The Non Existent Playoff Parity

[peaygolf]

Now do basketball baseball or any other NCAA sport. Same answer

Basketball? All ya need are two studs. That could happen to a bunch of schools.

 

[95 Vol Alum]

Was there ever a school in the top 5-12 that deserved to be in?

You fix the issue by expanding the regular season. We are guessing on the top 4-12 because we dont have enough data points.

Until/unless you expand all the way there is no way for a 4 game playoff with byes to be any more accurate than a 12 game season.

Well, it seems quite a few are posturing that Alabama and possibly Tennessee would have fared better in the playoffs than Michigan and TCU.

Hard to say definitively that a 5-12 deserved to be in under the current 4 team format. There have been several 1 loss P5 schools not let in with another 1 loss P5 school let in (OSU and Baylor come to mind). I will say that we’ve only had a 1 vs 2 in the final 3 times on 9 tries (all Alabama vs Clemson). That might indicate the seeding typically isn’t perfect which opens up an argument that 5-12 may not be well seeded either.

And expand to what? The championship team will be beating 3 “Top 12” opponents at the least and 4 if they were ranked 5-12. That feels like an expansion, and one that requires beating quality teams and not Akron. Expanding the regular season as well would just encourage more weak matchups to help manage health and fatigue, imo.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Well, it seems quite a few are posturing that Alabama and possibly Tennessee would have fared better in the playoffs that Michigan and TCU.

Hard to say definitively that a 5-12 deserved to be in under the current 4 team format. There have been several 1 loss P5 schools not let in with another 1 loss P5 school let in (OSU and Baylor come to mind). I will say that we’ve only had a 1 vs 2 in the final 3 times on 9 tries (all Alabama vs Clemson). That might indicate the seeding typically isn’t perfect which opens up an argument that 5-12 may not be well seeded either.

And expand to what? The championship team will be beating 3 “Top 12” opponents at the least and 4 if they were ranked 5-12. That feels like an expansion, and one that requires beating quality teams and not Akron. Expanding the regular season as well would just encourage more weak matchups to help manage health and fatigue, imo.

There’s no way they’re going to expand the regular season. They might adjust it to Week 0 being Week 1 so that the Conference title games are on Thanksgiving weekend. Honestly, I don’t like that. I think certain games like the Egg Bowl and others should stay where they are, but they’re worrying about competing w/ the NFL. I also think the optics of what has happened w/ Tua this season and what happened in Cincinnati would bring a lot of negative press about the health of the “student athlete”. I actually the playoff expansion has made more teams get out of their comfort zone in scheduling . I think Florida of all teams has scheduled some really good H and H’s. Despite UGA’s schedule next year (they were forced to not play OU) they have some tough future OOC opponents. I’m pretty sure Bama is traveling to Madison too, which is good to see. We have future games w/ Nebraska and Washington. I think people are seeing that if you schedule tough in the future and potentially lose you won’t be penalized as harshly. I’m certainly hoping no one repeats what Michigan had this season . Absolute joke.

 

[WingT]

I dont get this..... people say more games, higher quality games blah blah blah


TCU had a top 10 strength of schedule, they won the games needed to get to the playoff

TCU beat the #2 team that stomped the #4 team

They just didnt show up, but the fact theyre here shows parity

Tcu, not clemson, not alabama, not oklahoma freakin TCU was invited to the ball and just sh#t the bed

Its not something that will ever be fixed

 

[RDU VOL#14]

I dont get this..... people say more games, higher quality games blah blah blah


TCU had a top 10 strength of schedule, they won the games needed to get to the playoff

TCU beat the #2 team that stomped the #4 team

They just didnt show up, but the fact theyre here shows parity

Tcu, not clemson, not alabama, not oklahoma freakin TCU was invited to the ball and just sh#t the bed

Its not something that will ever be fixed

It’s not just college football, it can be all team sports, or even Greg Norman at Augusta.
How many times did the Broncos get crushed in the 80’s and early 90’s? A lot. TCU’s run was incredible bc they should’ve realistically been 8-4, 9-3. They had a ton of close games and closed them out. They beat an undefeated Michigan team. They just ran into a crazy talented, focused and pissed off UGA squad who was given a second chance. Kudos to Kirby for manufacturing the biggest load of bull$hit about nobody believing in them all season, 7-5 this and that, and getting his team to buy in. Very Belichickesque.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Here’s the parity BTW

 

[LouderVol]

I don’t believe the regular season will be extended, and even if it is, Bama playing Vandy in an extra game won’t help. Yes, getting 12 darts to hit the target is better than 4, especially when the 4 involves politics.

We can theorize all day, but the data points now are that the SEC has won 14 of the last 17 titles. While teams change from year to year, it’s the best conference hands down, and even the 2/3 ranked team in the conference are better than other conference champions.

I agree. That's why I want to require that extra game be an OOC game. I am not too worried about the SEC proving itself. I want the other conferences to have to prove they can hang with us before the playoffs.

 

[LouderVol]

Why do we "need" anything? Why do we need bowl games every year? Why is your hang up about a playoff but nothing else?

I havent heard any complaints about the regular season being broken. It was just the championships. In this case this is a thread I started about the playoffs so I am going to complain about the playoffs. Doesnt seem unreasonable to me.

If you want to complain about bowl games start your own thread, it's a free site.

 

[LouderVol]

Well, it seems quite a few are posturing that Alabama and possibly Tennessee would have fared better in the playoffs than Michigan and TCU.

Hard to say definitively that a 5-12 deserved to be in under the current 4 team format. There have been several 1 loss P5 schools not let in with another 1 loss P5 school let in (OSU and Baylor come to mind). I will say that we’ve only had a 1 vs 2 in the final 3 times on 9 tries (all Alabama vs Clemson). That might indicate the seeding typically isn’t perfect which opens up an argument that 5-12 may not be well seeded either.

And expand to what? The championship team will be beating 3 “Top 12” opponents at the least and 4 if they were ranked 5-12. That feels like an expansion, and one that requires beating quality teams and not Akron. Expanding the regular season as well would just encourage more weak matchups to help manage health and fatigue, imo.

That's why I would require it be a P5 school. I brought it up in some other posts but I would love to see a list of actual prerequisites. And strength of schedule or record or whatever would be one of the highest requirements. So that maybe the SEC could get away with Akron, but the ACC is going to have to go looking for a good P5 school to build their resume to a certain level.

Again I dont think doing more of the same, expanding the playoffs, will fix the problems with the playoffs. And all the while remembering that the problems with the playoffs were supposed to be the things being fixed from the BCS.

I dont have too strong of opinions on what it should be, except for not just being more of the same.

And I dont see Georgia playing number 3 and winning 65-7 as proof that Georgia having to first play numbers 5-12 will make sure Georgia has a quality opponent.

Football is so situational. Some schemes just match up better against one team than it does on another. Some days teams are "on", some days they are "off". So even having to play more teams it's about matchups rather than saying see number 12 was ranked too low because they beat number 4 in the quarterfinals.

 

[GreveHaller]

Playing one FCS opponent doesn’t diminishing playing 4 games vs 9+ win teams when OU played 1. And that’s the problem with preseason polls. Who says just because you start somewhere you can’t move down as long as you don’t lose? We literally saw that happen this year with Bama. They were #1 going into the AM game, they dropped to 3 after struggling to eke out a win. Auburn should’ve jumped OU when they were beating KSU by 10, AM by 7 or Ok St by 3 while Auburn was beating TN by 24 and 10, UGA by 18. Auburn played 5 teams ranked at the time and had a scoring differential of +56, OU played 4 teams ranked at the time and a scoring differential of -14. Auburn would’ve given USC a much better game; playing the Citadel is irrelevant.

All I had to read was your first sentence to understand how much lack of knowledge you have in college football.
Per the Ncaa rules, to be bowl eligible you must have 6 wins. NO MORE THAN ONE WIN AGAINST FCS TEAMS MAY COUNT TOWARDS THAT WIN.
That makes fcs teams inferior. Usc and okl played 0 fcs. Aub played 1. Just because you feel it wasn’t doesn’t mean it wasn’t. Learn your rules. In your defense it doesn’t make it right but that’s the cards they played.

 

[jasonvol18]

Honest question.........

Of the 65ish P5 teams...........How many have a legitimate shot to ever win a National Championship?

Any given year. 10-12

 

[05_never_again]

Here’s the parity BTW

It's a Sun Belt sport + Ohio St.

 

[LadyVolette]

Props to the OP, nailed it.


I posted this in another thread, it applies here.

This is why the playoff system is flawed.
TCU had the biggest beat down and will be remembered as the #2 team.
Tennessee with a huge decisive win in the Orange Bowl should have moved up a minimum to #3.

Go back to 1985
Miami had a chance to move up to #1 and Tennessee destroyed them and were rewarded going #8 to #4
It meant something and gave us a sense of pride.
Miami went from #2 to #9 and that team would have run circles around TCU.

View attachment 530382

That actually makes more sense.. how you did in your bowl really showed in how you finished out

 

[05_never_again]

Props to the OP, nailed it.


I posted this in another thread, it applies here.

This is why the playoff system is flawed.
TCU had the biggest beat down and will be remembered as the #2 team.
Tennessee with a huge decisive win in the Orange Bowl should have moved up a minimum to #3.

Go back to 1985
Miami had a chance to move up to #1 and Tennessee destroyed them and were rewarded going #8 to #4
It meant something and gave us a sense of pride.
Miami went from #2 to #9 and that team would have run circles around TCU.

View attachment 530382

TCU was ranked #2 by the AP Poll. The AP Poll has existed since 1936 and doesn't have anything to do with the playoff.

 

[peaygolf]

It is so hard for P5 teams to make a schedule years in advance. Programs don't want to play 8 or 9 conference games and then 2 or 3 OOC games against power programs.

For argument sake..........UT doesnt want to play Bama, UF, Georgia, and then add Clemson and Washington. If you try and schedule a game with Oregon (get a home/home) and then a mid range P5 school like Illinois, they will demand a home/home and you lose a home game one year. Fans wouldn't like that. Smaller G5 schools won't ask for a home/home, so you get a "decent" OOC game without losing a home game. It's difficult for G5 teams to schedule too many P5 games because they need to make sure they have 6 wins to go to a bowl game. All of a sudden, some teams are stuck and have to schedule Martin or Austin Peay.

The schedule "thing" has never been fair. General Neyland was lamented for his "easy" schedules for his entire career.
It sucks, but with 131 teams....and growing.....schedules will never be fair and equitable.

 

[Dadof2Vols]

Here’s the parity BTW

This right here is why all yankee writers North of the Mason Dixon line keep tOSU in their top 4 even when they are 9-3, it’s their only hope to beat the south in the game of pigskin.

 

[AthensVol2007]

All I had to read was your first sentence to understand how much lack of knowledge you have in college football.
Per the Ncaa rules, to be bowl eligible you must have 6 wins. NO MORE THAN ONE WIN AGAINST FCS TEAMS MAY COUNT TOWARDS THAT WIN.
That makes fcs teams inferior. Usc and okl played 0 fcs. Aub played 1. Just because you feel it wasn’t doesn’t mean it wasn’t. Learn your rules. In your defense it doesn’t make it right but that’s the cards they played.

You’re talking about an FCS game in terms of bowl eligibility what does that have to do with overall SOS? We played FCS UT-Martin this year and still had the nations #2 overall SOS. We were behind Alabama at #1 who played, oh yeah FCS Austin Peay.