Football
Related: About this forumWhat is everyone's opinion on the college top division playoffs and NTG?
I think that the 4 team format sucks, Georgia and Ohio State were likely better teams that Notre Dame and Oklahona.
My guess is Alabama wins the NTG if it's O-Line can stand up to the Clemson defensive unit. I won't watch the game out of protest, I really don't like the playoff format.
Sancho
(9,103 posts)Let the conference winners play for a championship.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)The system you proposed would have left out Georgia, possibly the one team that can match up to BAMA toe to toe.
hibbing
(10,402 posts)If this playoff system would been in place 30 years ago we'd have even more national titles. That being said what I'm afraid of is it will keep being expanded so much that the regular season will lose its impact. It will expand to 8, then 16, then a wild card game. I do think every conference should have a championship game. As it stands now, Notre Dame has an advantage. Being from a former Big 8 conference, I was rooting for the Sooner!
If you don't like the current format, what would you like to see?
Peace
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)Along with yours, conference title game like in basketball. Conference champs get auto invites, then add only two or three wild card teams and leave it at that. Wild cards are important because you wouldn't
leave a team like Georgia out.
NotASurfer
(2,312 posts)it really just takes a couple of key players deciding to pass, to change the level of a team's play. So ratings are fluid, transient guesses. Maybe no better than bowl games with major conference tie-ins that usually made for off-season debate material
That's going to be the next conundrum any
format faces. Some committee will have to decide whether a "consensus number one" team should still be seeded 1 when key offensive and defensive players decide potential seven-figure contracts outweigh playing one more game for a school. And if that practice becomes common among players with NFL potential, no playoff can be useful. It could make bowl games essentially the first practice game for next year
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)Any player that sits out will hurt himself more than help. Do you see any of the players from the 4 team field sitting out on purpose? I didn't see that. It is easier for players to sit out meaningless bowls, but they run into character questions if they sit out a chance to win a championship.
NotASurfer
(2,312 posts)But it's going to happen, I think the trend is in place. Even to the extent where players like Nick Bosa at OSU could probably have rehabbed to the point of playing at the end of the season but decided the risk of re-injury could put his draft status in question. It does appear to have had an impact in some non-CFP bowls, Michigan I think was short 2 or 3 starters and arguably suffered as a result
I'm just of the opinion that the same physical and economic factors apply to CFP teams and individuals will make choices in what they think are their self-interest. Which is largely how the NFL operates - another team makes a better offer, that's where your loyalty goes
JayhawkSD
(3,163 posts)There is simply no way to reasonably determine one. The conferences are too disparate, the schedules too variable, the season too short, the availability of the players too limited due to class schedules.
That being said, Alabama is favored by three, but it will be a blowout. Alabama by 24 or more.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)I favor Clemson. Eventhough Clemson's QB has less experience, he is very dangerous none the less. The only other team that BAMA faced all season that could punch it in the mouth was Georgia, and Saban left that SEC championship game feeling born again after barely escaping, after being behind most of the game. Clemson is another Georgia when the team plays up to it's potential. BAMA may win, but it won't be a blowout.
JayhawkSD
(3,163 posts)And I am not necessarily an Alabama fan, but I still think it is going to be a cakewalk for Bama.
When I am cut I bleed purple, and UCF near as dammit gave me a heart attack at the beginning of the game this morning. The Tigers rose from what looked like death and dominated the game as a whole, but I was not a happy person for a little while.