So we're really supposed to believe that ND is a top 4 team in America?

[Black Diamond Vol]

They're not even the best team in Indiana, FFS.

[Tnphil]

Hide and watch...they will be back there next year. Shows how dumb the committee is. It's all about TV ratings.

[Black Diamond Vol]

Hide and watch...they will be back there next year. Shows how dumb the committee is. It's all about TV ratings.

Them and OU. They got left out this year- it won't happen again anytime soon. Heaven forbid they don't get the opportunity to be on the business end of another 4 TD beatdown.

[Black Diamond Vol]

Hide and watch...they will be back there next year. Shows how dumb the committee is. It's all about TV ratings.

7 years, 28 playoff slots- 22 of which have been filled by Bammer, Clemson, OSU, ND, and OU.

Expand it.

[murfvol]

I'll argue with expansion. We get enough lousy games as is.

[Tnphil]

Most argued OSU didn't belong....They have manhandled Clemson.

[JeffCountyVolFan]

If I was in charge:

• eight 16-team conferences.  That's 128 teams (I think there are currently 130 division I teams so two would have to go),
• two divisions in each conference
• each division champ would be determined by division-only records
• the two division champions play for the conference championship
• the 8 conference champions are the playoff teams.

That puts the entire issue on the playing field.  There is no human interpretation other than officiating.  You win the championship on the field of play.

This also could make it more likely that top recruits would be willing to choose schools that now have no chance at signing those athletes (spread the wealth).  As it stands now, the cream of the recruiting crop typically chooses one of the top 3, 4, or 5 schools because those are the only options to play for the national championship.

Pipe dream, I know.

[Black Diamond Vol]

Most argued OSU didn't belong....They have manhandled Clemson.

I'm of two minds about that. No one sane would argue that OSU wasn't good enough. They were my pick to win it all in the preseason, and I still think they will. But they haven't played two weeks in a row since 10/31-11/7. The CFB season (at least in strong conferences) is about surviving the week-in, week-out grind. By the time you reach the end, you're probably beaten down with aches and pains, if you even made it that far without injury. OSU has stayed fresh, thanks to that schedule. HUGE advantage for them.

I realize that this year is an outlier, and these circumstances (hopefully) will never happen again. But if OSU wins, it will come with an asterisk in my mind. Even though I think they're the best team.

[Cobbvol]

The ACC did not belong. What a garbage football conference.

[volsboy]

There were 3-5 SEC teams that would give Bama a better game than ND. It is supposed to be the four best teams. Period. We knew this would happen. How can you be a 18pt underdog and be one of 4 best teams?

[BanditVol]

There were 3-5 SEC teams that would give Bama a better game than ND. It is supposed to be the four best teams. Period. We knew this would happen. How can you be a 18pt underdog and be one of 4 best teams?

Which ones were they, other than Florida? Bama beat the rest of them down just as badly as ND, and that includes Georgia, LSU and particularly LSU.

Ole Miss got close, but every top team usually has an off game.

[BanditVol]

If I was in charge:

• eight 16-team conferences.  That's 128 teams (I think there are currently 130 division I teams so two would have to go),
• two divisions in each conference
• each division champ would be determined by division-only records
• the two division champions play for the conference championship
• the 8 conference champions are the playoff teams.

That puts the entire issue on the playing field.  There is no human interpretation other than officiating.  You win the championship on the field of play.

This also could make it more likely that top recruits would be willing to choose schools that now have no chance at signing those athletes (spread the wealth).  As it stands now, the cream of the recruiting crop typically chooses one of the top 3, 4, or 5 schools because those are the only options to play for the national championship.

Pipe dream, I know.

That's a great idea I think and I have had similar thoughts but I would split it into two 64 team divisions and have 4 16 team conferences. You would have to dismantle one of the P5 conferances and spread its teams around, probably the  B12. First round of playoff is conference championships.


Your plan would also be good. For the record there are 127 teams, so you would have to promote one.

[BanditVol]

I'm of two minds about that. No one sane would argue that OSU wasn't good enough. They were my pick to win it all in the preseason, and I still think they will. But they haven't played two weeks in a row since 10/31-11/7. The CFB season (at least in strong conferences) is about surviving the week-in, week-out grind. By the time you reach the end, you're probably beaten down with aches and pains, if you even made it that far without injury. OSU has stayed fresh, thanks to that schedule. HUGE advantage for them.

I realize that this year is an outlier, and these circumstances (hopefully) will never happen again. But if OSU wins, it will come with an asterisk in my mind. Even though I think they're the best team.

I also thought about the wear and tear thing. Definitely an advantage for OSU. Hoping the dismantle the turds. 😝

[volsboy]

Why not just use the BCS ratings and take the top 8 teams no matter what conference they are in. What argument can you have if you don't make it? Should the 9th ranked team be in the national title hunt?

[volsboy]

They're not even the best team in Indiana, FFS.

I guess Ole Miss proved otherwise.

[JeffCountyVolFan]

Why not just use the BCS ratings and take the top 8 teams no matter what conference they are in. What argument can you have if you don't make it? Should the 9th ranked team be in the national title hunt?

I prefer the idea of winning it on the field, not leaving it up to human voting. 

In my thinking, if you are not your conference champion you shouldn't be the national champion.  But hey, that's just me.

[volsboy]

I prefer the idea of winning it on the field, not leaving it up to human voting. 

In my thinking, if you are not your conference champion you shouldn't be the national champion.  But hey, that's just me.

But its about the best teams getting in. What makes you think the second best team in a tough conference is not one of the four best? Who will give Bama a better game than UF did? All conferences are not the same and you shouldn't punish a team for being in a tough conference. I believe UF, UGa and aTm would have given Bama a better game than ND did at this time of the season.

[JeffCountyVolFan]

But its about the best teams getting in. What makes you think the second best team in a tough conference is not one of the four best? Who will give Bama a better game than UF did? All conferences are not the same and you shouldn't punish a team for being in a tough conference. I believe UF, UGa and aTm would have given Bama a better game than ND did at this time of the season.

Perception is reality.  Ever read the Allegory of the Cave, by Plato? 

It depends on what you want the national champion to represent, in my view.  Do you want the national champion to represent the team that defeated every team necessary to be the champion, or do you want the national champion to be the best of what pollsters think are the best teams?

I would prefer to have it decided on the playing field.  I would prefer that you win your conference and then win a playoff involving all other conference champions.  Will the 8 best teams always be in the playoff?  Most likely the answer to that question is NO, but all 8 teams will have earned their spot through their play on the field - not determined by a media personalities and/or coaches submitting ballots.

I also think that it would provide opportunities for teams other than the elite in college football to recruit more 4* and 5* talent.

[volsboy]

I want the four best teams. So if UGa and Bama are undefeated going into the SECCg you don't think the loser is one of the four best teams even though they are not a conference champion? Look at UGa vs Cincy. Lots of folks argued for Cincy to be in the playoff. UGa was about the fourth best team in the SEC. They beat Cincy. Did Cincy deserve a playoff bid? No. They were a conference champ but about 5 SEC teams would beat them. If you went by conference champs they would be in the playoff and those better teams in the SEC wouldn't be. Is that really what you want?

[JeffCountyVolFan]

I want the four best teams. So if UGa and Bama are undefeated going into the SECCg you don't think the loser is one of the four best teams even though they are not a conference champion? Look at UGa vs Cincy. Lots of folks argued for Cincy to be in the playoff. UGa was about the fourth best team in the SEC. They beat Cincy. Did Cincy deserve a playoff bid? No. They were a conference champ but about 5 SEC teams would beat them. If you went by conference champs they would be in the playoff and those better teams in the SEC wouldn't be. Is that really what you want?

Don't try to put words in my mouth.  I never said that the four best teams would be represented in the model that I would favor.  They would all be deserving, though, because they played their way in to the playoff.  That's my opinion.  If you disagree, that is fine.  I can respect that.  You seem to be attempting to devalue my view because it doesn't match yours.  You want what you think are the four best teams to play for the title - fine, I understand that.  You are entitled to that opinion.

What you think are the four best teams are likely different from what many other people would suggest were the four best (I would actually use eight teams, not four).  Because you think that they are the four best doesn't make them so.  What a group of sports writers or coaches vote as the four best teams will not necessarily represent the four best teams, either.  It's all about perspective.

If UGA and UA play for the SEC championship, they both have a shot at the playoff.  If they want to get in, they need to win their conference championship.  That's my view.  I think that every conference champion needs to have an opportunity to play for the title.  In my view, they earned that right with their conference championship.

Do most people agree with my opinion?  I have no way of knowing that, but I would say 'probably not'.  Doesn't change my view - and doesn't necessarily make them right (I'm also not suggesting that I am 'right').

[BanditVol]

Perception is reality.  Ever read the Allegory of the Cave, by Plato?  

Did you really just ask  Volsboy that question?  

BTW I do like that part of Plato.  Not that I have ever comprehensively read Plato, but I have read that part.

[JeffCountyVolFan]

Plato was a very strange fellow, I would say, from reading just a small amount of his stuff. About this, however, he was correct I think.