CFP site logistics
Let us assume the current AP 1 through 4 are the CFP 1 through 4. Assume also that all four teams win out and win their respective conference title games.
- 'Bama. - Michigan. - Clemson. - Washington.
From a quick examination of the possibly suspect Wikipedia article on CFP selection, it seems that the top two teams go to the CFP semi-final sites that they are respectively closest to; this is to give them "home" advantage, or at least minimize "away".
Ignoring the strong bias toward the southern schools -- since the majority of all major bowls are in the warm weather winter south -- am I correct in thinking Michigan goes to the Fiesta?
Clemson is very close to Atlanta - Peach, Michigan and Clemson are both about 1960 miles from Phoenix - Fiesta. Tuscaloosa is obviously closer to Atlanta - Peach than Washington.
Am I thinking this through correctly? I understand that at least one of those four won't be there at the end, I'm just trying to grasp the "who goes to which site" logistics.
October 24th, 2016 at 11:50 AM ^
You're overthinking this bud
We've got a long road to this, and the committee will decide the 1/2/3/4 rankings at the end.
If you are planning travel ahead of time, buy both plane tickets with insurance, and then cancel the tickets you won't be using. At the very least you will recieve flight voucher credit for the trip you don't take.
October 24th, 2016 at 11:57 AM ^
Pairings for Semifinals.
- The team ranked No. 1 by the selection committee will play team No. 4 in the semifinals. Team No. 2 will meet team No. 3.
- When assigning teams to sites, the committee will place the top two seeds at the most advantageous sites, weighing criteria such as convenience of travel for its fans, home-crowd advantage or disadvantage and general familiarity with the host city and its stadium. Preference will go to the No. 1 seed.
October 24th, 2016 at 11:52 AM ^
Whoever is first gets priority and then it doesn't matter. There is only one other option after that.
October 24th, 2016 at 11:55 AM ^
Whoever is CFP #1 gets the closer site and everything goes from that.
That seems straightforward.
October 24th, 2016 at 12:25 PM ^
No, that is definitely not the rule.
#1 and #2 get the "most advantageous" site. Not the closest. That will take into account who the #3 and #4 teams are. So if it's 1-Michigan, 2-Clemson, 3-Washington, 4-Alabama, then Michigan would certainly go to the Fiesta Bowl, even though the Peach Bowl is closer. Because it would be "more advantageous" for Michigan to play Alabama in Phoenix rather than Atlanta.
October 24th, 2016 at 12:01 PM ^
October 24th, 2016 at 12:10 PM ^
October 24th, 2016 at 12:27 PM ^
Plus, given the presently listed contestants, why would they give a #1 seed any sort of disadvantage.
Fiesta is in a "Pac12" state, so why would they have a #1 Alabama go there to face Washington, when their ranking as #1 earns them the right to go to Peach Bowl in neighboring state.
October 24th, 2016 at 12:30 PM ^
really should be played at the higher ranked teams' home stadium. I'd love to see Clemson play in A2 on a brisk December afternoon.
October 24th, 2016 at 12:53 PM ^
Agreed. And I'd love to see the B1G championship game played at Soldier Field once in a while too.
October 24th, 2016 at 1:15 PM ^
Lambeau, Cincinnatti, insert other outdoor stadium in B1G country.
October 24th, 2016 at 6:06 PM ^
playing on a shit field at Soldier field? Much rather have them play anywhere in the midwest but Solider Field.
October 25th, 2016 at 12:10 PM ^
Chicago is the center of the midwest culturally, geographically, financially, etc. The B1G is still a midwest conference.
But heck I'd be ok with playing at the new meadowlands too.
October 24th, 2016 at 12:35 PM ^
Imagine you give #1 and #2 a choice about where they would play.
(Your scenario: #1 Alabama v #4 Washington, #2 Michigan v #3 Clemson).
So...where would Alabama want to play Washington--Atlanta or Glendale? Obviously Atlanta. Where would Michigan want to play Clemson? Obviously Glendale. So there you are. No other factors need to be considered--#1 and #2 both get their preferences.
If both #1 and #2 would prefer the same site, #1 gets preference but the desires of the bowls themselves & the networks might be taken into account a little more in that case. But again, if #1 has a strong preference, that is what happens.
October 24th, 2016 at 12:54 PM ^
October 24th, 2016 at 12:57 PM ^
Not a whole lot you can do about those seeding location priorities. Unless you get a title game up north somewhere like Indianapolis or Minneapolis, B1G teams are always going to be at a disadvantage when it comes to home crowd traveling.
Not that we don't have the numbers, but its much easier to travel to Indy for a game than it is to go to New Orleans, or Pasadena, or Miami, or Atlanta. Where all of these NY6 / Semi-Final games are going to be. Unless they allow the 1 and 2 seeds to play the semi-finals on their respective campuses (which fans would love, but it'll never happen).
That being said, when it comes to Michigan we should't worry too much. We're always going to travel well. Sure, if we played Alabama in Atlanta, they might outnumber us, but it wouldn't be more than 60-40. If it was in Glendale, I'd say its 50-50. And I'd bet we outnumber Clemson fans if we go to Glendale. A ton of West Coast alums would come pouring in from LA or SF.
That's the beautiful thing about Michigan and a lot of B1G fanbases. You can find them anywhere. Can't say that about Clemson or Alabama.
October 24th, 2016 at 1:14 PM ^
If we're in the playoffs, who cares where we play? As the great McGary once said ...
October 24th, 2016 at 1:30 PM ^
Many people on this blog would be able to attend at one of the sites, but not at the other. Many other people (including me) would attend the game at either site, but would find one of those two sites much more enjoyable than the other.
All of those people care, for perfectly understandable reasons, and want to understand the process by which the decision is made.
October 24th, 2016 at 3:58 PM ^
I think the thing to keep in mind is that the current rankings don't mean anything to the CFB playoof committe. They don't have to keep us at 2 and they can move anyone week to week.
Last year #5 MSU beat #4 Iowa in the B1G Chip and they moved from #5 up to #3 past an OU team that didn't have a championship game... That forced them to play Bama in the first round and not Clemson.
Just something to keep in mind.
October 24th, 2016 at 6:11 PM ^
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