Exactly. So the chances of BYU going undefeated with a top 30 schedule are about the same as the Utes winning the Pac 12. Neither is very likely in the next few years, but either COULD happen under the right set of circumstances.
2014 College Football
- Thread starter Safetydan
- Start date
Exactly. So the chances of BYU going undefeated with a top 30 schedule are about the same as the Utes winning the Pac 12. Neither is very likely in the next few years, but either COULD happen under the right set of circumstances.
I don't necessarily love the idea of automatically locking out the losers of the conference championship game. If you have to previously undefeated teams playing in the game, they would both likely be ranked very high and be very good. Automatically eliminating the losers would suck. Let's pretend the SEC East were any good this year. If an undefeated Florida (ranked #4) lost to an undefeated MSU (ranked #1) by a last second field goal, should they be locked out of the playoff?
gregbroncs
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Agree there are. But they are a minority, the money in the big 5 conferences is making the gap between even the big 5 crappy teams and the regular crappy teams greater. The average teams in the big 5 are far and away better than the average teams outside of the big 5, and in most cases better than the "good" non power 5 teams.
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In the end it does not matter much. Because the teams in the big 5 conferences are viewed as better and winning one of those conferences is a huge accomplishment even with a few weak teams. BYU is not competing for the chance to get in with the crappy teams. They will be trying to get in versus the top teams. Those teams at the end of the schedule are lost in the shuffle when you play 6-7 good teams every year. BYU will struggle to schedule even 3-4 good teams on a consistent basis.
green
Well-Known Member
BYU will NEVER get into a 4 team playoff. NEVER. They will never have a schedule to justify it.
The fact that BYU could get into an 8 team playoff is probably why we will never have an 8 team playoff. A 4 team playoff keeps everyone out. It is exclusionary. It allows the P5 to own the postseason and keep the money. Why would they expand and have to share the money? What happens if 2008 happens again, when Utah, TCU and Boise St are all worthy of an 8 team playoff spot?
In order to have enough drama to create an 8 team playoff, you'd have to have a very unlikely scenario: All 5 P5 conference champions with 0 losses or all 5 have one loss. Probably not going to happen.
The fact that BYU could get into an 8 team playoff is probably why we will never have an 8 team playoff. A 4 team playoff keeps everyone out. It is exclusionary. It allows the P5 to own the postseason and keep the money. Why would they expand and have to share the money? What happens if 2008 happens again, when Utah, TCU and Boise St are all worthy of an 8 team playoff spot?
In order to have enough drama to create an 8 team playoff, you'd have to have a very unlikely scenario: All 5 P5 conference champions with 0 losses or all 5 have one loss. Probably not going to happen.
gregbroncs
Well-Known Member
My idea would be to take the conference champions (Championship game only). Take the best not big 5 team. And the other 2 best of the rest as an at large bid.
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The biggest impediment to this is that a lot of money comes from the bowl system. And any 8 team playoff virtually kills the bowls.
gregbroncs
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I'd put the odds of an 8 team playoff happening within the next 10 years at about 80%.
fishonjazz
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Good response
Former Member
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Only the Conference Championship game losers would not be eligible. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th best team in a particular division would still be eligible for an at large bid. For example, the SEC West right now would send Miss. St. to represent the division in the SEC championship, but the other squads in the SEC West would be eligible for an auto-bid. However, if Miss. St. loses the Conference Championship game, they are out.
I just like the idea of the championship being settled on the field.
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Yes. Under my idea, the Conference Championship games essentially become the first round of the playoffs. If a team loses the Championship game, they lost the national championship on the field of play. It sucks, but the team only has themselves to blame. They lost the game.
Former Member
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This idea is better than our current one, so I like it.
7StraightIsGreat
Well-Known Member
I'll disagree here but only a little bit. With Utah already beating UCLA on the road and still having USC and Arizona at home, it's not the biggest stretch in the world to say that it's at least conceivable they could win the South this year and play in the PAC championship game. If they got there, Oregon and Stanford are beatable on any given night.
That's more feasible than the challenge BYU currently faces. As we've seen, creating a quality independent schedule year in and year out has been very challenging for Tom Holmoe. BTW, I think he's done an exceptional job with what he's been given to work with. Any schedule that's good enough for BYU to make a run at a playoff probably includes various weeks throughout the season that has BYU zigzagging the country. I'm a firm believer that long travel dates has a huge impact on college players. That's a lot of extra strain to bear all while knowing you can't afford one slip up.
Conversely, Utah can have a slip up at the hands of Wazzu, yet still have a chance to compete for conferences titles, playoff births, etc. all while having the luxury of traveling no further than Oregon/Washington for their conference games.
I think this situation shows the exact reason it's so crucial BYU finds their way into a conference. Obviously, if they were in the Big 12 their conference road games would be further away than Utah's but it still gives BYU a chance to travel less and one loss doesn't doom your season.
fishonjazz
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I agree
♪alt13
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Problem is the top 2 teams are in the champ game. The 3rd, 4th, 5th have already been decided on the field by losing to those teams.
I also like the idea of it being settled on the field. The only way to really do that is conference realignment, imo.
Either
16 8 team conferences. Full round robin and the winner plays the winner of the neighboring conference for a playoff spot.
or
8 8 team conferences each with an 8 team relegated league underneath them. The conference champ would get an auto bid for the playoff. The conference loser would get relegated to the under league.
I would prefer the relegated model because it would 1) make the regular season games more competitive and 2) make for a lot of meaningful end of the year games for mid tier teams.
I don't think either of those are in the cards but in the perfect world I think that's how it would be set up.
Former Member
Banned
Championship games are the winners of each division, not necessarily the top two in the conference. I remember a few years back Utah was in the hunt of a possible Pac-12 Championship game because the southern division was so weak (USC was ineligible). Meanwhile, only one team from the Pac-12 North could play in the championship although they clearly had the two best teams (Stanford and Oregon). This year, the obvious example is the SEC West. Someone is going to finish 2nd and 3rd in that division and could quite possibly win the tournament (any given Saturday).
I absolutely love the idea of relegation, but that of course has no chance of happening (even more so than my idea)
Former Member
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HeyHey... I haven't repped anyone on this board for months (lack of activity), but it says that I have to spread reputation around. The man be holding me down! (I wanted to rep you because you brought up relegation.)