Sugar Bowl shows why an expanded playoff is a winning idea

[QuaoarsKing]

Under a 4 team format, you really couldn't put Baylor in there with 2 losses compared to Cincinnati's 0 and Michigan's 1, but Baylor is one of the 4 best and most impressive teams in the country, and would have made it to the semifinal round to at least give Alabama or Georgia a real game.

Oh noes, Baylor had 2 losses!!!! Yes, they did. They were unlucky to be as bad as 10-2. A whole lot of football comes down to luck, and Baylor was on the bad side of it this year. It's OK for a team to drop a game and still win a championship if they prove it on the field.

"But Q, Baylor's regular season would have been meeeeninglez if Baylor were allowed to play for the national title despite being 10-2!" Uh no, it would have meant a whole lot more. In the real world, Baylor was playing for a funzie participation trophy the second they lost a close one to TCU (Nov. 6). Under the BCS, it would have been over on Oct. 2. Under an expanded playoff, Baylor fans would have been engaged all seasons, like half the P5 fanbases in the country.

Or maybe I'm full of **** and actually it's Ohio State and Oklahoma State that would have played their way into the semifinals. It would have been awesome to find out.

 

[Dawgg]

I’d argue that neither of these teams deserve to be in a position where they could win a national championship.

 

[FlotownDawg]

That Baylor defense is elite though. Would have loved to see how they would have performed against Alabama. Alas, they lost to a bad TCU team, which knocked them out of playoff contention.

 

[mcdawg22]

It’s one game. Auburn took Bama to the wire, do they need to be in there?

 

[QuaoarsKing]

I’d argue that neither of these teams deserve to be in a position where they could win a national championship.

America deserved to see them play for it, just like the rest of the teams in the top 20-30. Sports are supposed to be fun for the viewer.

 

[onewoof]

The Baylor QB rating must be negative. No way.

 

[Bill Shankly]

Bama and Georgia have clearly been the best teams all year. The correct two are in the final.

 

[QuaoarsKing]

Bama and Georgia have clearly been the best teams all year. The correct two are in the final.

As has been said SOOOOOO many times here, it's not merely about the destination, but the journey to get there.

How lame would the NCAA basketball tournament be if we just slotted the 1 seeds straight into the Final 4?

 

[OliveBranchDAWG]

Baylor is not one of the 4 best teams in the country? I don’t think many people believe this outside of Baylor fans. The 4 best teams are UGA, Bama, Michigan, Ohio State

 

[QuaoarsKing]

Baylor is not one of the 4 best teams in the country? I don’t think many people believe this outside of Baylor fans. The 4 best teams are UGA, Bama, Michigan, Ohio State

Too bad we'll never really know

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In a future year, we'll have a larger playoff to sort all that out, and have a hell of an amazing ride watching it fold out every December.

 

[BigDawg0074]

It’s one game. Auburn took Bama to the wire, do they need to be in there?

They lost six games.

 

[OliveBranchDAWG]

Too bad we'll never really know

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In a future year, we'll have a larger playoff to sort all that out, and have a hell of an amazing ride watching it fold out every December.

I don’t really get the constant complaining and criticizing of the current system. It does it’s job and gets the two best teams playing for the national title (UGA & Bama). So why do we need to expand it?

I’ll add, I’m not completely against expanding but just pointing out this current system works.

 

[Puppychow]

Don’t we have enough sports that are playoff-centric? College football has always been about the regular season with each game being must-win football. To me that makes the games so exciting. Having an expanded playoff does enable more teams to battle for the title, but it kills the intrigue of the big regular season games. I think four teams is plenty and it doesn’t diminish the regular season. Just my take.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Under a 4 team format, you really couldn't put Baylor in there with 2 losses compared to Cincinnati's 0 and Michigan's 1, but Baylor is one of the 4 best and most impressive teams in the country, and would have made it to the semifinal round to at least give Alabama or Georgia a real game.

Oh noes, Baylor had 2 losses!!!! Yes, they did. They were unlucky to be as bad as 10-2. A whole lot of football comes down to luck, and Baylor was on the bad side of it this year. It's OK for a team to drop a game and still win a championship if they prove it on the field.

"But Q, Baylor's regular season would have been meeeeninglez if Baylor were allowed to play for the national title despite being 10-2!" Uh no, it would have meant a whole lot more. In the real world, Baylor was playing for a funzie participation trophy the second they lost a close one to TCU (Nov. 6). Under the BCS, it would have been over on Oct. 2. Under an expanded playoff, Baylor fans would have been engaged all seasons, like half the P5 fanbases in the country.

Or maybe I'm full of **** and actually it's Ohio State and Oklahoma State that would have played their way into the semifinals. It would have been awesome to find out.

Just hang on the people will be around to tell you why you're wrong and just a moment.

We appreciate your patience and your business.

 

[OliveBranchDAWG]

Don’t we have enough sports that are playoff-centric? College football has always been about the regular season with each game being must-win football. To me that makes the games so exciting. Having an expanded playoff does enable more teams to battle for the title, but it kills the intrigue of the big regular season games. I think four teams is plenty and it doesn’t diminish the regular season. Just my take.

THIS

 

[QuaoarsKing]

Don’t we have enough sports that are playoff-centric? College football has always been about the regular season with each game being must-win football. To me that makes the games so exciting. Having an expanded playoff does enable more teams to battle for the title, but it kills the intrigue of the big regular season games. I think four teams is plenty and it doesn’t diminish the regular season. Just my take.

A 24 team playoff makes the regular season better, not worse.

Nobody cared about Texas A&M-LSU, least of all the A&M players, but under a 24-team playoff, A&M blew their spot in the playoffs and it suddenly means a lot. November is full of games like that. Even games between 2 teams already in have a lot on the line because seeding makes a difference with homefield advantage

 

[xxxWalkTheDawg]

Under a 4 team format, you really couldn't put Baylor in there with 2 losses compared to Cincinnati's 0 and Michigan's 1, but Baylor is one of the 4 best and most impressive teams in the country, and would have made it to the semifinal round to at least give Alabama or Georgia a real game.

Oh noes, Baylor had 2 losses!!!! Yes, they did. They were unlucky to be as bad as 10-2. A whole lot of football comes down to luck, and Baylor was on the bad side of it this year. It's OK for a team to drop a game and still win a championship if they prove it on the field.

"But Q, Baylor's regular season would have been meeeeninglez if Baylor were allowed to play for the national title despite being 10-2!" Uh no, it would have meant a whole lot more. In the real world, Baylor was playing for a funzie participation trophy the second they lost a close one to TCU (Nov. 6). Under the BCS, it would have been over on Oct. 2. Under an expanded playoff, Baylor fans would have been engaged all seasons, like half the P5 fanbases in the country.

Or maybe I'm full of **** and actually it's Ohio State and Oklahoma State that would have played their way into the semifinals. It would have been awesome to find out.

Ok. I’ll play.

How do we do this? Shorten the regular season? That takes ticket revenue away from schools. Plus the nearby fans get to see less football in person at home.

keep the season the same? Are we playing football into February?

What if a team is absolutely dominant through the season…. And then that team loses a Heisman contending running back or quarterback against the 24th ranked team with a coach like Matt Luke who has players gunning for injuries? That taints the playoff. Everyone knew that team would be in the final… but that game against a team who was a poser wrecks the whole thing. Then the semifinals and finals are blowouts. “Well if only team x hadn’t had their best players injured against poser U!”

what about the fans? Not everyone can take the month of December and January to follow the team around in the playoff. Fan support is going to be abysmal either on the front end or the back end for many teams. If Mississippi State won the Birmingham Bowl one weekend… you going to Charlotte to watch them in that bowl the next weekend? Then to Orlando the next? Can you imagine the hotel booking quagmire?? Same situation if the games were played at the highest seed team.

Baseball and basketball are different. You can’t play multiple football games a week. And you need breaks.

look. Baylor wasn’t included. Tough. They weren’t beating Alabama anyway. Michigan did belong over them. No question.

you cannot look at Georgia, Alabama, and Michigan and say “Damn! Baylor could have won it all!” Nope. No they wouldn’t have.

 

[Cooterpoot]

Ok. I’ll play.

How do we do this? Shorten the regular season? That takes ticket revenue away from schools. Plus the nearby fans get to see less football in person at home.

keep the season the same? Are we playing football into February?

What if a team is absolutely dominant through the season…. And then that team loses a Heisman contending running back or quarterback against the 24th ranked team with a coach like Matt Luke who has players gunning for injuries? That taints the playoff. Everyone knew that team would be in the final… but that game against a team who was a poser wrecks the whole thing. Then the semifinals and finals are blowouts. “Well if only team x hadn’t had their best players injured against poser U!”

what about the fans? Not everyone can take the month of December and January to follow the team around in the playoff. Fan support is going to be abysmal either on the front end or the back end for many teams. If Mississippi State won the Birmingham Bowl one weekend… you going to Charlotte to watch them in that bowl the next weekend? Then to Orlando the next? Can you imagine the hotel booking quagmire?? Same situation if the games were played at the highest seed team.

Baseball and basketball are different. You can’t play multiple football games a week. And you need breaks.

look. Baylor wasn’t included. Tough. They weren’t beating Alabama anyway. Michigan did belong over them. No question.

you cannot look at Georgia, Alabama, and Michigan and say “Damn! Baylor could have won it all!” Nope. No they wouldn’t have.

They're looking to move the games to campuses. It's no different than regular season. Have you really never seen what the lower levels do? They've had playoffs forever.

 

[PBRME]

Last night Baylor looked like a slightly better version of the 2007 Bulldogs. All defense and an inept offense. It was a hard game to watch.

They wouldn’t score against Bama or GA unless the defense scored.

 

[mcdawg22]

They lost six games.

I’m aware. My point is the OP is watching this game and projecting that Baylor is a top 5 team based on their performance in one game. Here’s an idea. If you want to play in the championship, don’t lose to a 5-7 team.

 

[Smoked Toag]

Don’t we have enough sports that are playoff-centric? College football has always been about the regular season with each game being must-win football. To me that makes the games so exciting. Having an expanded playoff does enable more teams to battle for the title, but it kills the intrigue of the big regular season games. I think four teams is plenty and it doesn’t diminish the regular season. Just my take.

Most people would say this is why we need to do it, and that college football is the idiot by being the outlier.

 

[Smoked Toag]

I don’t really get the constant complaining and criticizing of the current system. It does it’s job and gets the two best teams playing for the national title (UGA & Bama). So why do we need to expand it?

I’ll add, I’m not completely against expanding but just pointing out this current system works.

It gives us a champion but the sport has stagnated. People simply do not care as much because their team has no shot, and Bama Fatigue has set in.

 

[ThreeDawgNight]

I do not agree that Baylor is one of the top four teams in the country.

I do agree that an expanded playoff would make both the regular season and the postseason more interesting. For one thing, you'd see a lot fewer opt-outs, at least from the better players on the better teams (not just the top four).

I like the proposed 12-team format, with the top 4 seeds getting a first-round bye, and 5-12 playing on-campus first-round games. This year, it would have looked like:

9 Oklahoma State @ 8 Mississippi (winner plays 1 Alabama)
12 Pittsburgh @ 5 Notre Dame (winner plays 4 Cincinnati)
10 Michigan State @ 7 Baylor (winner plays 3 Michigan)
11 Utah @ 6 Ohio State (winner plays 2 Georgia)

The first round would start the week after conference championships (maybe have a bye week) and still have the Championship game the first or second week of January. Play the remaining games at the current New-Years Bowls sites.

Tell me that wouldn't be a great lineup of games. Plus, you get another week of on-campus games (which, in my opinion, is a better atmosphere than the bowls).

 

[thatsbaseball]

There may be some reasons for expanded playoffs but that Sugar bowl last night wasn't in the top 1000.

 

[QuaoarsKing]

All of this has been covered before. It would start the week after the regular season. It would be at home sites until at least the semifinals. Your criticisms are stale and non-existent.

If #1 loses early because of injury or another reason, that's sports. It happens in the basketball and baseball tournaments.

 

[Dawgzilla]

America deserved to see them play for it, just like the rest of the teams in the top 20-30. Sports are supposed to be fun for the viewer.

ESPN pays almost $500 Million per year to air three playoff games. That is more than they pay for an entire season of SEC games. I think someone is having fun.

 

[QuaoarsKing]

I do not agree that Baylor is one of the top four teams in the country.

I do agree that an expanded playoff would make both the regular season and the postseason more interesting. For one thing, you'd see a lot fewer opt-outs, at least from the better players on the better teams (not just the top four).

I like the proposed 12-team format, with the top 4 seeds getting a first-round bye, and 5-12 playing on-campus first-round games. This year, it would have looked like:

9 Oklahoma State @ 8 Mississippi (winner plays 1 Alabama)
12 Pittsburgh @ 5 Notre Dame (winner plays 4 Cincinnati)
10 Michigan State @ 7 Baylor (winner plays 3 Michigan)
11 Utah @ 6 Ohio State (winner plays 2 Georgia)

The first round would start the week after conference championships (maybe have a bye week) and still have the Championship game the first or second week of January. Play the remaining games at the current New-Years Bowls sites.

Tell me that wouldn't be a great lineup of games. Plus, you get another week of on-campus games (which, in my opinion, is a better atmosphere than the bowls).

It would be an awesome lineup of games. Now let's double it to 24 for double the fun, and double the meaningful regular seasons. A 24-team playoff means an awesome December AND an awesome November.

 

[QuaoarsKing]

ESPN pays almost $500 Million per year to air three playoff games. That is more than they pay for an entire season of SEC games. I think someone is having fun.

Now imagine how much money they'd pay for 23 games instead of 3.

 

[BoDawg.sixpack]

Curious as to what they make off the advertising revenue during the playoff games.

 

[Dawgzilla]

Curious as to what they make off the advertising revenue during the playoff games.

Google search says about $400 million. But also, the $500 million figure I threw out actually includes the other NY 6 bowls. So they got 7 games for that figure, not 3.

Expanding to an 8 team playoff would not be much of a leap from there.

 

[QuaoarsKing]

Here’s an idea. If you want to play in the championship, don’t lose to a 5-7 team.

Unless you can. Clemson made the playoff in 2017 with a loss to a 4-8 team.

 

[Dawgg]

That Baylor defense is elite though. Would have loved to see how they would have performed against Alabama. Alas, they lost to a bad TCU team, which knocked them out of playoff contention.

Our team had an elite defense in 2018. That team didn’t deserve to be in a playoff then either.

 

[Smoked Toag]

Our team had an elite defense in 2018. That team didn’t deserve to be in a playoff then either.

Under most any normal circumstance that 2018 team would make a 16 team playoff, maybe even a 12 team. Talent wise we were there, and that's all you can really ask. 2017 and 2014 too. 2010 was close.

 

[natchezdawg]

The current playoff format came about partly or perhaps mostly because the SEC..

won the BCS Championship 8 times over an 11 year period, and the other conferences got tired of that. How the playoff era has played out is pretty much how you would expect - if you put one or two SEC schools in a four team playoff, an SEC school is going to win more times than not. Adding 4, 8, 12, or however many is not going to change the outcome.


BCS - SEC wins 9 of 16 (56%)
Playoff - SEC wins 5 of 8 (62%)

 

[QuaoarsKing]

Our team had an elite defense in 2018. That team didn’t deserve to be in a playoff then either.

Why not? Have we "deserved" to play for a men's basketball national title in any of the last 30 years?

Just being part of the tournament is a great benefit for the schools, even the ones who aren't a serious threat to win. Somehow every other college sport understands this, including every other level of college football, as well as pro and high school sports.