Would an 8 team FBS this year solve anything and what would it look like?

[JustinCharge 2,397]

Would an 8 team FBS this year solve anything and what would it look like?

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Ohio State
4. Notre Dame
5. Texas A&M
6. Oklahoma
7. Florida
8. Cincinnati

Alabama vs Cincinnati
Clemson vs Florida
Ohio State vs Oklahoma
Notre Dame vs Texas A&M

What are people complaining about with this setup?

[Mike Honcho 4,034]

I'd go 7---give the #1 team a week off and automatic spot in the semis---might even consider doing that with 6 teams and two byes.  7th and 8th ranked teams in today's college football will never beat a number 1 team and maybe a #2 team once in a hundred tries.

[JustinCharge 2,397]

8 minutes ago, Mike Honcho said:

I'd go 7---give the #1 team a week off and automatic spot in the semis---might even consider doing that with 6 teams and two byes.  7th and 8th ranked teams in today's college football will never beat a number 1 team and maybe a #2 team once in a hundred tries.

They used to say that about AFL teams trying to beat NFL teams.  I'm not sure that would apply to football.  if we are talking #1 team vs unranked, sure.  But #7 and #8?  Not so sure.  All it would take is a few keys players on the #1 team being out with injuries and the playing field might get level pretty quickly.

[Rusty Syringes 478]

I've gone back and forth on this.

Alabama vs Cincinnati - Alabama would have demolished Cincinnati.
Clemson vs Florida - Clemson would have destroyed Florida.
Ohio State vs Oklahoma - Might be a tossup. We'll see tonight if Ohio State is overrated.
Notre Dame vs Texas A&M - Might be a tossup.

I would have liked to have seen A&M and Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl. 

[Mike Honcho 4,034]

From this ESPN link you can see the final CFP rankings.  I can't see one time I think a single 1 or 2 vs 7 or 8 would be close.  #1 has only lost once---to #4 Alabama, just see no reason to expand it past 6, maybe 5 would enough---with 4 vs 5 being a playin game.

[JustinCharge 2,397]

2 minutes ago, Mike Honcho said:

From this ESPN link you can see the final CFP rankings.  I can't see one time I think a single 1 or 2 vs 7 or 8 would be close.  #1 has only lost once---to #4 Alabama, just see know reason to expand it past 6, maybe 5 would enough---with 4 vs 5 being a playin game.

https://collegefootballplayoff.com/sports/2019/5/22/history.aspx

I'm seeing #4 Buckeyes beating #1 Tide in 2015 as well.   The #4, #2 and #1 have each won the title twice at this point. 

[Mike Honcho 4,034]

3 minutes ago, JustinCharge said:

https://collegefootballplayoff.com/sports/2019/5/22/history.aspx

I'm seeing #4 Buckeyes beating #1 Tide in 2015 as well.   The #4, #2 and #1 have each won the title twice at this point. 

I stand corrected, thought I checked each year. 

[Bert 1,091]

41 minutes ago, Rusty Syringes said:

I've gone back and forth on this.

Alabama vs Cincinnati - Alabama would have demolished Cincinnati.
Clemson vs Florida - Clemson would have destroyed Florida.
Ohio State vs Oklahoma - Might be a tossup. We'll see tonight if Ohio State is overrated.
Notre Dame vs Texas A&M - Might be a tossup.

I would have liked to have seen A&M and Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl. 

I love A&M getting screwed.  That vile university deserves every negative thing that comes their way.

[Mike Honcho 4,034]

You known I think the best solution (and God knows what a sh!tshow  and controversial it would be) would be to have a variable amount of CFP teams. 1 year the committee says, yeah, 6 teams deserve to make it.  Maybe another year they could say, you know what most of you suck---only 3 teams this year. The way I see it---no way is it a yearly thing that there are 8 deserving teams(in fact I think 6 is a lot), but I agree there have been years where more than 4 teams have proven their merit and deserve a shot. 

Again, this idea would be a massive sh!tshow and would drive coaches/colleges and the pundits nuts---which means it's probably the best solution. 

[JustinCharge 2,397]

1 hour ago, Mike Honcho said:

You known I think the best solution (and God knows what a sh!tshow  and controversial it would be) would be to have a variable amount of CFP teams. 1 year the committee says, yeah, 6 teams deserve to make it.  Maybe another year they could say, you know what most of you suck---only 3 teams this year. The way I see it---no way is it a yearly thing that there are 8 deserving teams(in fact I think 6 is a lot), but I agree there have been years where more than 4 teams have proven their merit and deserve a shot. 

Again, this idea would be a massive sh!tshow and would drive coaches/colleges and the pundits nuts---which means it's probably the best solution. 

This is unworkable.  Organizers want pre-planned events that are setup years in advance.  You would be telling stadiums "hey we'd like to reserve your stadium for January 2025.....MAYBE".  Then stadium groups would be like "should we keep the stadium empty for them or rent it out to make money?"

[cyclone24 1,814]

It would help alot.... Right now there's only 3 or 4 consistent teams that are getting there. So if you are a 5 star recruit where are you going to go?

 If you expand to 8...you start getting some new teams in their on the fringe that maybe now that 5 star or 4 star recruit at least looks somewhere else and you start to spread out talent a little.

[Mike Honcho 4,034]

55 minutes ago, JustinCharge said:

This is unworkable.  Organizers want pre-planned events that are setup years in advance.  You would be telling stadiums "hey we'd like to reserve your stadium for January 2025.....MAYBE".  Then stadium groups would be like "should we keep the stadium empty for them or rent it out to make money?"

CFP to Bowl Organizer, in 2025 you will be getting a game that will include two teams in the top 8---they may or may not be involved in the playoffs. Want the game?  

 

[phillybear 364]

First, I'm happy that the garbage, overrated SEC only got one fraud team that snuck into the "playoffs". But why wouldn't you want to see Cincinnati, BYU, Coastal Carolina, Liberty, etc test their abilities after wonderful seasons against the overrated bullies of the supposed major conferences. Upsets happen all the time, and the story lines would be compelling.

It was a more embarrassing beauty contest to get BSC votes than usual this year, with teams that didn't win the minimum amount of games to quality for bowls get into big bowl games. Liberty would have kicked Notre Dame's asses.

[JustinCharge 2,397]

23 hours ago, Mike Honcho said:

CFP to Bowl Organizer, in 2025 you will be getting a game that will include two teams in the top 8---they may or may not be involved in the playoffs. Want the game?  

 

OK that works better but I think it'll still be harder to negotiate.  There will definitely be revenue lost there because you cannot guarantee a premium playoff game.  People on the CFP side will be demanding guaranteed playoff games to leverage for more money.

[TimHauck 1,800]

I think 8 would be good.   There always seems to be controversy about that 4th team, and as noted above #4 has won it a couple times.  While there will always be controversy about the last team in, after 8 is probably not a legit shot at actually winning which is not the case with #5.

[JustinCharge 2,397]

I think

On 1/1/2021 at 5:43 PM, cyclone24 said:

It would help alot.... Right now there's only 3 or 4 consistent teams that are getting there. So if you are a 5 star recruit where are you going to go?

 If you expand to 8...you start getting some new teams in their on the fringe that maybe now that 5 star or 4 star recruit at least looks somewhere else and you start to spread out talent a little.

Yah every year I assume its going to be 3 SEC teams and Ohio State.

[listen2me 23 1,542]

Less kids opt out.  More get injured and screw their NFL prospects up.  Perhaps better for the fan.

Anyone can beat anyone...sort of.  And who doesnt like a tournament?  But in the end I think it is overkill.  

ND doesnt belong on the field with Bama Clemson Ohio St.  Dont really need to dip further down the board.  

Ive changed my mind on that over the years.  Im not opposed to expanding, but I just think 4 teams is fine.  We wanted a playoff of sorts and we have one.  You go to 8 then there will be those who want 16.  College basketball keeps adding for no real good reason.  

The Liberty and Cincy backers like PB have a point.  It sucks for teams in these conferences to virtually have no chance to win the title.   But I do think they get rolled by the bigger teams 9 out of 10 years.  Georgia beat Cincy.  I would imagine Cincy was more excited to play.  Im sure Georgia had more talent opt out than Cincy. And they were handled in season by Bama when everyone was at full strength.  So in the end I see little point.  

[listen2me 23 1,542]

On 1/1/2021 at 8:43 PM, cyclone24 said:

It would help alot.... Right now there's only 3 or 4 consistent teams that are getting there. So if you are a 5 star recruit where are you going to go?

 If you expand to 8...you start getting some new teams in their on the fringe that maybe now that 5 star or 4 star recruit at least looks somewhere else and you start to spread out talent a little.

Maybe this is correct.   Im not sure.  

So a 5 star with an 8 team playoff may say hey...if I go to Texas AM I can back into the 8 team playoff maybe.  If I go to Bama I only get the 1 seed.  Texas AM is fine?  

You may be right to a degree.  A small degree.   How much Im not sure.  They would still be picking the lesser program.  They just have more of a chance of competing.  But why wouldnt they still go to Bama with all their 5 star recruit friends and form a mega team? They do it in other sports now a days.  

[listen2me 23 1,542]

On 1/1/2021 at 9:03 PM, phillybear said:

First, I'm happy that the garbage, overrated SEC only got one fraud team that snuck into the "playoffs". But why wouldn't you want to see Cincinnati, BYU, Coastal Carolina, Liberty, etc test their abilities after wonderful seasons against the overrated bullies of the supposed major conferences. Upsets happen all the time, and the story lines would be compelling.

It was a more embarrassing beauty contest to get BSC votes than usual this year, with teams that didn't win the minimum amount of games to quality for bowls get into big bowl games. Liberty would have kicked Notre Dame's asses.

I dont think they would.  ND is always overrated though.  

Liberty goes and plays a motivated Georgia team with no opt outs and they lose by 4 TDs.  

[JustinCharge 2,397]

Maybe have the #4, #5 and #6 teams in a secondary bracket that play for the final #4 seed.  Round 1 is #5 vs #6.  Winner of that advances to round 2 where they play the #4.  The winner of that is the #4 seed in the 4-team playoff.  The top 3 teams get 2 weeks off. The #4 team gets 1 week off.  That would give the lower seeds a realistic chance to at least win a game between each other before they face the big boys.

This year you would have Texas A&M vs Oklahoma in round 1, winner plays Notre Dame.  Winner there enters the 4 team playoff and plays Alabama.

[Bill E. 666]

Every year six teams, Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oak Ore and LSU always seem to account for 3 of the top 4 teams with a wildcard like Notre Dame or Georgia.  Not saying that is a bad thing but a team like Cincinnati or A&M just having a chance to get in the playoffs would be exciting for their alumni and students.   If some of the 5-8 ranked teams made the playoffs a couple times it might help with recruiting and spread the top talent around a little.  Plus it would provide some revenue for those schools and the NCAA could always use some more money. 

[t.j 35]

On 1/1/2021 at 2:33 PM, Rusty Syringes said:

Clemson vs Florida - Clemson would have destroyed Florida.

Disagree. When Pitts, Toney, and Grimes play, Florida's passing offense is top notch. (See: SEC Championship game.) And Clemson looked bad on both sides of the ball vs an Ohio State University. Although the Gators do not have OSU's running game.

[t.j 35]

I think in most years you can be pretty confident that the best team in three country is in the top 4. However: I think an 8 team playoff would accomplish 3 things:

1. Some years I think the top 6 are close enough that you can't be sure that the best team isn't left out in the cold by a 4 team playoff. Just look at how the #4 seeds have beaten down the #1 seeds a couple of times as an example of imperfect rankings.

2. In this era of so many players opting out of the bowl game to go pro, you'd be able to see more good teams at full strength in a big spotlight game (and generally a non-conference game), which is great.

3. You could give automatic bids to the Power 5 champs, the best mid major, and still have two at large bids. That would mean this year instead of having to choose between Notre Dame and Texas A&M (which the committee choose wrong), both teams could be in.

[t.j 35]

On 1/1/2021 at 6:03 PM, phillybear said:

First, I'm happy that the garbage, overrated SEC only got one fraud team that snuck into the "playoffs". 

Was much better having two ACC teams this year, right? 

[jerryskids 5,206]

28 minutes ago, t.j said:

 

3. You could give automatic bids to the Power 5 champs, the best mid major, and still have two at large bids. That would mean this year instead of having to choose between Notre Dame and Texas A&M (which the committee choose wrong), both teams could be in.

This is the only thing I could get behind, although I’d maybe swap “best mid major” with a third at-large bid, which may or may not be a mid-major.  Win your conference and you are in — IMO this would give more oomph to those championships.  ND gets pollaxed in the ACC championship and they pass some “eye test” to make the top 4?  The eye test was the committee seeing $$$ for a storied program, nothing more.  

My concern with this is travel:  Bama fans aren’t going to go anywhere for a quarterfinal game they win 98% of the time.

[t.j 35]

24 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

My concern with this is travel:  Bama fans aren’t going to go anywhere for a quarterfinal game they win 98% of the time.

Maybe. But it begs the question whether the quarterfinals would be neutral site games or home games. Would 4 of the New Year's Six games be playoff games? Then what are the semifinals? Not big bowl games, not championship games, just neutral site games at non-bowl locations? Or, do you make the quarterfinals early home games (punishment for not making the top 4 is having to play on the road), and then keep the semis and championship as they are now?

[GobbleDog 816]

5 automatic bids for big five tourney winners.... 3 at-large.

It would be the greatest thing in all of college sports. 

[JustinCharge 2,397]

On 1/3/2021 at 9:11 AM, GobbleDog said:

5 automatic bids for big five tourney winners.... 3 at-large.

It would be the greatest thing in all of college sports. 

That probably would cause other conferences to grow huge and add a tourney so they can whine about not getting an automatic bid.

[cyclone24 1,814]

On 1/3/2021 at 6:55 AM, listen2me 23 said:

Maybe this is correct.   Im not sure.  

So a 5 star with an 8 team playoff may say hey...if I go to Texas AM I can back into the 8 team playoff maybe.  If I go to Bama I only get the 1 seed.  Texas AM is fine?  

You may be right to a degree.  A small degree.   How much Im not sure.  They would still be picking the lesser program.  They just have more of a chance of competing.  But why wouldnt they still go to Bama with all their 5 star recruit friends and form a mega team? They do it in other sports now a days.  

 Yeah it may not make any difference but if I'm a 5 star recruit today where am I going? I basically have 3 or 4 options if I want to win a national title. 

 But maybe now I'm a kid from Florida or Texas and my home school has potential of getting in.  Maybe I can go to this other school and not have to wait to play at my position where I would at an Alabama. 

 It may not make a huge difference but you at least thin out the highly recruited guys a little hopefully.

And my Alma mater Iowa state is a great example.  Maybe a kid looks at that school now saying you know what I like that coach in they are clearly building something. Maybe I take a little longer look at them.

[Kopy 491]

Go 7, and the #1 gets a bye and an automatic in.

 

[JustinCharge 2,397]

1 hour ago, cyclone24 said:

 Yeah it may not make any difference but if I'm a 5 star recruit today where am I going? I basically have 3 or 4 options if I want to win a national title. 

 But maybe now I'm a kid from Florida or Texas and my home school has potential of getting in.  Maybe I can go to this other school and not have to wait to play at my position where I would at an Alabama. 

 It may not make a huge difference but you at least thin out the highly recruited guys a little hopefully.

And my Alma mater Iowa state is a great example.  Maybe a kid looks at that school now saying you know what I like that coach in they are clearly building something. Maybe I take a little longer look at them.

There was big news yesterday that the top recruit in the nation committed to USC.  USC pitched him on the idea that he, under the new rules, he can market his brand in the Los Angeles area better than anywhere else.  And there was speculation that USC might enjoy incredible recruiting classes going forward as now players can profit in college.

 

https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/2021/01/02/usc-trojans-recruiting-korey-foreman-no-1-recruit-country-chooses-usc/

 

The good news kept coming for the USC Trojans on Saturday.

Shortly after securing a commitment from defensive back Ceyair Wright, the Trojans landed their white whale in Korey Foreman – the No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2021, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings.

Foreman has long been rumored to be headed to USC, although many other high profile programs, including Alabama, Clemson and LSU, were in on his services as well.

This is the first time in three years the Trojans have landed the top recruit in the state of California – and it could not have come at a better time considering USC will be losing two key pieces on their defensive line in Jay Tufele and Marlon Tuipulotu, who are both declaring early for the 2021 NFL draft.

Foreman is expected to be a high-impact player in Todd Orlando’s defense right away, and along with freshman Tuli Tuipulotu and outside linebacker Drake Jackson, the trio should wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks for the 2021 season.