So let’s get rid of conferences and, fuck it, let’s not play a regular season anymore. Just march the teams past the committee and pick a winner.
The ONLY stat that matters in football is the fucking score. FSU came out on top of that EVERY SINGLE TIME THEY PLAYED. And they beat more bowl eligible teams than anybody else doing it.
Texas lost. So did Georgia. So did Ohio State. So did Alabama. The top three has to be the undefeated conference champs followed by the best 1-loss team or we should just quit playing the regular season.
Finally, here are the interconference records for 2023 after the regular season:
PAC-12 7-3 (.700)
ACC 10-9 (.526) (incl. 6-4 against the vaunted SEC - and FSU was 2 of those 6)
Big12 6-6 (.500)
SEC 7-9 (.437)
Big10 5-8 (.385) (3-4 against the ACC, 0-3 against the PAC)
Why do the SEC and the Big10 get so much credit for being “tough” conferences to play in*? When they play other conferences, they generally LOSE.
* The answer is, of course, money. ESPN is heavily invested in this mythos.
Well, the 4 best teams got in, most likely - not necessarily the 4 most deserving teams. If I were Michigan, I’d be far more excited to play FSU instead of now having to play Alabama.
I dunno, if we’re going to play the “best” game then it should be Alabama, Georgia, Washington, and Michigan (and Washington probably shouldn’t be invited either and replaced with Ohio State.)
Why play the games at that point then? Just pick the teams that had the highest composite recruiting ranking.
This will all be moot next year, obviously. But the lack of support across the board for undefeated Liberty kind of proves the point that there’s a meaningful amount of subjectivity involved, and for good reason. I’d love for Georgia to still be in it, and they probably actually one of the 4 best teams in the country. I think that any team among Texas/Georgia/Alabama/FSU has a truly legitimate argument to be in, and it sucks for any of the other teams left out. Sometimes you get stuck with an unremarkable schedule and you get left out.
Hell no. Washington beat every team, including multiple ranked teams, and beat the team ranked #5 twice, and was the only team to beat that team. They more than earned their spot. Don’t fall for that “if it’s on the west coast it’s no good” crap that too many ignorant analysts (who should know better) fall for.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they win the next two games by single digits and end up national champs, then get criticized for not blowing either one out.
Oh I think Washington should be in the playoffs based on merit. I was rebutting the 4 “best” teams talking point, which inevitably refers to picking the 4 teams with the best Vegas odds. There’s no doubt that Georgia and Ohio State would both be favored against Washington, but I’m a firm believer that games still need to be played.
#1 high school QB decommitting from Georgia to commit to Nebraska (having previously decommitted from Ohio State). It’s bewildering to me to see how easily players bounce from team to team, but sign of the times, I guess.
Not too surprising really. The kid has ties to Nebraska. His dad played there and his uncle is the current offensive line coach. Unfortunately the kid will be running for his life since his uncle hasn’t done a great job with that offensive line.
As a long-suffering Husker fan, I should be excited by this news. But decades of “we’re back” pessimism has taken it’s toll. He’ll be in the transfer portal before his freshman year is over.
Not totally me being a cynic. He’s attended three different high schools in Texas, Arizona, and Georgia and earlier committed to both Ohio State and Georgia.
Have a reasonbly certain way out of the Grant of Rights.
Have an under-the-table offer from the Big10.
I remain skeptical of both those items, but I do think the Big10 is our best long-term fit. It helps them geographically and us financially - even at a discount 60-75% rate for a few years.
