As expected, Ohio State wound up crashing the semifinals party. Here are a few random observations I have:
- The weekly show serves no purpose, but it’s not going anywhere. In the end, what was the point to it in terms of seeding teams in the postseason? Obviously, there was none. As broadcast fodder, though, it makes ESPN giddy. And that’s why it will return.
- 2014 TCU = 2007 Georgia. Gary Patterson’s team was in the top four before the weekend and destroyed Iowa State 59-0. Somehow that wound up equating to a sixth-place finish. Which means there was nothing TCU could have done to make the playoffs this week.
- How’s that autonomy thing working for ya’? In the case of the Big 12, not so good. The selection committee crapped all over the absence of a conference championship game, which was the inevitable result of keeping Texas happy. Conference expansion simply for the sake of creating a championship game is a lame idea. So is getting the green light from the NCAA to okay a championship game for a conference that plays a round robin schedule, which is what I expect the Big 12 to consider. The real solution would be for schools like Baylor and TCU to beef up their non-conference scheduling, but you know how coaches are…
- Tell me again why we need a four-team playoff? Vegas promptly installed Alabama and Oregon as double-digit favorites. So much for all that “deserving teams” talk.
- The playoffs hoopla may be overblown, but there’s one area where the CFP has done the Lord’s work. Maybe it’s not too much of a surprise, but it turns out when you get the bowls out of the way of choosing teams and use some form of rankings to match up schools, you can do some good things. The access bowl games are a clear improvement over what we got from the BCS. The only question is whether they’ll draw as well.
In the end, no big surprise. It’s a media-driven, money-driven spectacle and that’s what it will be judged on. Any settling on the field that gets done will be a bonus. Don’t forget to fill out your brackets!
Get The Picture 
Just surprised Notre Dame didn’t get in. Also, what was that “re-vote” crap Jeff Long said the committee was doing? The only reason to re-vote is if there’s a tie — and he said Ohio State was a decisive #4 — or if you don’t like the results of the vote and want to pressure someone to change their selections.
LikeLike
Tell me again why we need a four-team playoff? Vegas promptly installed Alabama and Oregon as double-digit favorites. So much for all that “deserving teams” talk.
+1000000
LikeLike
You don’t think there would have been a huge controversy over leaving FSU out of a two team playoff? Or, more likely IMO, them getting in ahead of Oregon?
LikeLike
My thoughts exactly. The Seminoles would have been in if the BCS were still in effect, along with Bama (probably), leaving the Ducks on the outside looking in, no matter how favored they are by Vegas. THAT’S why we need (at least) 4 teams.
LikeLike
Tell that to TCU and Baylor
LikeLike
Yep
LikeLike
yep.
LikeLike
As much as it sort of sucks with 4 teams, imagine the shitstorm if we were just picking 2 teams to play for the championship. I think I saw where the BCS had 1. Bama 2. FSU and 3. Oregon. One of those teams would have gotten screwed. In the end, 4 teams were better than 2 for this year.
LikeLike
Please let the SEC play OSU Buckaroos.
Soul love to make it Eleventy-seven and 0 vs them in the post season.
Still holds since they hat to forfeit the TatooGate bowl vs Arkansas.
LikeLike
Herbstreit’s shilling for Ohio State was particularly bad.
LikeLike
Oh it was sickening…and so was Granny’s. Mark May was the only one I saw that really took the opposite view..and he probably was set up to do it for “balance” I’ll bet you these morons influenced the committee. It’s pretty hard to explain to TCU..imagine how pissed off they must be, and I don’t blame them.
LikeLike
Tell me again why we need a four-team playoff?
—
Because it’s fun. And meaningful football games will be played.
Beyond that, I’ve got nothing.
But I’m not sure there is anything better or beyond that.
LikeLike
THIS
LikeLike
Everything that has been said about the playoff selection system is designed to sell Viagra and toilet paper…the playoff exists for no other reason but that.
And still the final two teams, playing in their fourteenth game (is that right?) with the current scholarship limits. TOSU is down to their third quarterback, but that’s ok, it will give Dickhead and his apologist crew something to whine about.
Hey, I may even watch the Sugar Bowl, but I won’t buy any of what they are selling…oh, well, maybe some Dr. Pepper, but I already did that.
LikeLike
I tend to think under the bcs the results would have been different and we would have ended up with bama v fsu. That thought alone makes me glad we have a 4 team playoff.
Plus as fsu is like a cat with 9 lives I am not believing they lose to Oregon until I see the clock hit zero.
LikeLike
You will realize their defeat buy mid 3rd quarter…IMHO
LikeLike
TCU played 9 league games and Minnesota. That is 10 P5 games.
LikeLike
The Vindication Bowl just announced: UGa vs. Louisville (/belk). Almost unbelievable the rewards one can get for falling over yourselves in the Tech game.
LikeLike
Suh…weet! I get to type the initials CTG again.
LikeLike
Is this for real? What is the Belk Bowl?
LikeLike
It is truth, man, from the lovely confiines of Charlotte. Maybe Dawgs can recruit some other RBs with the appearance.
LikeLike
It is truth, man, from the lovely confines of Charlotte. Maybe the Dawgs can recruit some new RBs through their appearance.
LikeLike
… OOOF (but the destination is so good maybe it’s worth the double)
LikeLike
Big 12 did themselves in by not declaring a champion. Even without a championship game I think Baylor may have got in if they had been declared champions. As it is Ohio St destroyed a good Wisconsin team and I have no prob with them being in the tournament.
LikeLike
There really appeared to be something wrong with the Wisconsin team I saw. Maybe Irvin crept in and slipped something into their pregame cheese.
LikeLike
Delaney told them to lose – only way they wouldn’t get left out. Letting the conspiracy side run today. PAC 1 told Arizona the same.
LikeLike
That Wisconsin team looked so grossly inept (and over 50% of B1G teams’ games I have sampled this year have been) that any logical and rational explanation is stressed.
LikeLike
I do not like Ohio State one bit–but anyone who does not think they are dangerous is kidding themselves–I think they would cream Oregon
LikeLike
I wouldn’t worry, they won’t get that chance.
LikeLike
The Big 12 has got to have a case of the red-ass about this. One of their teams, TCU, was 3rd last week, played a Power 5 foe (Iowa State) beating that team 59-0 and got DROPPED out of the playoff altogether. The other Big 12 team, Baylor played a Power 5 foe (K-State, a ranked opponent) won that game handily and didn’t make the 4 team playoff, either. Logically if TCU got dropped Baylor should be the team to take its place. Also, logically, given that FSU squeaked out a 2 point win over a team not as good as K-State, shouldn’t Baylor get the 4th spot and FSU be left out? Both Big 12 schools got jumped by tOSU, and FSU stays in moving up to 3rd. The Big 12 Commissioner ought to hold a presser and say that his conference hereby withdraws from participation in future 4 team playoffs as long as the selection process is this Committee system which seems to be unabashedly political.
LikeLike
But at least the Granatham leftovers get a shot at sticking it to The Towel, ya know!
LikeLike
That came off as dismissive of the UGa defensive backfield (and defense generally) which was not intended. Just, I am not sure I like the matchups.
LikeLike
This whole playoff is BS. I haven’t watched a single Tuesday night ranking show and I didn’t watch today. I am absolutely sick of hearing all the contrived overthought dribble from the 150 ESPN analysts. They make more of a TCU win vs Minnesota rather than Baylor BEATING TCU. The committee putting TCU ahead of Baylor the last few weeks even though Baylor WON the game was absolute BS…then they drop TCU three spots today..? OSU moving up in the CFP was obvious because they will help drive the ratings. This CFP is great for one entity – ESPN. It has filled time on 3-4 of their networks for the last several weeks and now it will fill more time until the semi-finals begin. Final score: ESPN 52 – Viewing public – 0,
LikeLike
Wow! The changes coming in the next few weeks!! Briles, Patterson, Dantonio, Mullen, Miles, Malzahn, RichRod and Friese will all be fired and available! Each has demonstrated a failed “commitment to succeed”, made a coaching mistake resulting in not reaching the playoffs, and clearly just don’t have IT. Unlike the UGAAD, these schools are in it to win and will take corrective action immediately. Dang…we’re still stuck with ol’ Mark Richt and his lack of effort in putting together a good recruiting class.
Oh the mediocrity!
LikeLike
… but yet, through the windshield there is the Belk Bowl.
LikeLike
How many think we need a selection committee for a new AD and HC?
Belk Bowl in North Carolina. Playing Louisville and Grantham. A lot of family reunion time for CMR, McGarity and company with Todd. That should be a real exciting time. Plus HC and AD can consult with Tech about the sight seeing and accomodations, after we are following their sorry asses, the one who beat CMR.
Reported Green leaving for Tech.
Does anybody have any idea what the fuck is going on in the Dawgs program and the B-M braintrust.
What a cluster fuck it has become this year.
LikeLike
To your comment about not needing a four team playoff. Imagine what would happen if undefeated FSU would have gotten left out. Which would have happened if not for the playoff.
LikeLike
I’m not so sure about that.
LikeLike
Neither am I. In fact I don’t think FSU would have slipped below #2 at any time. This committee had some strange decisions each week.
LikeLike
Indeed. The problem with ranking the teams as everyone (save the wise Senator) always has is that the rankings can be gamed. The committee knew good and well they could move FSU anywhere they wanted between 1 and 4 and it wouldn’t matter.
LikeLike
Right, and that’s why your fourth bullet-point is wrong. Without the playoff, we would have FSU playing against either Alabama or Oregon. If you assume that Bama and Oregon are the two best teams in the country and the two teams that are most deserving to play for the title, then the playoff has paid an immediate benefit in that both teams will get a chance to prove their cases. The point of a playoff should be that it is inclusive enough that every team with a legitimate argument for being the best in the country at the end of the regular season should be allowed in. This year, the right number would have either been three or six, probably the latter. That’s why I think a 6-8 team playoff makes the most sense. I agree with you that the creep towards 16 teams will be a bad thing, but right now, there’s little doubt in my mind that four is better than two.
Additionally, citing the spread for the semifinals is a weak argument because it could just as easily be used to argue against a two-team playoff. There have been plenty of occasions where the BCS title game (or title-deciding bowl games before the advent of the BCS) have had large lines. Does that mean that the national champion should have just been declared at the end of the regular season?
LikeLike
I guess I’m just not comfortable dismissing a team that’s (1) the defending national champs; (2) undefeated this season (alone among P5 teams); (3) and played a credible OOC schedule. But I get style points and all.
I don’t have a problem with a four-team playoff. Any bigger, though, and it’s going to metastasize because the of the way it’ll be structured.
I’m citing the lines because they’re relevant to the argument re: “deserving” teams. That’s not why we got a playoff, anyway.
LikeLike
I just can’t understand the value of the weekly rankings. Last week’s ranking obviously has zero to do with this week’s ranking, nor does there seem to be any logical consistency between the two. Did TCU suddenly become a worse team after drubbing ISU? Makes no sense to me. If they believe TCU was #3 last week and better than FSU, then grow a pair and stick to it when none of this week’s results contradict that.
I’m also convinced that Kanell and Galloway only have a seat at the commentary table to incite the rabid SEC fan base and create antagonism. It feels so scripted and manipulated. This whole scenario quickly turned into a sad reflection of our political system – very little true conviction and objectivity, and a whole lotta pandering to perceived constituents. All in the name of money. Color me disenchanted.
LikeLike
What has been done with this “committee” nonsense is there is now a concentrated single polling entity. People hated the Polls back in the day, but at least with them the results were diffused down through 60-70 voters. With this deal, no one specifically knows what information is used for their conclusions and this group can “re-vote” apparently at will, thus adding additional political heat to its members.
And as an added conspiratorial angle, can anyone else believe the absolute truckload of aOSU-affiliated ESPN media members? There are at least five (studio and broadcast types) and their allegiance is never unhyped. I don’t figure it results from the brilliance of the Buckeye communications dept.
LikeLike
You don’t understand the weekly ranking’s value because it has none.
LikeLike
I guessed that OS was going to be in after ESPN started carrying the water for them by halftime of their game. You have to admit they OS did everything and more that they could have done to get in. Still it seems no matter what Baylor and TCU did there was no way they were getting in and I don’t understand it. TCU did what they were supposed to do to a weak opponent. Baylor beat a team that I consider better than Wisconsin and OS jumped them both. I think the selection committee was listening to the talking heads this past week. Remember Fla St jumped TCU too. The talking heads were talking about how the committee wanted Ala and Fla State in the Sugar Bowl because it was a more natural fit.than Fla St going out to the West coast and playing and that was the reason they were backed up to #4.
LikeLike
If the “committee” is actually basing any manner of decision opon loose talk from the media then the terrorists have already won.
LikeLike
upon
LikeLike
I don’t particularly care about who they selected as the 4th team, but the reasoning seems off. I can only assume that they were rewarding teams for playing a championship game. But if you’re going to do that, then why even bother ranking Big 12 teams? You could also argue that as things played out, Baylor and Kansas State played the equivalent of a Big 12 Championship Game. Meaning if they organized the league into divisions, Baylor and TCU would probably be in the South Division and Kansas State in the North. Baylor would have represented the South and Kansas State the North in that scenario. Maybe they did take that into account and decided to leave OSU ahead of Baylor while punishing TCU for not even winning their division, so to speak. I don’t have that much faith in them, though.
LikeLike
A championship game is usually going to offer you an opportunity to enhance your strength of schedule. If you look good winning the game, recency bias kicks in as well.
But if you lose, you are out.
It’s risk-reward, and if Alabama and FSU had stumbled yesterday, then the b12 would be sitting here today with 2 participants and a bunch of SEC/ACC fans howling about unfair it all is.
4 Team Playoff! can’t win. Just like the BCS before it. And just like the 8 Team Playoff! that will succeed it.
LikeLike
One can argue all day who the fourth team should be. But, one cannot argue that the top three teams are wrong. In the old BCS formula, who are your top two teams?
FSU is undefeated. But they are as about the most unimpressive undefeated team as I have ever seen.
The king is dead. Long live the king
LikeLike
Once tOSU beatdown of Wisconsin was on this was plain to see from a million miles away: the committee had their chance to not have to split the Baylor-TCU baby. I still hate Corch with the white-hot hate of a million suns, and even though we don’t gain a damn thing from having Bama be the Natl Champs, I hope the Tide nukes tOSU back into the Stone Age.
LikeLike