Studying for and taking final exams. Spending (some of) the holidays with their families.
I’ve always hated a playoff as well. Where are these playoff games going to be played? Neutral site? I’m sure the Boise State/Alabama semi final playoff game will sell a lot of tickets in Indianapolis. Home field advantage? Sure, send Alabama to play in Boise in December.
I’m pretty sure my plan would have eliminated any controversy in all of these cases, preserved the traditional bowl system for the most part, and only added 1 more game for 2 teams.
Why do college football players get privileges college basketball players don’t? College basketball players only have off Dec. 24-26. They seem to make it all work. I’m pretty sure football players, given the chance, would rather play for a title and somehow study for finals and see their families.
2004 and 2007 have 3 and 4 teams with legitimate gripes after bowl games. A plus 1 isn’t going to work in either case.
I am pretty sure there would be controversy no matter what plan is in effect.
Despite what a someone believes, a one loss team is who slighted (Ohio State, Wisconsin, Mich State) will be just as miffed as zero loss team (TCU).
And I can say it without insulting anyone.
You know this isn’t about appeasing anyone, right? It’s about making sure that every team has a shot. A one loss Big Ten team had a shot and blew it. An undefeated TCU never had a shot.
CBB players play all their games inside.
In a proposed playoff, you might be asking*** unpaid*** football players to play in sub or near freezing temperatures in snow, and or rain.
Think what temperatures might be like in late December in places like:
Madison, Ann Arbor, South Bend, Boston, Lincoln.
So, since there is already a play-off structure in place, expanding to a 16-team play-off, giving other deserving schools a chance to play for the title, is no big deal. Just like they expanded the play-offs in every other major American sports leagues, relatively recently (NHL, NBA [games, not teams], MLB, NFL, NCAA Basketball).
And I don’t care. My parents taught me that life is not fair all the time. TCU players, coaches, fans, and other personnel know that their backs are up against the wall. They got to get lucky.
Play-off games will be played at neutral sites; either indoors at the Georgia Dome as is done for the SEC Championship, or in warm(er) climates like Pasadena for the Rose Bowl and Tempe for the Fiesta Bowl. Even if teams hosted play-off games, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind playing in inclement weather for a chance at the title. That’s the nature of the sport.
Anyway, OldGuy’s post was about studying for finals and visiting family during the holidays.
So you going to make the highly seeded teams from the Great White North travels hundreds if not thousands of miles to go the games?
Oregon vs Wisconsin in Jerry’s House. Hmmm, I wonder how many tickets that will sell? Fans would have to invest a couple thousand dollars to go to the game. Between travel, lodging, food, and the tickets. And then if they win, they got to do it again. Right in the middle of Holiday Season.
Could’ve just said that from the start and I’d have known to ignore you.
Not getting paid isn’t fair? I don’t care!
Having to travel isn’t fair? I don’t care!
Playing in the cold isn’t fair? I don’t care!
Jeez, this is fun.
Isn’t that merely a continuation of the regular season?
I’d bet every player and coach on teams like Wisconsin and Ohio St. would give up several body parts (individually) to assure that happens. Heck, Auburn will likely be doing that anyway; and the BCS subdivision teams do it.
I think Snarky is being a bit of a jerk in this thread, but I think you’re being the bigger one. You don’t care if a competition is fair? Really? Well hell, why don’t we just throw some Little Leaguers into the World Series with the Yankees? They gots to learn, right?
No. Sporting events should be unfailingly, meticulously fair, or they mean nothing, and there’s no reason to watch.
And for the record, I’m on board with a 16-team playoff. This would include any unbeatens, all the 1-loss teams (in most circumstances), and create a competitive bubble for the 2-loss teams. I know there’d be endless debate about who belongs on the bubble, but there’s always debate. And I’d rather potentially hurt a 2-loss team’s feelings than leave out an unbeaten, which is what we are perennially stuck with now.
I mainly talking about the fans, not the players.
Regular season schedules are known months ahead of time. Long enough for fans to schedule vacations and cheaper plane tickets. A theoretical game quarterfinal between Wisconsin and Oregon in a neutral warm weather site (like the Ga Dome) is going to struggle to sell many tickets.
Excluding 1 and 2, the rest of the top 16 college football teams (those who have absolutely no chance to even play for the title) have a collective 145-22 (.868) record. I think the far, far greater consideration, over travel, weather, fans, and cost, is giving these obviously deserving teams a chance at the title.
Everyone is screaming that there should be a playoff. There is a playoff. An just about any year, unless the perfect storm happens, there is going to be teams that think they ought to be involved in the playoff over other teams that are playing in the playoff.
What makes Stanford more worthy than any of the three Big 10 teams? (in a 4 team playoff).
People think that expanding the number of teams is going to fix the problem. That’s naive. Teams are going to get left out and people are going to be ticked about it.
If Oregon or Auburn loses next week, TCU will have their shot. And I am OK with that, too.
But whatever you think, I haven’t called anyone names. These are my opinions, FWIW.