Any level allowed.
For FBS: WASHINGTON DESTROYED COLORADO!!!
I don’t think Michigan has any argument to get in and Washing is set no matter what happens today. Big Question is does the Big 10 have any chance to get in if Clemson loses? If Clemson barely wins, can them and Washington flip flop?
Big 10? Ohio State is in, no matter what happens today.
or are you talking Big XII? I don’t think the OU/OSU has a chance. The only chance was if the Huskies lost last night.
And I think Clemson is in, even if they lose.
Seems strange that Fox has the B1G Championship game. IIRC, ESPN and ABC has been televising all the notable B1G games this year.
I actually think that either Michigan or Ohio State are better than either of the two teams in the B1G Ten Championship Game, but damn does it feel rank to see two teams being considered for the Playoff that couldn’t even make their own conference’s championship game. I’ve read that Michigan is the favorite to make it into the Playoff if Clemson stumbles today.
So when do we expand the Playoff to eight teams?
So we can see four teams from one conference in the BCS? :eek:
5 conference champions and three wild cards
Sorry meant Big10 champs
I’d go for 6 conference champs (top ranked mid major) and 2 wild cards
4 of the Top 6 in the BCS Standings are B1G. and only one of them can lose this week.
Do you want conference representation, or do you want what most fans consider the 8 best teams?
Because most years, it’s not going to be identical. One team (or teams) are going to get snubbed no matter how many teams are in the “playoffs”.
Why is it that NCAA football is the ONLY sport I’m aware of where a conference champion doesn’t go to the playoff but an also-run does.
Second, I don’t trust the committee to pick the best teams. Their standards change from team to team and week to week. If it is about the 4 best teams then why isn’t USC considered? They’re one of the best teams right now. Why is Washington’s loss to USC held against them but Michigan’s loss to Iowa isn’t?
IMO: Short Answer: Right Wrong or indifferent, Football is much different than any other sport.
Longer Answer: Just about all other NCAA sports have a conference Tournament championship that involves every team in the conference. Basketball, Baseball, Softball and the other mainstream sports all have tournaments to determine their champion. Games can be with no off days, and in some cases on the same day.
Thoughts on the Div I - FBS:
Alabama is clearly in, and is going to win the whole thing without seriously being challenged this year. They could probably beat the Carolina Panthers; they certainly could beat the Cleveland Browns.
I personally believe that conference champions should receive priority over “wild card” entries. But with four spots available, and a limited number of games to prove your ability (12, +1 championship game if you get in one), it’s going to remain a subjective selection. Penn State proved on the field they deserve to advance over Ohio St., and they did, right to the BiG Championship game. Sadly, that’s as far as it gets them.
Clemson showed tonight that they are seriously over-ranked. They’ve showed that most of the season, and no one seems to care in either the polls or the selection committee. They lost to Pitt (any love for the team that beat BOTH Clemson AND Penn State this season??), barely scraped by NC State (a poor team this season), Louisville (also an over-hyped team), and Troy, of all teams. Tonight, they only barely out-lasted Va Tech. I, personally, think Michigan is a better team than Clemson. But since they came in as one of the top four, and didn’t lose, they’ll go. They should go as #4, in my opinion, but I bet they go as #3, and get knocked out by Ohio St.
Washington, as usual for the Left Coast, gets no love. Of course, that’s what happens when you when you blow most of your opponents out of the water, lose only one game to a very good, and under-rated USC, but play after everyone on the East Coast has gone to bed. They are easily the #3 team of the four going to the playoffs. But they’ll be #4, and get knocked out by Alabama first. My prediction is that they will make it a close game, in a shootout.
Which leaves THE Ohio State University to kick Clemson out, and then have a chance to prove that the 2015 Sugar Bowl was no fluke. THAT game will be VERY interesting, I expect. I also expect Alabama to win it.
The Browns would destroy Alabama.
Thoughts on the Div I - FCS Playoffs:
We’re already two rounds done today. Teams ranked 3, 6 and 7, all of whom had byes the first round, are gone after one game (sad to see The Citadel go down, but happy to see Wofford be the ones to win and go through!). Predictions from here are:
North Dakota St. will knock off South Dakota State, thus winning the “Frozen North” title (North Dakota already knocked out. They will then play the winner of the toss-up between James Madison and Sam Houston St., and will win that game, to make the final.
In the other half, I think Youngstown St. beats Wofford, in the matchup of unseededs. Eastern Washington will brush off the game challenge of the Richmond Spiders. Eastern Washington will then roll over Youngstown St.
In the final between North Dakota St. and Eastern Washington, I predict an upset, with the Eagles taking it all.
That is ridiculous.
Thoughts on the Div II playoffs:
These are already done with three rounds. Semifinals on Dec. 10, final on the 17th.
Northwest Missouri St. is the odds-on favorite to win it all for the third time in four years. They play a very good Ferris St. (Big Rapids, Michigan), which has been dominating so far, including in today’s win against perennially good team Grand Valley St. So I don’t think that’s a gimme; could be an upset for Ferris St.
North Alabama plays Shepherd in the other semifinal. I don’t think that Shepherd are going back to their second straight final game.
The winner of the first game will beat North Alabama, I predict.
My goodness. Do y’all really need smilies or emoticons to recognize tongue-in-cheek hyperbole? If so, it’s a sad state of affairs. :rolleyes:
Thoughts on the Div III playoffs:
This could be the first year since 2004 (!) that neither Mount Union nor Wisconsin-Whitewater play in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. Those two teams have been the finalists 9 of the last 11 bowls, and both times they weren’t, Mount Union was there against someone else (St. Thomas of Minnesota last year). But Wisc.-Whitewater are already out, losing today to John Carroll, and while Mount Union is still in (big winners today against Alfred), they (gasp!) actually lost a game this year, which makes them quite suspect as eventual champions. They play Mary Hardin-Baylor in the semifinal, and I won’t predict them to lose, but it wouldn’t shock me.
The other semifinal involves the team that knocked out St. Thomas of Minnesota (Wisconsin-Oshkosh, B’gosh!), and the team that knocked out Wisc.-Whitewater (John Carroll). That’s a toss-up in my opinion; both teams lost once in the season, neither team is dominating its playoff games, and neither team was the top seed in their bracket. I’d probably give Wisc.-Oshkosh the nod; they did beat the perennial second-favorites after all.
If Mount Union wins the semi, it will win the final. If it doesn’t, I think the team that wins the other semi will win it all.
Well… there are people who actually think that.
Of course it’s hyperbole.
But how far back would you have to go for it to be true? For example, could this year’s Bama team beat the 1981 Niners? Or the 1972 Dolphins? I would bet on Bama against the 1969 Jets, and give points to any of Lombardi’s championship teams.
They may not have a Joe Montana, or even a Bart Starr, but at some point, having a line that outweighs their opponents by well over 50 pounds a man, while still much faster and stronger, has to tip the balance.
What’s the best NFL team of the past that Bama could beat?
Past success (or lack thereof) of conference winners probably weighs heavily on the minds of the committee, which is understandable to some degree. One reason why Oklahoma was hardly ever considered despite being the best team from the Big 12, for instance, is the fact that OU has just not looked good in big games in recent years. Sure there have been exceptions like their defeat of Alabama in the 2013-14 Sugar Bowl, but they have repeatedly let the pollsters down at the end of the year.
I think that’s one reason why people are skeptical of Washington, especially against Alabama – the Oregon Ducks, arguably the class of the conference the past decade, got beat up by Ohio State in the Rose Bowl (2009-10) and CFP title game (2014-15), and were defeated against Auburn in the BCS title game (2010-11) and lost to LSU in the regular season opener (2011). I’m not saying it’s valid but that’s probably the bias working against the Pac 12 teams (save USC). The perception is that West Coast football is soft and can’t stand up to well-rounded teams that play hard-nosed football, particularly teams that have recruiting depth like Alabama or Ohio State.