Goodbye 2020: College Football Edition

 A phrase many people enjoyed shouting a few weeks ago: Goodbye 2020!  And with the National Championship a week and a half behind us, we can say the same thing for the college football season (though not necessarily with as much sheer joy).

For months leading into September, the biggest question was whether or not there would be a season. 

• It was clear that the Big Ten and PAC-12 led the charge against it; the MAC and Mountain West were in line.  
• But the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 led the charge FOR it, with the Sun Belt, American, and Conference USA joining those ranks.
• Once it became clear that there would be a season, and the availability of daily tests became more commonplace, the 4 initial dissenters reversed course, and held abbreviated seasons after all.

This led to different arguments throughout the season. 

1. Should a lower number of games hurt a team in the rankings? 
2. Should Group of 5 teams be given more consideration, given the lack of (or seriously-reduced) non-conference play?  
3. Should this season just be seen as a big anomaly, where nothing truly matters?

The ultimate answer to all three questions was "kinda."  

Number of Games

Ohio State made the CFP with fewer games played, than 5th-ranked Texas A&M had as its active winning streak. But the undefeated Buckeyes were slotted behind 1-loss Clemson.  1-loss Indiana was also kept out of the New Year's Six altogether, in favor of 3-loss Iowa State. The PAC-12 was also an afterthought in the rankings, with Conference Champ 4-2 Oregon barely in there at #25.

Not that it prevented Ohio State from hammering Clemson en route to the Championship Game, where Alabama in turn did the hammering and in turn netted Nick Saban his 2nd undefeated National Title with the Tide (6th National Title total with the Tide; and 7th overall thanks to 2003 LSU).

Group of 5

A greater number of G5 teams were ranked throughout the season - especially with the pre-CFP AP Polls. The American and Sun Belt were unquestionably the two strongest, with a variety of ranked teams throughout the season (Tulsa, UCF, Cincy, Memphis, SMU;  App State, Louisiana, Coastal Carolina). 

Independents Army, BYU, and Liberty all made appearances in the AP Poll at one point or another (the latter two finishing 11 and 17). But BYU was the only one able to make it into the CFP Rankings.

And though Cincy was able to climb as high as #7 in the first CFP rankings, that proved to be their peak. So while various conferences were better-represented throughout the season, it really didn't translate into any serious CFP discussion.

Anomaly

So, now that it is all said and done, does the 2020 season have an asterisk? And can teams just wipe it away, without any lessons learned?

It was different. There were fewer games. And VERY few non-conference games of consequence. Games were postponed, cancelled, and in one case, scheduled on the fly (that BYU-Coastal game proving to be an all-timer, and truly a sign of the season we had). Some bowl games were cancelled, and the idea of "bowl eligibility" was simply a matter of team willingness (except Army...but at least a path opened up for them to play a bowl anyway).

But we did get a season. From Labor Day Weekend, until the Championship Game. 9 of the 10 Conference Title Games were played (though I still think it's a shame that the Sun Belt had to cancel theirs). Some thrillers, some upsets, but a lot of Fowler/Herbie blowouts.  

All of the NY6 games were played as scheduled. As was the Championship Game itself.  All four CFP participants had been there before. Including 3 of the 4 programs who had won at least one Title Game. And in typical CFP fashion, we had some blowouts. So in a way, as the calendar turned to 2021, we got a bit of a return to normal!

Some of the teams least expected to step up did so - and big time!  

• Indiana and Coastal Carolina were just a hair away from NY6 at-large berths, and had just one loss combined going into the bowls (just don't ask them about their bowl results). 
• Notre Dame - a one-year conference member - knocked off a #1 team (just don't ask them about the rematch)!  
• Northwestern finished as a Top 10 team (just don't ask them about Michigan State)!

Some teams...well, they might like to forget about 2020.  

• Penn State, Michigan, and Virginia Tech all seem to fall into this category. All three, which have seen much better days, seemed to take their losing seasons in stride and focus on the future.

While others DID take something away from the season, and fired their head coaches.

• South Carolina, Auburn, Illinois, Arizona, Vanderbilt (mediocre or worse)...and Texas (Top 20 and with a blowout win in its bowl game).

So all in all, even though there's a story to the season, I see no reason why it "doesn't count."  We all lived through it - and if you're reading this, then that means we all GOT through it!

And as we head into this off-season, I look forward to some speculative posts in the weeks and months to come.  Including some alternate NY6 teams over these past 7 years, had the rotation been just a little different. Should be fun!