College Football Thread

[KingPG21]

1 hour ago, str8baller said:

Well, to further the analogy, CFB used to have ties and no tournament. Nobody died. It was fine. It was the best regular season in sports. 
 

Now it’s just another prelude to a bloated tourney. 

Tourneys don’t always crown the best team either. They wild-card Giants beat the undefeated Pats in the SB.  The poll system probably got it right more often than a tournament does.   
 

I get the sense that people want college football to be like every other sport where the regy season is just a prelude to a bloated tourney. Good news—you’re going to get it.  
 

FWIW, Saturdays game doesn’t matter to either IU or OSU because the loser is still getting in the tournament. It’ll be a big game. But it’ll be nothing like big games in the past that actually carried championship implications. At least this game will carry B1G championship implications…which won’t even be a thing in a couple years. 

Eh. The sport was different back then. Teams were able to hoard talent easier, no NIL and transfer portal doesn't exist the same way. 

 

If they could find a way to eliminate human voting, they can't, it'd be fine, Voting has become a parody of itself with conference supremeitt arguments 

[Pagoda]

In reality, the G6 is a separate lower tier that isn’t competitive for the championship — these programs almost all look nothing like the P4 in terms of budget and facilities.  Maybe one team is in rare instances, but probably not with their rosters getting picked over in the portal each year.

This is really 23 of 68 P4 teams (including ND) getting in, or 34%.  About the same as the NFL.

The NFL has a lot more parity than CFB with the salary cap.  The 24 team playoff is including several teams with basically no shot to win it.  

I don’t like that.  But we’ll see how it goes.

[Lebowski]

While we still don't know the details of the 24-team CFP the reporting is saying G6 is getting only 1 AQ. If that's the case and I'm a president of a G6 conference I'm making phone calls to the other 5 presidents and filing a lawsuit for anti-trust, lack of representation. 

Now that I think more about it, this might get ugly. Who knows. 

[Jeff Flabjohns]

The fans can demand an FCS system all they want, it’ll never, ever happen. 

A mandated 10 P4 games for each team, which I favor, will further reduce the chances of G6 teams getting in.

I’ll be surprised if there’s ever more than two G6 teams in the 24 team playoff. 
It’ll be fun to debate whether 8-4 Purdue (who beat us because we rested our starters) vs a 7-5 SEC team with three ‘ranked’ wins gets the last spot. 

[Jeff Flabjohns]

The spread of talent because of NIL has been remarkable for the sport. We know that more than anybody. More teams than ever can compete if they want to. 12 is perfect

When the limit to qualify for the tournament extends to FOUR loss teams instead of two, it’ll naturally damage what is still the best regular season in sports. 

[Pagoda]

The G6 needs their own playoff.  These schools have about 10-25% of the budget of the P4 schools.  It's impossible for them to compete.  Which stinks, but is what it is.  We've seen it in the playoff in '24 and '25 (plus Cincy in '21) -- all blowouts.

 

 

[Home Jersey]

4 minutes ago, Jeff Flabjohns said:

When the limit to qualify for the tournament extends to FOUR loss teams instead of two, it’ll naturally damage what is still the best regular season in sports. 

I dunno, how does having more teams competing for a chance to play for a championship "naturally damage" the regular season?

I'm still excited about IU vs OSU even though the playoff may water it down for some. I think the bragging rights in rivalry games still matter. 

A bigger playoff is a bigger platform for players to make a name for themselves on a big stage, boost their draft stock / portal prospects, compete for a national championship. I'd think that keeps teams in the 17-25 range more engaged toward the end of their season and so less of the talented players opt out so often. 

There have been many different iterations of college sports over the years. CCGs didn't even start until 1992 and the Big Ten only played its first one in 2011. BCS, conference expansion, 4 team playoff, 12 team playoff... this is just the next phase.

And with the portal and NIL creating more parity in CFB than previous eras, I think there will eventually be plenty of upsets by 8-4 type teams. Even if they don't win a natty, that is exciting playoff football IMO and doesn't inherently devalue the regular season. 

[Jeff Flabjohns]

5 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

I dunno, how does having more teams competing for a chance to play for a championship "naturally damage" the regular season?

I'm still excited about IU vs OSU even though the playoff may water it down for some. I think the bragging rights in rivalry games still matter. 

A bigger playoff is a bigger platform for players to make a name for themselves on a big stage, boost their draft stock / portal prospects, compete for a national championship. I'd think that keeps teams in the 17-25 range more engaged toward the end of their season and so less of the talented players opt out so often. 

There have been many different iterations of college sports over the years. CCGs didn't even start until 1992 and the Big Ten only played its first one in 2011. BCS, conference expansion, 4 team playoff, 12 team playoff... this is just the next phase.

And with the portal and NIL creating more parity in CFB than previous eras, I think there will eventually be plenty of upsets by 8-4 type teams. Even if they don't win a natty, that is exciting playoff football IMO and doesn't inherently devalue the regular season. 

I’ll still be getting up as much for any IU game. But it’ll reduce my intensity for most other games.

How do I root for, and potentially dunk on ND fans, the Irish losing their three toughest games if they’re still in the playoff despite that?

Texas A&M, Tennessee flame out again to go their classic 8-4 but hey look they’re playoff teams!

[Jeff Flabjohns]

The only sport that I happily watch games that don’t include the team I support…because the stakes of these games still really matter for postseason qualification. 

There will be 8-4 teams who win that road playoff game. The talent is spread out. But I’ll always maintain that 8-4 team had ample time to prove themselves worthy of a playoff spot and didn’t. 

1/3 of P4 teams qualifying each year stinks 

[Home Jersey]

5 minutes ago, Jeff Flabjohns said:

The only sport that I happily watch games that don’t include the team I support…because the stakes of these games still really matter for postseason qualification. 

There will be 8-4 teams who win that road playoff game. The talent is spread out. But I’ll always maintain that 8-4 team had ample time to prove themselves worthy of a playoff spot and didn’t. 

1/3 of P4 teams qualifying each year stinks 

Fair enough... if I think there's a good game in a sport I like, and my schedule permits, I'll watch it regardless of postseason implications. That doesn't factor in much for me. I didn't think the NCAA tournament needed to expand, but it doesn't make me less inclined to watch a regular season game between teams I don't support if I think it'll be a high quality game.

Maybe those teams won't have made the most of their regular season, but in the playoffs they'll have a chance to show why they belong. 

Ultimately it's out of our control so I'm just going to try and enjoy. I'm sure there will be issues. 

[Brass Cannon]

1 hour ago, Jeff Flabjohns said:

The only sport that I happily watch games that don’t include the team I support…because the stakes of these games still really matter for postseason qualification. 

There will be 8-4 teams who win that road playoff game. The talent is spread out. But I’ll always maintain that 8-4 team had ample time to prove themselves worthy of a playoff spot and didn’t. 

1/3 of P4 teams qualifying each year stinks 

I think this is a slippery slope to all G6 champs getting in as well.  A way to keep all fanbases engaged. But then that will be the justification to expand to 32 teams 

[Lebowski]

1 hour ago, Jeff Flabjohns said:

The fans can demand an FCS system all they want, it’ll never, ever happen. 

A mandated 10 P4 games for each team, which I favor, will further reduce the chances of G6 teams getting in.

I’ll be surprised if there’s ever more than two G6 teams in the 24 team playoff. 
It’ll be fun to debate whether 8-4 Purdue (who beat us because we rested our starters) vs a 7-5 SEC team with three ‘ranked’ wins gets the last spot. 

There has never been a 7-5 team ever ranked in the top 24 final week of CFP Rankings, ever. 

Final Week CFP Rankings 4 or more loss Teams
2025: Iowa 8-4
2024: NO TEAMS WITH 4 OR MORE LOSSES
2023: Oregon St. 8-4, Oklahoma St. 9-4, Tennessee 8-4, Clemson 8-4
2022: LSU 9-4, South Carolina 8-4, Texas 8-4, ND 8-4, Miss St. 8-4, NC State 8-4
2021: Arkansas 8-4
2020: DATA NOT APPLICABLE (COVID shorten seasons)
2019: USC 8-4, Virginia 9-4
2018: Texas 9-4, Utah 9-4, Texas A&M 8-4, Northwestern 8-5, Missouri 8-4, Iowa St. 8-4
2017: Stanford 9-4, Miss St. 8-4, NC State 8-4
2016: Auburn 8-4, Florida 8-4, Utah 8-4, LSU 7-4, Tennessee 8-4, Va. Tech 9-4, Pitt 8-4
2015: Tennessee 8-4
2014: Auburn 8-4, Utah 8-4, LSU 8-4


 

[Lebowski]

2 hours ago, Jeff Flabjohns said:

A mandated 10 P4 games for each team, which I favor, will further reduce the chances of G6 teams getting in.

I’ll be surprised if there’s ever more than two G6 teams in the 24 team playoff. 

Here's a history of G6 schools in the CFP final week rankings before the conference championships. I also believe most G6 champions can hold their own against a P4 4th place or lower finisher. Not only hold their own but win more than folks think. 

2014 (1 team)
• Boise State (#22) AQ

2015 (3 teams)
• Houston (#19) AQ
• Temple (#22)
• Navy (#23)

2016 (3 teams)
• Western Michigan (#17) AQ
• Navy (#19)
• Houston (#24)

2017 (2 teams)
• UCF (#14) AQ
• Memphis (#20)

2018 (2 teams)
• UCF (#8) AQ
• Boise State (#22)

2019 (5 teams)
• Memphis (#17) AQ
• Boise State (#19)
• Cincinnati (#20)
• Appalachian State (#21)
• Navy (#24)

2020 (5 teams)
• Cincinnati (#9) AQ
• Coastal Carolina (#12)
• Louisiana (#19)
• Tulsa (#23)
• San José State (#24)

2021 (4 teams)
• Cincinnati (#4) AQ
• San Diego State (#19)
• Houston (#21)
• Louisiana (#24)

2022 (2 teams)
• Tulane (#18) AQ
• UCF (#22)

2023 (2 teams)
• Tulane (#22) AQ
• Liberty (#24)

2024 (3 teams)
• Boise State (#10) AQ
• UNLV (#20)
• Army (#24) - IUFB host a 1st round game in Btown. 

2025 (2 teams)
• Tulane (#20) AQ
• North Texas (#24)

[fwgreenway]

4 hours ago, Jeff Flabjohns said:

How do I root for, and potentially dunk on ND fans, the Irish losing their three toughest games if they’re still in the playoff despite that?

You know this just convinced me that 24 is absolutely too many! How could ND be any more overrated? Here ya go. 

[Brass Cannon]

Washington up a TD on Purdue.  Ryan Walter’s gunning to be a part of another embarrassing Purdue home loss 

[KingPG21]

Favorite part of this game is Washington making a mistake that Purdue had nothing to do with. Purdue fans acting like they did something. Wahsinton gashes them for 30 yards with their 5th running back

[Brass Cannon]

Washington has had so many boneheaded plays and they are about to go into half up on Purdue.  lol. And that’s with the refs helping the home team 

[Hardwood83]

Bad call on the Toiletmakers...so, so sad

[TTT]

So IU vs Nebraska 

Has IU unimproved that much? And Nebraska improved that much?  In one year.

Who gives IU the toughest game Ohio State or Purdue?
 

[Brass Cannon]

4 Turnover and Purdue is still down. That’s so sad. We are gonna trounce both these teams