty or bust' now in most peoples' minds, with the playoff being the end-all, and the fear of being trolled by their UGa and Bama buddies and on forums will cause most fans to consider it a failure.

Might be ridiculous, but welcome to the brave new world of CFB.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Okay, so if UT wins the SEC title and loses their first playoff game, do you honestly believe that VolNation will see it as a positive, successful season? You and I might, but it is 'natty or bust' now in most peoples' minds, with the playoff being the end-all, and the fear of being trolled by their UGa and Bama buddies and on forums will cause most fans to consider it a failure.

Might be ridiculous, but welcome to the brave new world of CFB.

Sami, you and I know that there are plenty of folks on these boards who wouldn't see it as a positive even if we won the SEC title, won a bye in the first round, and won our semi-final game. Heck, there are some who would find a way to complain even if we won the national crown.

And I don't just mean trolls. They fool some folks, but many of us are onto them. I mean actual Vols fans. Usually nega-vols, yeah. They just can't appreciate anything. Nothing is ever excellent, the best anyone can achieve in their eyes is mediocre.

So why are we worrying about what THEY think?

And p.s., I wouldn't say in MOST people's minds. I think this is the vocal minority here. Vn.com is an echo chamber sometimes, for the complainers. So they seem like a lot more folks than they actually are.

I think most of us are actually very level headed, and would celebrate a season with an SEC title, with or without a concomitant national crown. Even if a lot of us rarely say so out loud on these boards.

Go Vols!

 

[volfeeva]

I know I'll get blasted, but I don't foresee 10 wins by the Vols until we get past the scholarship penalties that Cornbread gave us...AND..... until the team from AD down to the water boy, puts as much emphasis on the defense as we do the offense. Conference wins are only going to get tougher, top recruits are going to be spread out over more SEC teams, so personally I think we should expect some 8 win seasons and going to a bowl game in the near future.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I know I'll get blasted, but I don't foresee 10 wins by the Vols until we get past the scholarship penalties that Cornbread gave us...AND..... until the team from AD down to the water boy, puts as much emphasis on the defense as we do the offense. Conference wins are only going to get tougher, top recruits are going to be spread out over more SEC teams, so personally I think we should expect some 8 win seasons and going to a bowl game in the near future.

We'll get 10 wins next year.

Well, let me put it this way. If Nico comes out and looks Hendon-esque tomorrow, as I hope he does, we will win 10+ next season.

Let's wait and see how tomorrow goes.

Go Vols!

 

[sami]

I know I'll get blasted, but I don't foresee 10 wins by the Vols until we get past the scholarship penalties that Cornbread gave us...AND..... until the team from AD down to the water boy, puts as much emphasis on the defense as we do the offense. Conference wins are only going to get tougher, top recruits are going to be spread out over more SEC teams, so personally I think we should expect some 8 win seasons and going to a bowl game in the near future.

I think I'll just take it as it comes instead of putting up expectations of floors and ceilings before the fact without even knowing what the rosters will look like or how the schedules will fall, which serves no purpose anyway. Seems like a lot more fun that way.

 

[Seattle Hillbilly]

Depends on the opponents and how many one loss and undefeated teams remain at the end of the season. So some seasons, 10 wins will get you in and other seasons, a 10 win SEC team will be left out.

A 10 win season and a SEC conference championship will probably get a team in the playoffs, but maybe not in the top 4. So that could be another argument for why the conference championship will still be important in the future.

I’m too lazy to check historical records but I doubt there are many years where the Vols won 10 games and weren’t in the top 12.

 

[a vol n tears]

How long will this SEC superiority continue. The BIG ??? (Whatever it’s gonna be) will be stronger with their PAC additions. Better competition makes better teams. Another change will be fewer big conferences means the best players will now be devided into fewer conferences. With college football being driven / controlled by tv money it is only a few years until they start scheduling Power 4 inter conference games that will all but eliminate conferences as we now recognize them (football 1st). No conference championship games. Is a 1st rd bye any better than being off week 13, and not even playing in the championship game. With a conference title game, you could lose and not get any game week off.
Enjoy college sports while you can. They are nothing more than Rome used, to take our attention away from the important things going on in this world. I love college sports but every game I watch convinces me more that the system is rigged. I wrote a reply after week 3 this season that the SEC would not win the NC this year, probably bot the big 10, but the PAC. Nine weeks later and I have a 50% chance of being correct.

 

[CDB]

Does it mean as much? I don’t know, but I would like to find out!

The SEC basketball championship meant a lot to me. A lot more than I thought it would.

We’ve made the playoffs, we have had a very good year. If we win the SEC, we have had a great year.

That being said, is college sports, losing it’s luster?

 

[CDB]

The dominance of the SEC when it comes to national titles, makes winning the SEC a big deal. It is just a notch down from winning the national title… a big notch down, but a notch down.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

That being said, is college sports, losing it’s luster?

Perhaps for you. And maybe that's why maybe it feels, to you, like it could be true for the rest of us.

But it's not. According to sources like Bloomberg, college football viewership is up 12% in 2023 over the previous year, and is up 28% over the past five years.

In other words, it is becoming MORE popular, not less.

But again, perhaps for you. Tastes, personal interests, come and go.

Go Vols!

 

[JoeMiltonsAgent]

Winning the conference will always matter.

It's more of a means to and end than it used to be with the playoffs but there is still some prestige attached to being a conference champion.

Unless you're Florida St. Lol.

 

[Voltopia]

Perhaps for you. And maybe that's why maybe it feels, to you, like it could be true for the rest of us.

But it's not. According to sources like Bloomberg, college football viewership is up 12% in 2023 over the previous year, and is up 28% over the past five years.

In other words, it is becoming MORE popular, not less.

But again, perhaps for you. Tastes, personal interests, come and go.

Go Vols!

I would submit that pure viewership isn't equatable to college's football luster (or excellence, if you will), or even fully relatable - nor is popularity. Media companies are capable of taking any number of things and making them "popular," but that doesn't mean the products are somehow improved in the process. One has only to look at the litany of incredibly mindless drivel television has popularized over the past twenty years to see just how skilled corporate media is at inflating the presence of anything they get their hands on.

College sports are consistent, reliable, repeatable, and have unique marketing connections to local and regional identities. They are fundamentally unlike professional sports -- well, they were, but the TV money is taking care of that little detail even as we speak. And that shouldn't surprise anyone. Television, and sports media, will happily squeeze every dollar they can out of college football, (or any other experience for that matter), with nary a thought of what comes after.

 

[Delmar]

Perhaps for you. And maybe that's why maybe it feels, to you, like it could be true for the rest of us.

But it's not. According to sources like Bloomberg, college football viewership is up 12% in 2023 over the previous year, and is up 28% over the past five years.

In other words, it is becoming MORE popular, not less.

But again, perhaps for you. Tastes, personal interests, come and go.

Go Vols!

I rarely agree with John Adams but he hit the nail on the head in an article I read this morning. The gist of it was that many fans are upset about where college football has gone and they don’t understand it. His summary was simple. With NIL and the transfer portal (free agency), it is now simply pro sports and it is never going back to the “old days”. As long as you understand that concept, people can deal with it. The NFL is the most popular sport. Not for me but there are a lot of folks like it that way. As the pro concept takes more control of the college game, I guess we’ll see if the growth in interest continues.

 

[ZoeVol]

Sort of a silly question, because if the Vols win the SEC championship they are going to get a spot in the playoffs.

This

 

[turbovol]

The conference championship game, the newish playoff system and now the stupid expanded playoff system are essentially
marketing, money-making gimmicks to take advantage of crazy fans and suck in more TV viewers with hyped-up games. This
is what American sports is all about nowadays--sucking ever more money out of the sport and its fans. You do that with the conference title game, the playoff--and then of course you expand the playoff to excite more fans and vacuum in even more money. It's precisely what all the major-league baseball and the NFL did by adding "wild cards"---stupid gimmick meant to expand the playoff by adding more teams, which suckers more fans and generates more money. The NFL just added a 17th game to the schedule--a move of pure owner/TV greed and nothing more. Does anyone doubt that the 12-team playoff will become the 16-team playoff, and sooner rather than later? TV networks and their money are leading the sport, its universities and fans around by the nose: that's the bottom line.

 

[turbovol]

I rarely agree with John Adams but he hit the nail on the head in an article I read this morning. The gist of it was that many fans are upset about where college football has gone and they don’t understand it. His summary was simple. With NIL and the transfer portal (free agency), it is now simply pro sports and it is never going back to the “old days”. As long as you understand that concept, people can deal with it. The NFL is the most popular sport. Not for me but there are a lot of folks like it that way. As the pro concept takes more control of the college game, I guess we’ll see if the growth in interest continues.

The Ivies have had it right all along. The problem with making college football the equivalent of pro football is that it stops being about college anymore. They're taking the "college" out of college football, and that is unfortunate. Success has corrupted the sport, and badly. Fact.

 

[Voltopia]

I rarely agree with John Adams but he hit the nail on the head in an article I read this morning. The gist of it was that many fans are upset about where college football has gone and they don’t understand it. His summary was simple. With NIL and the transfer portal (free agency), it is now simply pro sports and it is never going back to the “old days”. As long as you understand that concept, people can deal with it. The NFL is the most popular sport. Not for me but there are a lot of folks like it that way. As the pro concept takes more control of the college game, I guess we’ll see if the growth in interest continues.

Oh I think a lot of us understand it, we just don't like it or think it's appropriate. Especially once it has nothing to do with the schools.