NCAA Gladiator Playoff

[ricka56]

I am a bit geeked up for the upcoming NCAAF playoffs. Bama gets a tune-up game with the B1G entry...nice and Oregon/FSU get to battle it out for the other final berth...should be fun to watch.

[Rulekeep]

Ergh...football.

[VAUmp]

ROLL TIDE!!

[Richvee]

Wish someone could explain to me how TCU, who was ranked 3rd falls out of the top 4 by blowing out the team they're playing the final week. Strength of schedule be damned. BIG 10 over rated this season. 

[StrikeDavis]

Ohio State was such an odd team this year.  I was at the game in Penn State when they had to go to 2 OTs to win.  They looked like an average B1G team that day and last night they looked outstanding.  I just really want to see Bama and Oregon in the finals.

[Replacematt]

Wish someone could explain to me how TCU, who was ranked 3rd falls out of the top 4 by blowing out the team they're playing the final week. Strength of schedule be damned. BIG 10 underrated this season. 

 

Because tOSU is far better. Also, fixed your post.

[Richvee]

 

Wish someone could explain to me how TCU, who was ranked 3rd falls out of the top 4 by blowing out the team they're playing the final week. Strength of schedule be damned. BIG 10 underrated this season. 

 

Because tOSU is far better. Also, fixed your post.

 

Then don't put out polls every week. If tOSU is far better, they should have been ranked higher than them prior to this weekend. Just sayin. 

 

"Also, fixed your post."

 

Thank You 

[Replacematt]

 

 

Wish someone could explain to me how TCU, who was ranked 3rd falls out of the top 4 by blowing out the team they're playing the final week. Strength of schedule be damned. BIG 10 underrated this season. 

 

Because tOSU is far better. Also, fixed your post.

 

Then don't put out polls every week. If tOSU is far better, they should have been ranked higher than them prior to this weekend. Just sayin. 

 

"Also, fixed your post."

Thank You 

 

 

I agree with not showing that every week, but those aren't polls. They're assessments. And, as we saw, they did hold true to stating that old ones had no bearing on the current week.

 

I truly feel that the four best teams are not there--FSU should be fifth.

[Richvee]

For the casual fan like me, I follow the polls like the standings. So when all the top teams win their final game I don't expect to see any movement, especially when the team that falls wins so convincingly. 

[Replacematt]

For the casual fan like me, I follow the polls like the standings. So when all the top teams win their final game I don't expect to see any movement, especially when the team that falls wins so convincingly. 

 

By that logic, the final four make sense, then. tOSU beat a better opponent more convincingly than TCU.

[Richvee]

 

For the casual fan like me, I follow the polls like the standings. So when all the top teams win their final game I don't expect to see any movement, especially when the team that falls wins so convincingly. 

 

By that logic, the final four make sense, then. tOSU beat a better opponent more convincingly than TCU.

 

Also by that logic, FSU has no business near the top 4 with all the close games against lesser opponents. It is what it is I guess. I really don't know enough NCAA football to argue for or against top 4 teams. Hope the games are fun. 

[CentralOhioUmp30]

People might want to wait before marking Ohio State off.  A team that's overcome a lot of adversity, has a chip on their collective shoulders and will hear for over three weeks how they don't even belong in the playoff.  AND they're coached by one of the all-time greats in his own right.  Might have a recipe for an upset.

 

Think the winner of OSU/Bama rolls in the championship game.  FSU might keep it competitive for a bit, but they're not disciplined enough to win two games against this caliber of opponent, IMO.  And I guarantee Urban and Saban would be more than happy to prepare for a notoriously soft Oregon team coached by a much more inferior coach.  

 

Will be fun.

[ricka56]

Ah, tis the season for the B1G entry fans to roll out the Rodney Dangerfield laments...

...only thing better is listening to their silence when the reasons that they "get no respect" becomes evident. 

[CentralOhioUmp30]

OSU's playing with house money here.  Everyone is expecting them to get pounded.  Would be great for all the Alabama "fans" around the country to finally jump off that bandwagon.  Here's hoping it happens.

[Pete Peterson Sr]

OSU's playing with house money here.  Everyone is expecting them to get pounded.  Would be great for all the Alabama "fans" around the country to finally jump off that bandwagon.  Here's hoping it happens.

 

 As a life-long Alabama fan, win or lose, I hear a lot of people talking about bandwagon Alabama fans. How do so many of you, as non-Alabama fans know so much about these people, and I don't ?

[Umpire in Chief]

I would like to see more teams in the playoffs say 16 teams. At that level they should still be pretty competitive games even the #1 vs #16 and yet the 1-4 teams should have as much a chance at the "protective cushion" to make it to the semis that they really would want. You could take the Champions of the 10 FBS Conferences get an auto bid. The remaining 6 would have to be determined by rankings and that would include the independent schools like ND if they earn a spot. 

 

But I do agree that the selection method is flawed, but I believe it is better than what they were doing. 

 

Here's some of the other games I'm looking forward to:

• NC State vs Central Florida
• Arizona St. vs Duke
• Texas A&M vs West VA
• Oklahoma vs Clemson
• Georgia vs Louisville
• East Carolina vs Florida

I will say for those who don't know I am an ECU fan. I would have rather had a different game. We wanted a shot at Florida for a long time and finally got them on our non-conference schedule for 2015. East Carolina loves every opportunity to get ACC & SEC games.

 

I also follow Alabama & Clemson. 

[CentralOhioUmp30]

 

OSU's playing with house money here.  Everyone is expecting them to get pounded.  Would be great for all the Alabama "fans" around the country to finally jump off that bandwagon.  Here's hoping it happens.

 

 As a life-long Alabama fan, win or lose, I hear a lot of people talking about bandwagon Alabama fans. How do so many of you, as non-Alabama fans know so much about these people, and I don't ?

 

It's not exclusive to just Alabama.  If a team wins a championship in the big 4 professional leagues or college football/ basketball, suddenly fans come out of the woodwork.  Especially with a team like Alabama that's won multiple championships over a short time-span.  

 

It's really not exactly a tough concept to grasp.

[CentralOhioUmp30]

I would like to see more teams in the playoffs say 16 teams. At that level they should still be pretty competitive games even the #1 vs #16 and yet the 1-4 teams should have as much a chance at the "protective cushion" to make it to the semis that they really would want. You could take the Champions of the 10 FBS Conferences get an auto bid. The remaining 6 would have to be determined by rankings and that would include the independent schools like ND if they earn a spot. 

 

But I do agree that the selection method is flawed, but I believe it is better than what they were doing. 

 

Here's some of the other games I'm looking forward to:

• NC State vs Central Florida
• Arizona St. vs Duke
• Texas A&M vs West VA
• Oklahoma vs Clemson
• Georgia vs Louisville
• East Carolina vs Florida

I will say for those who don't know I am an ECU fan. I would have rather had a different game. We wanted a shot at Florida for a long time and finally got them on our non-conference schedule for 2015. East Carolina loves every opportunity to get ACC & SEC games.

 

I also follow Alabama & Clemson. 

Oh wow.  Hopefully the five big conferences will break off from the NCAA before a 16-team playoff is discussed by any decision-maker.  Think it's ridiculous that the smaller schools even get a cut of the action, forget about actually playing in meaningful games, since they bring almost nothing to the table anyway.  Hell, there are really only four or five teams (at best) from each of the power conferences that really contribute anything of value to the whole process.  So what you really have is the Alabama's, Texas', Ohio State's and USC's taking a much smaller piece of the pie than they deserve in order to subsidize the Troy's, Louisiana Lafayette's and Florida Atlantic's of the world.

 

Eight teams will be bad enough.  There's a chance a three loss team could earn their way into the playoff in that format.  Unfortunately, that's where we're headed.

 

I'd like to stay with four teams for a decade and then advance to a six team playoff where all five major conferences get auto bids (as long as their conference champion ranks inside the top 15, so we avoid fluke conference champion winners) and one wild card.  Top two teams (ranked by a committee) get a bye and the third and fourth teams host a home playoff game.

[Replacematt]

 

I would like to see more teams in the playoffs say 16 teams. At that level they should still be pretty competitive games even the #1 vs #16 and yet the 1-4 teams should have as much a chance at the "protective cushion" to make it to the semis that they really would want. You could take the Champions of the 10 FBS Conferences get an auto bid. The remaining 6 would have to be determined by rankings and that would include the independent schools like ND if they earn a spot. 

 

But I do agree that the selection method is flawed, but I believe it is better than what they were doing. 

 

Here's some of the other games I'm looking forward to:

• NC State vs Central Florida
• Arizona St. vs Duke
• Texas A&M vs West VA
• Oklahoma vs Clemson
• Georgia vs Louisville
• East Carolina vs Florida

I will say for those who don't know I am an ECU fan. I would have rather had a different game. We wanted a shot at Florida for a long time and finally got them on our non-conference schedule for 2015. East Carolina loves every opportunity to get ACC & SEC games.

 

I also follow Alabama & Clemson. 

Oh wow.  Hopefully the five big conferences will break off from the NCAA before a 16-team playoff is discussed by any decision-maker.  Think it's ridiculous that the smaller schools even get a cut of the action, forget about actually playing in meaningful games, since they bring almost nothing to the table anyway.  Hell, there are really only four or five teams (at best) from each of the power conferences that really contribute anything of value to the whole process.  So what you really have is the Alabama's, Texas', Ohio State's and USC's taking a much smaller piece of the pie than they deserve in order to subsidize the Troy's, Louisiana Lafayette's and Florida Atlantic's of the world.

 

Eight teams will be bad enough.  There's a chance a three loss team could earn their way into the playoff in that format.  Unfortunately, that's where we're headed.

 

I'd like to stay with four teams for a decade and then advance to a six team playoff where all five major conferences get auto bids (as long as their conference champion ranks inside the top 15, so we avoid fluke conference champion winners) and one wild card.  Top two teams (ranked by a committee) get a bye and the third and fourth teams host a home playoff game.

 

 

One of the dumbest posts of the year.

 

BYU, Notre Dame, meaningless? Boise State, Marshall, meaningless? 

[Replacematt]

 

 

For the casual fan like me, I follow the polls like the standings. So when all the top teams win their final game I don't expect to see any movement, especially when the team that falls wins so convincingly. 

 

By that logic, the final four make sense, then. tOSU beat a better opponent more convincingly than TCU.

 

Also by that logic, FSU has no business near the top 4 with all the close games against lesser opponents. It is what it is I guess. I really don't know enough NCAA football to argue for or against top 4 teams. Hope the games are fun. 

 

 

I have no qualms with that logic. In fact, I personally feel FSU is not a top-4 team. 

[ricka56]

Of course FSU should be in at the dance...the reigning champs, undefeated and wins against 4 top 25 teams. Alabama needs to be there and so does Oregon. They're the only ones really worthy, but they needed a 4th to round out the field...might as well go with the big spenders for the 4th seed. 

 

Check out his article, written before the final-4 were named.

[Replacematt]

They have two wins against top-25 teams. Qualitatively, they have played like SH*#. Wisconsin (the top-25 team that tOSU demolished) would beat them.

[CentralOhioUmp30]

 

 

I would like to see more teams in the playoffs say 16 teams. At that level they should still be pretty competitive games even the #1 vs #16 and yet the 1-4 teams should have as much a chance at the "protective cushion" to make it to the semis that they really would want. You could take the Champions of the 10 FBS Conferences get an auto bid. The remaining 6 would have to be determined by rankings and that would include the independent schools like ND if they earn a spot. 

 

But I do agree that the selection method is flawed, but I believe it is better than what they were doing. 

 

Here's some of the other games I'm looking forward to:

• NC State vs Central Florida
• Arizona St. vs Duke
• Texas A&M vs West VA
• Oklahoma vs Clemson
• Georgia vs Louisville
• East Carolina vs Florida

I will say for those who don't know I am an ECU fan. I would have rather had a different game. We wanted a shot at Florida for a long time and finally got them on our non-conference schedule for 2015. East Carolina loves every opportunity to get ACC & SEC games.

 

I also follow Alabama & Clemson. 

Oh wow.  Hopefully the five big conferences will break off from the NCAA before a 16-team playoff is discussed by any decision-maker.  Think it's ridiculous that the smaller schools even get a cut of the action, forget about actually playing in meaningful games, since they bring almost nothing to the table anyway.  Hell, there are really only four or five teams (at best) from each of the power conferences that really contribute anything of value to the whole process.  So what you really have is the Alabama's, Texas', Ohio State's and USC's taking a much smaller piece of the pie than they deserve in order to subsidize the Troy's, Louisiana Lafayette's and Florida Atlantic's of the world.

 

Eight teams will be bad enough.  There's a chance a three loss team could earn their way into the playoff in that format.  Unfortunately, that's where we're headed.

 

I'd like to stay with four teams for a decade and then advance to a six team playoff where all five major conferences get auto bids (as long as their conference champion ranks inside the top 15, so we avoid fluke conference champion winners) and one wild card.  Top two teams (ranked by a committee) get a bye and the third and fourth teams host a home playoff game.

 

 

One of the dumbest posts of the year.

 

BYU, Notre Dame, meaningless? Boise State, Marshall, meaningless? 

 

Boise State and Marshall are irrelevant as far as a playoff is concerned.  They'll never get in unless they go to the monstrosity that is a 16-team playoff.  And I think the big 5 conferences will break off from the other FBS schools before a 16-team playoff is even considered.

 

BYU is close to irrelevant.  If they form a schedule similar to ND and go undefeated then they have a shot...other than that, eh.

 

Notre Dame is absolutely relevant.  Bring in A LOT of money and their fan base is one of largest in the country.  That is pretty obvious though, or at least, to people who know anything about college football anyway.

[Replacematt]

Boise State and Marshall are irrelevant as far as a playoff is concerned.

And that's horseSH*#.

BYU is close to irrelevant.  If they form a schedule similar to ND and go undefeated then they have a shot...other than that, eh.

Not according to you.

 

Notre Dame is absolutely relevant.  Bring in A LOT of money and their fan base is one of largest in the country.  That is pretty obvious though, or at least, to people who know anything about college football anyway.

Then why say they aren't?

[ricka56]

Wisconsin (the top-25 team that tOSU demolished) would beat them (FSU)

 

Counterfactuals...the last refuge for geeks that can't do math...

...if frogs had wings, they wouldn't bruise their arses.