Playoff Pursuit: Oregon Becomes Runaway Favorite to Make Big Ten Title Game, SEC Has Pivotal Weekend Approaching and BYU and Iowa State Are Big 12 Frontrunners
It completely castrated what made CFB so great, every week was a playoff week. Now you have Notre Dame and Bama still in the playoff hunt after losing to NIU and Vandy. 8 should've been the maximum, but we all know money rules all.
If you lose one game, regardless of opponent, but win the rest of yours then you should be given a playoff spot. Bama may have lost to Vanderbilt, but they also beat UGA. Anything can happen on any Saturday so a freak loss is something that should be noted but not a nuke to all post-season aspirations, in my opinion.
To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
I think 8 could have worked as well, it's just not worth enough money to stick to that number. Being able to accommodate the big bowl games plus have the home-field games in the first round requires more games.
I personally can't wait for the home-field games in Round 1 as I think they'll be incredible atmospheres.
To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
I want Ohio St. to win out and wreck Oregon , but in this particular exact scenario (which it will not be), OSU getting the 5 seed to play boise then iowa st to make final 4 is pretty nice......the NCAA needs to change the 4 conference champs taking the first 4 seeds..put them IN the playoff, but seeds should ALL be earned. The ACC and Big 12 are not that good.
I don't like the ACC and B12 conference champs having automatic byes either, but they wouldn't have signed off on playoff format without it. I'd be surprised if this format lasts five years.
"College football cannot be explained by science or religion, which is why it remains perfect." ~ Ramzy Nasrallah
The ACC and B12 don’t have automatic byes. No conference does. It’s the 4 highest ranked conference champs that get a bye, and the top 5 ranked conference champs that get auto bids. In theory, the 5 auto bids could all go to G5 champs. The likelihood of that ever happening is approaching 0.00%, but there’s nothing in the rules to stop it from happening.
The #5 seed is always going to be a very cushy spot. Because you are almost guaranteed to get matched up with 2 straight "over-seeded" opponents due to the conf champ/inclusion rules. First, you get the G5 sacrificial lamb in your stadium, who some years will be a decent foe (this year's Boise St) or some years will be totally overmatched (last year's Liberty) and nowhere deserving of the #12 ranking. Then, you get the worst (likely P4) conference champion auto-bid. Which again most years is going to be a team who would NOT be ranked #4, but more like #8-12, if they didn't have the conference championship to move them into top 4.
But your luck runs out there, as you're highly likely to get a true bona fide #1 team in the semis.
So true. And chances are #5 goes to the SEC runner-up or Oregon. I see no way Ohio State gets #5. They are either going to be a top 4 or fall below 5 with two losses.
The best bet at #5 will be Oregon or the SEC runner-up.
I looked at the B1G standings and schedule. Oregon at 12-0 and OSU at 11-1 is a virtual lock for the B1G title game.
There are 5 teams besides OSU with 1 B1G loss. Oregon would give Illinois and Wisconsin their (at least) 2nd losses. OSU does the same for Nebraska and Michigan. OSU would give PSU and Indiana (at least) their first losses. Only Iowa doesn’t play any of PSU, Indiana or Oregon, which means they could finish at 8-1.
Worst case scenario is Oregon at 9-0, with OSU, PSU, Indiana and Iowa at 8-1. OSU would be 3-0 against the other 3 teams with 1 loss, which I believe gives them the first tiebreaker against all of them.
Only a 3.5 point favorite at Penn State....same as it was for Oregon and we lost that game. If we lose to Penn State, can we still get in at 10-2 and not playing in the B1G title game?
Assuming we would be undefeated outside of those two games, our resume would be losses to the #2 and #3 teams in the country, then ranked wins over probably at least 2 teams. I assume we would still be in at that point because we'd have the two "best" losses of any two-loss team by far.
To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
It's technically possible, but unlikely, as the conference champion runners up would be all but guaranteed the 5-8 slots, unless they have three losses.
To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
The first round games will be Friday, December 20 and Saturday, December 21. Playing Tennessee at home in December and Miami at a neutral site would be fine by me. I’m just hoping Ross Bjork didn’t listen to Gene Smith’s nonsense about playing in Indianapolis. Best antidote to that idea is the Colts play at home on Sunday, December 22 at noon. It would be yeoman’s work to get Lucas Field turned around in time if the Buckeyes played on Saturday.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
That bracket would have reasonable odds for three Big Ten teams in the final four. It will be a lot of fun watching other teams trying to identify possible good/bad matchups and seeding in the waning weeks.
If you take everything I’ve accomplished in my life and condense it down to one day, it looks decent!
I think a lot of people are forgetting with the loss just how truly close it was. The TCUN game last year was by one score, but they had momentum for most of the game and stopped our drive around midfield, so that felt relatively less close than this game.
THIS time it was very back-and-forth the whole time, plus it was an away game all the way across the country and we quite literally had them dead to rites until a penalty pushed us back. Repeat that game in Indy, or especially Columbus, and it’s easily a win for us in most scenarios.
All that to say: I think that the loss will push our team. I would be delighted to rematch Oregon in the Big Ten championship.
Indiana vs. Nebraska would be a #6 vs #10 matchup if they were SEC teams. LSU lost to USC, should’ve lost to the other USC if their qb didn’t get hurt at halftime and barely beat Ole Miss at home. Why are they ranked 8th?!?!!! Indiana and Nebraska are 16th and unranked. The reason I point that out is, if OSU loses to PSU and beats everyone else and LSU loses to Bama but beats everyone else which 2 loss team gets in? Or if Indiana only loses to OSU would they get in over LSU? These rankings are asinine right now….nothing new but it will have a profound effect on teams 5-12 getting in.
To me it’s still a superior product over the NFL. College football, even in this iteration, beats the NFL because of its unscripted nuances and not driven by media hype drivel that the world wide losers use on a daily basis. Is it trending towards the NFL? Maybe but it’s unsustainable because ultimately college ball has a much higher chance of returning to its roots than the NFL does. Fandom at some point will dictate and see the law of diminishing returns for college ball. The NFL will double down on its entertainment and theatrical appeal for the drunk masses.
When telling the truth becomes a revolutionary concept, it’s wise to join the revolution
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This will change.
“In Europe, every morning game is a night time game. GO BUCKEYES!”
Giving the Big12 champ an automatic bye is insanity. The ACC is bad enough but the Big12 is a lot worse than even the ACC.
Buckeyes…Beets... Battlestar Galactica.
Its either Big12 ACC or Go5 that gets 2 of the spots.
No matter what OSU/Oregon and Texas/UGA/Bama deserve a bye more than them
F*ck Tony Alford
F*ck Roddy Gayle
Rather have them than another SEC team.
There should be a reward for winning a power conference.
Very much looking forward to Texas vs Georgia and Illinois vs TTUN. Got my eye on Nebraska vs Indiana as well. Should be a fun bye week
"In weightlifting, I don't think sudden, uncontrolled urination should automatically disqualify you."
-Jack Handey
Very interested to see Nebraska Indiana, 2 future opponents
A year ago: The 12 team playoff is great! Inclusion!
Now: Iowa State has a first round bye……….
Kinda like NIL. Use a little foresight.
ROLL BUCKEYES!
It completely castrated what made CFB so great, every week was a playoff week. Now you have Notre Dame and Bama still in the playoff hunt after losing to NIU and Vandy. 8 should've been the maximum, but we all know money rules all.
R.I.P. Simba
If you lose one game, regardless of opponent, but win the rest of yours then you should be given a playoff spot. Bama may have lost to Vanderbilt, but they also beat UGA. Anything can happen on any Saturday so a freak loss is something that should be noted but not a nuke to all post-season aspirations, in my opinion.
To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
That's why I said 8 should've been the max. 12 is too many. It's extremely rare for there to be 8+ undefeated and 1-loss teams.
R.I.P. Simba
I think 8 could have worked as well, it's just not worth enough money to stick to that number. Being able to accommodate the big bowl games plus have the home-field games in the first round requires more games.
I personally can't wait for the home-field games in Round 1 as I think they'll be incredible atmospheres.
To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
It's a fun progression to watch with the only sure bet right now being that it will likely surely change . . . a lot of football still to be played!
"College football cannot be explained by science or religion, which is why it remains perfect." ~ Ramzy Nasrallah
Not early anymore either. Half the season is over!
It will change a bunch more times before we get there but I would love that bracket for us.
Dude, whatever. It's Baseball season.
Texas would beat Iowa State by 40. I like the Bucks chances vs the hillbillies in round one
When telling the truth becomes a revolutionary concept, it’s wise to join the revolution
The bottom bracket is a gift into the final imo.
I want Ohio St. to win out and wreck Oregon , but in this particular exact scenario (which it will not be), OSU getting the 5 seed to play boise then iowa st to make final 4 is pretty nice......the NCAA needs to change the 4 conference champs taking the first 4 seeds..put them IN the playoff, but seeds should ALL be earned. The ACC and Big 12 are not that good.
The NCAA has nothing to do with this format. It was the cfp committee that came up with it along with input from the Power 4 Conferences.
I don't like the ACC and B12 conference champs having automatic byes either, but they wouldn't have signed off on playoff format without it. I'd be surprised if this format lasts five years.
"College football cannot be explained by science or religion, which is why it remains perfect." ~ Ramzy Nasrallah
The ACC and B12 don’t have automatic byes. No conference does. It’s the 4 highest ranked conference champs that get a bye, and the top 5 ranked conference champs that get auto bids. In theory, the 5 auto bids could all go to G5 champs. The likelihood of that ever happening is approaching 0.00%, but there’s nothing in the rules to stop it from happening.
This might be the lhe year to give it to a Boise state instead of a 2 loss Big 12 champion.
The #5 seed is always going to be a very cushy spot. Because you are almost guaranteed to get matched up with 2 straight "over-seeded" opponents due to the conf champ/inclusion rules. First, you get the G5 sacrificial lamb in your stadium, who some years will be a decent foe (this year's Boise St) or some years will be totally overmatched (last year's Liberty) and nowhere deserving of the #12 ranking. Then, you get the worst (likely P4) conference champion auto-bid. Which again most years is going to be a team who would NOT be ranked #4, but more like #8-12, if they didn't have the conference championship to move them into top 4.
But your luck runs out there, as you're highly likely to get a true bona fide #1 team in the semis.
So true. And chances are #5 goes to the SEC runner-up or Oregon. I see no way Ohio State gets #5. They are either going to be a top 4 or fall below 5 with two losses.
The best bet at #5 will be Oregon or the SEC runner-up.
I looked at the B1G standings and schedule. Oregon at 12-0 and OSU at 11-1 is a virtual lock for the B1G title game.
There are 5 teams besides OSU with 1 B1G loss. Oregon would give Illinois and Wisconsin their (at least) 2nd losses. OSU does the same for Nebraska and Michigan. OSU would give PSU and Indiana (at least) their first losses. Only Iowa doesn’t play any of PSU, Indiana or Oregon, which means they could finish at 8-1.
Worst case scenario is Oregon at 9-0, with OSU, PSU, Indiana and Iowa at 8-1. OSU would be 3-0 against the other 3 teams with 1 loss, which I believe gives them the first tiebreaker against all of them.
We would own the head to head against all of them so it's an easy in for us.
To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
Only a 3.5 point favorite at Penn State....same as it was for Oregon and we lost that game. If we lose to Penn State, can we still get in at 10-2 and not playing in the B1G title game?
Assuming we would be undefeated outside of those two games, our resume would be losses to the #2 and #3 teams in the country, then ranked wins over probably at least 2 teams. I assume we would still be in at that point because we'd have the two "best" losses of any two-loss team by far.
To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
Hell, that might even get us a first round home game.
It's technically possible, but unlikely, as the conference champion runners up would be all but guaranteed the 5-8 slots, unless they have three losses.
To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
The first round games will be Friday, December 20 and Saturday, December 21. Playing Tennessee at home in December and Miami at a neutral site would be fine by me. I’m just hoping Ross Bjork didn’t listen to Gene Smith’s nonsense about playing in Indianapolis. Best antidote to that idea is the Colts play at home on Sunday, December 22 at noon. It would be yeoman’s work to get Lucas Field turned around in time if the Buckeyes played on Saturday.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
I'll make a prediction: Oregon gacks one away, and then we beat their asses to boot.
I dont think any team is going undefeated.
I just hope it's not against scUM where OU loses. One loss against us in the B1G CG would be good with me.
GO BUCKS!!! *ichigan sucks!!!
That 3 trips to the Midwest in a 5 week span could do it.
Yep. They have had a very favorable home schedule so far.
I would almost rather be ranked 3 than 1.
GO BUCKS!!! *ichigan sucks!!!
That bracket would have reasonable odds for three Big Ten teams in the final four. It will be a lot of fun watching other teams trying to identify possible good/bad matchups and seeding in the waning weeks.
If you take everything I’ve accomplished in my life and condense it down to one day, it looks decent!
(edit: dumb repeat)
Jesus is King
I think a lot of people are forgetting with the loss just how truly close it was. The TCUN game last year was by one score, but they had momentum for most of the game and stopped our drive around midfield, so that felt relatively less close than this game.
THIS time it was very back-and-forth the whole time, plus it was an away game all the way across the country and we quite literally had them dead to rites until a penalty pushed us back. Repeat that game in Indy, or especially Columbus, and it’s easily a win for us in most scenarios.
All that to say: I think that the loss will push our team. I would be delighted to rematch Oregon in the Big Ten championship.
Jesus is King
Indiana vs. Nebraska would be a #6 vs #10 matchup if they were SEC teams. LSU lost to USC, should’ve lost to the other USC if their qb didn’t get hurt at halftime and barely beat Ole Miss at home. Why are they ranked 8th?!?!!! Indiana and Nebraska are 16th and unranked. The reason I point that out is, if OSU loses to PSU and beats everyone else and LSU loses to Bama but beats everyone else which 2 loss team gets in? Or if Indiana only loses to OSU would they get in over LSU? These rankings are asinine right now….nothing new but it will have a profound effect on teams 5-12 getting in.
Holy Buckeye!!!
They mean nothing since the committee doesn't use these rankings anyway
Welcome to pro football lite.
Knowledge isn't free, you have to pay attention
To me it’s still a superior product over the NFL. College football, even in this iteration, beats the NFL because of its unscripted nuances and not driven by media hype drivel that the world wide losers use on a daily basis. Is it trending towards the NFL? Maybe but it’s unsustainable because ultimately college ball has a much higher chance of returning to its roots than the NFL does. Fandom at some point will dictate and see the law of diminishing returns for college ball. The NFL will double down on its entertainment and theatrical appeal for the drunk masses.
When telling the truth becomes a revolutionary concept, it’s wise to join the revolution