Final thoughts on this year's Playoff

Quick thoughts on the teams in, and just out of the CFP.

1.) Alabama -- After it was all said and done, they clearly had the weakest justifications for being in the CFP.  I had a feeling that they would have to lose a game at some point, but I could never bring myself to pick the next game as being the loss.  Also, their main reason for being included was the lack of any good reason to not include them.

2.) Oregon -- Every other year, their sheer arrogance would bite them in the butt before the postseason.  Now, it might just be a case that it doesn't matter how many games it takes to win a national championship, it's always going to be one too many for the Ducks.

3.) Florida State -- You couldn't leave the only undefeated Power 5 team out of the playoffs.  That being said, I think if they were only 12-1 at the end of the season, they would not have made the cut.

4.) Ohio State -- Obviously the committee made the right choice here.  I don't care if it was their 12th or 13th game, but they beat Wisconsin 59-0 in their conference championship game with a third string quarterback.

5.) Baylor -- And that is why you don't lose to the couch burning cousins.  (Although I think if it's a toss up between Ohio State and Baylor, Ohio State lost to Virginia Tech while Baylor lost to West Virginia.  VT > WVU, so Ohio State wins.)

6.) TCU -- It would have been fun to see these guys in, but their biggest stumbling block was not Ohio State or the Big 12's inability to follow the rules and declare a champion.  It was the fact that they lost to Baylor, another team that ended at 11-1.  If they had lost any other game on their schedule, or if Baylor had lost an additional game, then maybe there could be an argument.  The biggest mistake that the committee made was ranking TCU #3 in the penultimate poll, because that made all of the perceptions worse the following week.

What would the BCS have given us this year?

What if the CFP hadn't come into existence and we were still watching the BCS?  I've gone through and come up with what I feel are the most likely bowl matchups.  I'm basing my rankings off of the AP Poll, which I feel is much closer to what the BCS formula would have determined rather than the CFP poll.  I'm also keeping with the current rule of the Power 5 conferences, thus determining that the American (formerly Big East) would have been bumped out of the AQ this season regardless of the playoff.  This also means that the bowls probably aren't playing hot potato with the conference champ without a guaranteed home.

More Analogies: CFB Edition

After a lengthy, albeit fun, comparison of Florida State to "Star Wars", I thought I'd give a handful of bite-size comparisons of other elements of this college football bowl season.  As with my "Under the Radar" posts throughout the season, I'll present five to you.

Something needs to change for the Big 12

We knew it was going to happen.  When there are 5 power conferences, and only 4 playoff spots, one conference is going to be left out.

This year, it happened to the Big 12.  However, the Big 12 brought it upon themselves.

At the end of the season, they had two teams at 11-1.  Baylor (who lost to WVU), and TCU (who lost to Baylor).

But because the Big 12 only has 10 teams, they do not have a conference championship game.  They claim they have the advantage because all of their teams play each other, since they do play 9 conference games.

Fair enough, but then you need to have the balls to follow your own rules and declare a champion.  Instead, the Big 12 declined to name Baylor the conference champion (since they did beat the other 1 loss team), deciding that such a responsibility belonged to the playoff committee.

Instead, the playoff committee left the Big 12 out of the CFP completely.

At this point, the Big 12 needs to find two more teams to get back to match their own name.  I know that the picking are slim at this point, because there probably aren't two Power 5 worthy teams out there.  But, this is where money wins out.

If I'm doing my math correctly, adding two teams to the conference and keeping a 9 conference game schedule, it would add 9 extra conference games.  Plus, between the two teams, they would have anywhere from 3-6 non-conference home games per year.  So, that's at least 12-15 extra games the Big 12 would have in their TV package.

Plus, the big moneymaker -- the championship game.

Ultimately, they need the championship game to get back on the same level as the other Power 5 conferences.

Playoff: Initial Thoughts

The day that we've been waiting for since September is finally here.  The CFP committee has revealed the four playoff teams:  Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, and Ohio State.  While I (mostly) agree with the teams, I don't agree with the seeding.

First of all, I would have put FSU at #1.  At 13-0, they are the only undefeated team in the FBS.  I don't care about style points, they won.

After that, I think it is a very close margin between the remaining teams.  So, I don't put a lot of stock into the rest of the seeding, because part of it is geography.  Going with that, I would have seeded the teams as follows:  Oregon #2, Ohio State #3, and Alabama #4.

That way, we get Oregon and Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, keeping those bowl organizers happy, because it leaves the Pac-12/Big Ten matchup intact.  Then, we get FSU and Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

As it stands, we have Oregon "hosting" Florida State in the Rose Bowl, and Alabama "hosting" Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.  Not the worst matchups, considering FSU was in Pasadena last year for the National Championship game.

I have reasons to want to root for three of the four teams in the CFP.  Obviously, I'm sick of the Alabama and SEC love fest, so I hope they lose.  Florida State winning will help benefit Virginia Tech, both for conference respect and also conference payout.  The ACC shares their bowl revenue, which might include both rounds of the playoffs.  Meanwhile, the talking heads at ESPN keep saying Ohio State has the "worst" loss of the one-loss teams.  Personally, I feel they have the best loss.  Plus, it would give VT a boost as they are that one loss.

Finally, I would not mind seeing Oregon succeeding.  They, along with schools like Virginia Tech, TCU, and Baylor, are in that second tier of colleges that haven't been traditional powers, but have really developed their programs in the last two decades.  And while some of them (Oregon and VT) have reached national championship games, none have won.

So as long as Alabama loses, I think we're in for a good national championship.

I'll detail my thoughts in another post regarding the two teams on the cusp that were left out, and what it means for their conference.

Games to Watch: Week 15

It's championship week!  The final pieces of the Playoff will fall into place.

Florida State: College Football’s Sith?

In honor of the new “Star Wars” previews, I thought I’d combine one of my favorite movie series with a post about college football.  As you could guess from the title, I thought I’d take a look at the “dark side of the force”.

2014 Season Thoughts: End of November

A great two-day stretch of rivalry games and important matchups!  Much was solidified (conference races, Group of 5 frontrunner), while some questions still remain for another week.

Week 14 full wrap-up

This is the clearest wrap up yet, as all but one conference is decided.

After all of the scenarios and destiny controlling, every team that made it into a conference championship got there by having the best record in their division.

ACC Championship: Florida State (8-0, Atlantic) vs. Georgia Tech (6-2, Coastal)

Bowl eligible:  Florida State, Duke, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Boston College, Miami, NC State, UNC, Virginia Tech, Pitt
No bowl:  Wake Forest, Syracuse, UVA

Notre Dame is also bowl eligible and qualifies for the ACC bowl rotation.

SEC Championship:  Missouri (7-1, East) vs. Alabama (7-1, West)

Bowl eligible:  Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Missouri, Texas A&M, Florida, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee
No bowl:  Vanderbilt, Kentucky

B1G Championship:  Ohio State (8-0, East) vs. Wisconsin (7-1, West)

Bowl eligible: Michigan State, Nebraska, Minnesota, Ohio State, Maryland, Iowa, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Penn State, Illinois
No bowl:  Purdue, Indiana, Michigan, Northwestern

Pac-12 championship:  Oregon (7-1, North) vs. Arizona (7-2, South)

Bowl eligible:  Oregon, Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, UCLA, USC, Stanford, Washington
No bowl:  Washington State, Colorado, Oregon State, California

Big 12 Roulette:  Week 14

Due to the lack of divisions, the Big 12 can have co-champions.  Only three teams remain that can claim at least part of a championship.  If TCU loses next week, then the winner of the Baylor/Kansas State game will be the clear champion.  If TCU wins, then they will share the championship with the winner of Baylor/K-State.

-Baylor (7-1) has a tiebreaker over TCU.  Remaining game:  Kansas State.
-TCU (7-1) lost to Baylor, but has a tiebreaker over K-State.  Remaining game:  Iowa State. 
-Kansas State (7-1) lost to TCU.  Remaining game:  Baylor.

Bowl eligible:  Kansas State, TCU, Baylor, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Texas
Last chance:  Oklahoma State
No bowl:  Iowa State, Texas Tech, Kansas

Week 14: Black Friday update

It's definitely the Christmas season, as the Hokies are victorious and the Wahoos are boo hooing.  Part 1 of the Week 14 update.