There are more teams in each of those conferences. With the right Head Coach and the right QB, Most any team in any of the P4/P5 conferences could make a run at a national championship. Look at what Utah did under Meyer. Texas Tech, Oregon State, Washington, Mississippi State, etc. Wisconsin has as good a chance as Penn State, so I'm not sure who you were thinking after Michigan and Ohio State.
I was definitely thinking of Penn St because they’ve been close and Wisconsin has only been just good enough to play in the Rose Bowl. You may be right about Wisconsin but I can’t remember a year they were a threat to win the NC. Penn St knocked on the door in 94, 05, 08, 2016, 2017. Team was good enough if we were better at QB this past year. I don’t believe Wisconsin gets deep enough with talent to win the NC.
With the right QB and head coach, any team can be a threat. That's my point.
TCU and Cincinnati are the only teams that made the college football playoffs from outside the top tier teams. Getting the right coach and QB can bake for a very good team but in the current college football landscape that is not enough. Especially as the conferences have grown. The Big 12 is the Conference where that is most likely to happen as they now longer have any Traditional Power schools.
Michigan State has been to the CFP - they might be down right now but the possibility is there for them too imo
Hard to imagine it with the expanded Big 10. Harbaugh leaving Michigan helps them for sure.
Yeah it took the perfect storm for Michigan St to make the playoffs. Penn St and Ohio St were cut off at the knees and Michigan in the gutter because of bad coaching hires. Alabama beat ‘em 38-0. To many hurdles to climb imo for teams like Wisconsin and Michigan St to win the NC. Nick Saban couldn’t even win the big 10. Folks, I could be wrong it’s just my opinion
y’all definitely make fair arguments though
If you count the bowl performance, count FSU’s performance too. 63-3. Ouch.
Half their 2-deep opted out.
So count it or don't. LSU had linebacker issues. That's why these comparisons are of limited value.
Count regular season games that mean something to the players. I think they still mean something, don’t they?
It's useless to argue with closet Auburn fans.
Let’s see if I understand your logic. Count wins when it favors your narrative but don’t count losses when it doesn’t.
If you don't count head-to-head competition, there's no way to compare, period. The FSU-uga game is exceptional in that players opted out as opposed to being injured. Yes, it absolutely counts, however, there is a difference between that game and FSU, with their starting QB injured, still beating UF. It's unfortunate that we didn't get a chance to see FSU (with their 2nd string QB) play against uga. Every time two teams play, it's situational based on who's available because of injuries.
I don’t disagree. But you have to have comparable standards or they are meaningless. Count ALL games? Ok. Count only regular season but not post season. Ok. But let’s select which games to count and which games to exclude is highly subjective.
How do you compare conferences to each other if you don't look at OOC games played? Who, when, where, and under what conditions matter. College football will always be a subjective discussion.
I don’t think its productive. I think it’s a fun fact but that’s it.
It matters. It's been very productive for the SEC because they've preached the narrative for decades. The SEC is considered one of the top conferences in football. That's based on the quality of less than half their members. The perception is what it is because they've passed around the baton of playing for top spot and that has bled into the psyche of the public. Polls reinforce the bias. It is what it is. I don't like it, but they've done a great job controlling the narrative. The top teams play engaging football, but their middle teams are average, at best. It's about name recognition and reputation rather than on-field results. People are okay with that, so I'm done arguing it.