The Myth of the Marquee Matchup

When the College Football Playoff was created, many folks claimed that it would lead to better in-season matchups between top teams, because teams would be willing to take the risk to increase their strength of schedule.  However, as we have gone through multiple seasons, the committee has made it clear that the top criteria they look at is number of losses.  I thought I would take a look at the teams that made the CFP or just missed it, and see if a slight change of schedule would have affected their ability to be selected.

Case Study: Power 5 Schedules

With discussions of conference vs. conference and winning percentages, I wanted to take a look at how different teams and different conferences create their schedules.  For example, Alabama has a good record against other Power 5 teams over the last few years, but a closer look at their schedule shows that they haven't played a Power 5 team out-of-conference outside of a neutral site game in at least 6 years.

Sit back, this is a long one with a lot of numbers.

Analyzing the predictions

Now that we are done with the regular season and the bowls are set, let's see how we (well, just me) did with our predictions for the season.

2017 Championship Week: Final Predictions

We’ve made it to Championship Week! And what a treat we have the next few days!

2017 Season: Post-November Thoughts and Championship Look-Ahead

It's Championship Week already? With each passing year, it seems we get to this point sooner and sooner!

Week 13 wrap up

All of the championship games have been set.  Only three of them are regular season rematches.

#CFB - Thanksgiving weekend UVA sucks edition

The first sign of the beginning of the holiday season is Santa Claus rolling through Harold Square.  The second sign is the Hokies beating UVA.

ACC Coastal did it too!

ACC rooting guide: week 13

Who are Hokies rooting for during the final week to maximize the bowl jackpot?

What to watch: Week 13

It's rivalry weekend, so there's a lot on the line here, even if only a handful of games are going to shape the postseason.

Friday, November 24
Noon
Baylor at TCU, FS1.  If TCU wins, they clinch a spot in the Big 12 title game.

8 PM
#24 VT at UVA, ESPN.  It's the annual clash for the Commonwealth Cup, which has resided in Blacksburg since Thanksgiving weekend of 2004.

Saturday, November 25
Noon
#9 Ohio State at Michigan, FOX.  Nothing on the line here for conference purposes, but how could we leave The Game off the list?  An Ohio State loss would shake up the CFP standings, though.

3:30 PM
#1 Alabama at #6 Auburn, CBS.  The Iron Bowl has the SEC West and the Championship of Life on the line.

Iowa State at Kansas State, ESPN2.  This game only matters if TCU loses on Friday, as Iowa State could clinch a Big 12 title game spot with a win.


3:45 PM
WVU at #4 Oklahoma, ESPN.  Oklahoma has already clinched a spot in the Big 12 title game.  WVU could clinch if they win here, plus Iowa State wins, and TCU loses, and maybe some other stuff.  Not really likely though.  At the very least, WVU could play spoiler for the entire conference in the CFP race.

8 PM
#13 Washington State at #17 Washington, FOX.  The Apple Cup holds the key for the Pac-12 North.  A Washington State win clinches the division for them, while a loss would send Stanford to the conference championship game.