Potential playoff expansion

bensaysitathome

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
561
The beauty of the 6 best champs, and not a guarantee to P5, is a 7-5 Pitt team upsetting a 12-0 Clemson doesn't mean the system falls apart. Like, that Pitt team would not deserve it. Clemson still gets the at large but Lowes their seed, and a 11-1 G5 champ stuff get a spot.

In a way, it puts even more pressure on the regular season while still favoring conference champs. I think I love it.

More teams have access. More teams have a chance to prove it on the field. I'm sure there are unintended consequences we'll discover in 2 years, but I'm here for it so far.
 

bensaysitathome

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
561
I hate it. The dwags are going to make the playoffs every year if they expand it to 12 teams. In hindsight, expanding it to 4 teams was a bad idea, as it has only widened the gap between the haves and have-nots.
Disagreed on the gap - this should shrink it.

If you're a big-time recruit that wants to play for a championship, you have more options now than the 6 or so teams that always sniff the postseason.

Hell, you could go play for Cincinnati and still have dreams if playing for it all.
 

Southpawmac

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,111
I think 12 is a really good number as it rewards winning your conference and being highly rated with a bye. A 16 and 8 team field would have no byes and in theory could diminish conference championships. For example, if a conference championship game was between two teams in the top four, they could sit their star players to avoid injury since each team is almost certainly in the playoff. With a 12 team field, even though each team is already guaranteed a playoff spot, winning the conference gives you a first round bye which is huge.
 

Connor

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
45
Location
Atlanta, GA
I really love this proposal- it heightens the regular season but balances the conference champs well. However, although more football games are great, is 17 too much (12 reg season, 1 conf champ, 1st round, quarters, semis, final) for a college season? I don’t think it’s a negative but wonder how players/coaches/schools would approach that many games
 

RonJohn

Helluva Engineer
Messages
4,490
Here comes the butt hurt for the teams ranked #13-15 for how unfairly they’re being treated by being left out. 🤣
I wouldn't have any concern for a team that is left out after a 12 team selection, if that selection seems to be fair. This selection method seems to be set up to get 11 P5 teams into the playoffs and then throw a bone to one G5 team. If the intent is to purposefully make it extremely difficult for a G5 team to get a chance, then there is no reason to go above 8. P5 champs, top G5 champ, and two at large.

If you are an undefeated G5 team who played two P5 games and end up ranked #13, you can still claim that the system is set up against you. You can claim that the two loss #12 P5 team is "ranked" higher by a committee who is more concerned about ratings than qualifications.

If you want to make a 12 team playoff completely fair, then have the 10 conference champions and 2 at large teams. If the G5 champs are really so weak that they don't belong, then four will be eliminated in the first round, and the only remaining will be out in the second round. At the beginning of the year, every FBS team (except the independents) will know exactly what they have to do to get into the playoffs. The committee will not be able to keep out any team that qualifies by winning their conference. The only reason you would need the committee to let you in would be if you didn't do what you knew you had to do to qualify. At that point, I would not have any sympathy for a team that isn't selected. I would have sympathy for an undefeated G5 conference champ that beat LSU and Arizona being "ranked" as one spot behind a TA&M team that lost to LSU and Alabama because their "body of work" "looked" better to a committee.
 
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