… everything looks like a nail.
Parity has returned to college football. Not since 2007 has there been so much tumult in the top 10 and as we enter the second half of the season, it’s clear any team can fall at any time.
Even Georgia, seemingly invincible this season, looked human in Week 1 against what turned out to be an incredibly weak Clemson team. Yes, even Georgia, set to be ranked No. 1 in the regular season for the first time since 1982, is vulnerable.
The College Football Playoff Committee has never selected a controversial field since the four-team field was introduced in 2014, but we might be heading that direction in December. We had a ever-so-small taste of hesitance in 2020 with Texas A&M finishing No. 5 just below Notre Dame, and while that wasn’t so much a controversy as it was a coin flip, the seeds have been planted for indecision and this is the year those vines break through the earth.
A 12-team playoff is on the horizon…
If an expanded playoff is implemented before 2027, the CFP’s Board of Managers must make the decision before January. There is no doubting that deadline. For that to happen, something radical must happen to force their hand. The only driving force against time isn’t money, it’s emotion. When chaos reigns, people look for solutions, even if they do not fully understand their options. Might that hasten the implementation for a 12-team playoff starting as early as 2023? It certainly can not be ignored.
As with most things in college athletics, it’s just a hypothetical, but amid the stormiest season yet in the playoff era, expansion appeared to be the only remedy to clear the skies.
I realize I’m guilty of painting with an overly broad brush when I say this, but imagine how much better national college football commentary might be if pundits didn’t need constant stimulation from shiny new toys.
Get The Picture 
But ..but…what would they write about? Football? Well sir, I’ll have you know that is a pain, with all those complicated play calls and strategies and stuff.
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Right. The battle to see which teams are 3.4 and 5 is not as exciting as the battle to see which teams are 11. 12 and 13.
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That bit about never having a controversial playoff field had to be intended as sarcasm.
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Nice tease for the Mumme Poll.
I would assume most of us just voted in teams we view as possible title winners, which right now would be what, 4 or 5 teams? I don’t mind the AP poll/top 25 but the reality is, what difference does it make if you’re ranked outside of the top 4?
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Your broad brush is warranted, Senator. Every aspect of life is affected by our need for shiny new things. The constant interconnectedness through our phones, social media, TV, etc, makes it a much bigger issue than it ever has been before.
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I thought the reason for 12 teams was there were to many teams from one are of the country getting in. This years seems to solve that problem. Huh?
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If you made a 12-team CFB playoff out of this week’s AP rankings, that’d be one hell of a playoff. UGA would match up against the Michigan-Oregon winner.
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There is a LOT of football yet to be played. Some of these CONTENDERS will be exposed as PRETENDERS before it’s over. Sure, if you were to have a playoff today, there would probably be the need for a 12 team field. Before the season we might have needed a 24 team field ( we had a ton of unbeaten teams before that first kick off). After all the games have been played and injuries, luck, reality, skill, depth, have all played out…I suspect we will be back at 4 REAL contenders and maybe, just maybe 1 team left out that could have a real gripe. Check back with me in about 6 weeks.
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“The only driving force against time isn’t money, it’s emotion.” Really? The only driving force is money. Because $ = doing it for the kids.
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All of this Dawgrading of Clemson is still funny. Georgia was never vulnerable in that game. We absolutely sucked every bit of confidence out of Ukelele that night in Charlotte. We eventually broke their vaunted defensive front in the 4th quarter when we needed to salt that game away. We did that with an injured QB and receiving corps that was thrown together. That win right now is still the biggest win of the year for our guys.
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It’s beyond ridiculous that nobody whose primary vocation is writing about college football is so ill informed about the team that’s currently ranked #1 in the sport. Yes, it was 10-3 against Clemson. But you’re right – it was not nearly as in doubt as you’d think with that score, and the quarterback could barely throw and every receiver we were counting on was in sweat pants on the sideline.
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So, I guess we should do away with Conference Championship Games then? Here are the final CFP rankings of the last five years (excluding 2020)…..
2019:
#5 Georgia (11-2) (Conf Champ LOSER)
#7 Baylor (11-2) (Conf Champ LOSER)
#8 Wisconsin (10-3) (Conf Champ LOSER)
#11 Utah (11-2) (Conf Champ LOSER)
#12 Auburn (9-3)
2018:
#5 Georgia (11-2) (Conf Champ LOSER)
#9 Washington (10-3) (Conf Champ LOSER)
#10 Florida (9-3)
#11 LSU (9-3)
#12 PSU (9-3)
2017:
#7 Auburn (10-3) (Conf Champ LOSER)
2016:
#8 Wisconsin (10-3) (Conf Champ LOSER)
#9 USC (9-3)
#10 Colorado (10-3) (Conf Champ LOSER)
#11 FSU (9-3)
#12 OK State (9-3)
2015:
#10 UNC (11-2) (Conf Champ LOSER)
#12 Ole Miss (9-3)
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Exactly. We don’t have a playoff problem, we have a branding problem. The P5 end the season with a 10 team playoff. The Committee then knocks out #5 and #4 to make room for Notre Dame while ignoring the best of the Group of 5. Ideally, this could be resolved by paying ND to be in the ACC (or Big X and do some realignment) and use the Bowls for a re-branded G5 championship.
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I’m still just snickering at how things look half way through the season…who would have dreamed that the top 4 in the country would have Cincinnati and Iowa in it and NOT Bama, Clemson or Ohio St?! lolol This is definitely the strangest start to a season that I can remember. I just hope we continue to hold serve and don’t end up in the “How the mighty have fallen…” category.
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