Dantonio Angling for His Spot in Playoff
September 23rd, 2014 at 8:48 PM ^
Well the OOC schedules are flawed because some teams play real teams and some play no one (Wisconsin most years, Baylor). And the conference schedules are also flawed because other than the Big 12 which has only 10 teams (and hence everyone plays each other once), your crossovers AND division opponents determine a lot of your fate. Look at Wisconsin and Iowa for example - pretend they are legitimate national powers... they avoid MSU and OSU and UM and PSU in their crossovers. Then in 2 years they will face 2 of them in their crossovers.
So bottom line nothing is perfect. Eliminating CG is not going to make it any better or worse IMO.
September 23rd, 2014 at 8:52 PM ^
Your point proves why you need the conf. championship game. Wisconsin this year misses OSU and MSU. But if they make it to the conference championship, at least they have to play the better of those two teams. Again, it's like a play in.
September 23rd, 2014 at 8:59 PM ^
Yes you need it as long as you have more than 10 teams. The Big 12 is unique in (a) they dont have a CG but (b) they dont really need it as their entire season is a playoff since they all play each other I believe. I read that somewhere so don't quote me - it must mean they play 9 conference games.
But once you get past 10 teams in the conf the best way to meet the team you would have missed during the crossovers is a CG as you said.
September 23rd, 2014 at 8:21 PM ^
He'll need to beat us first. I for one won't give up so easily.
September 23rd, 2014 at 8:23 PM ^
I like this thread.
Nice change of pace.
Fire Dantonio?
September 23rd, 2014 at 8:37 PM ^
You need 8 teams or you are leaving out a conference champion even if you limit it to conference. It was an obvious problem from the beginning.
Honestly, why didn't they just keep the old Bowl system and take the Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta winners and do the 4-team playoff from there? That would have made those bowls actually relevant again.
September 23rd, 2014 at 8:45 PM ^
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September 23rd, 2014 at 8:50 PM ^
The only way I would be willing to go with 8 teams is if all of them were conference champions. Pick the champion of the Power 5 conferences plus three other champions. You'll get some bad first round games probably, but at least you then keep the importance of the regular season in some way.
Still, a three loss team could win the conference and win the championship, that wouldn't make me happy. I personally think 6 is a good number, but again, 5 power conference champs (maybe have some exception if a team has 4+ losses) plus another conference champ or something like that.
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:33 PM ^
a 3-loss team can make one of the 4 major bowls by winning it's conferece and then win 3 straight games against the top 8 teams in the country, then they probably deserve it. The idea that it somehow will ruin the regular season is silly. Think about the years Michigan has made one of the major bowls (Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange). How many of those years have we had a medicore team? 2011? Usually if you are in one of those bowls you are pretty damn good.
What it WOULD do is encourage teams to schedule good teams in the non-con schedule, since those games wouldn't kill your playoff chances anymore.
September 23rd, 2014 at 8:51 PM ^
Agreed. In most years you have 1-2 undefeated teams maximum (I dont mean BYU or Boise State) and then you have a bunch of 1 loss teams. The argument will be among the 1 loss teams and if you lose a game you deserve to be "at risk" of getting kicked out of the playoff - that keeps the value of the regular season. But they HAVE TO value tough non conference games in the committee or else we'll be back to horrid non conf schedules as no one wants to risk a loss.
Once you go to 8 teams you are debating the 8th and 9th team in the nation getting in which are 2 loss teams and even 3 loss teams in some years and they dont deserve to get into a playoff - they proved during the year they are not the best team in the country already.
September 23rd, 2014 at 8:58 PM ^
I know it really isn't possible, but that would be the best case.
2013: Four teams: FSU, Auburn, MSU, and Baylor.
2012: Two teams: ND vs Bama.
2011: LSU wins (they won it already on the field)
2010: Three teams: Auburn, Oregon, TCU
You get the idea. Have a max of a certain amount of teams and have a minumum. Make it floating based on how many teams deserve it. That would be the best. But it's also impossible, it couldn't happen frankly with everything that goes into scheduling.
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:04 PM ^
My suggestion: Hybrid Bowl + Playoff system
1. 16 Team Playoff (Conf Champs for 5 AQ conferences + 11 At-Large teams, a max of 3 teams per conference)
- Round 1: Hosted by the higher seed on campus
- Round 2: Held in Los Angels (West), Houston (Plains), New Orleans (South), Miami (East) every year
- Round 3: Held in Phoenix (West), and Atlanta (East) every year
- Final: Held in Dallas every year
2. 10 Bowl Games (Highest ranked non-playoff team from each conference + 10 at-large teams)
Allows alum to get a vacation and schools to earn some extra revenue.
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:13 PM ^
I can't really see having full stadiums if there are this many games so spread out around the nation. That would be a crap load of $$ if fans wanted to go see more than one.
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:28 PM ^
If you are going that many teams you go with the scenario in Death to the BCS (some book from a couple years ago I can't remember the authors).
All 11 conference champions get in regardless of record. 5 at larges.
The 16 teams are seeded based on ranking. What you want to include in this is pretty up in the air. The beauty of it is you only need it once, at the end of the season.
1st/2nd round: Top seeded schools host.
3rd/4th round: Same as the play-in games now.
Hell you could even have some of the losers of the earlier rounds play in bowl games.
I really dislike the idea of the games always being in the same cities. It's lame that a game of this magnitude would never be in Michigan Stadium or the Horseshoe. There are so many great classic college stadiums you should spread around more.
September 23rd, 2014 at 8:41 PM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:02 PM ^
You also were down on them all of last year saying they were a hoax - I remember because Magnum PI and I were arguing with you almost weekly and getting downvoted as a "MSU defenders".
I do agree that THIS year's team is worse than LAST year's MSU team. The OL run blocking is worse and the safeties are playing worse than last year. Last year's MSU team had a sick defense that you dont see very often and allowed their offense to suck. But their schedule in the conference is even easier. If they had a normal OSU team with a healthy QB, last year's OL, and Hyde I'd call for an upset in EL by OSU. But they are getting an OSU team who looks like a shell off that team on offense. Nebraska lost 8 of its 11 starters off an already average defense and I dont trust Tommy friggin Armstrong to go to EL and do squat. So I am hoping for an Indiana offensive explosion (although MSU might score 50 on Indiana) or that night game at Maryland to trip them up.
They also have a nasty habit of getting better throughout the season, something we miss around here.
You dont to be a great team to roll this Big 10 if your tough games are at home.
September 24th, 2014 at 5:14 AM ^
September 24th, 2014 at 9:29 AM ^
What are you talking about? They don't play ND, and they don't play Wisconsin unless it's in the championship.
September 24th, 2014 at 9:39 AM ^
September 24th, 2014 at 2:36 PM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 8:54 PM ^
A Sparty is whining and it is not even October? Maybe things haven't changed after all!
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:10 PM ^
Well all I know is the Big 10 did us no favors this non conf season. Including ourselves, we did ourselves no favors as its going to be tough to convince the playoff committee to take a 11-2 Michigan now.
/drink
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:12 PM ^
We've somehow ended back at #9....where we were ranked before the Oregon game.
Of the 8 teams in front of us:
- Baylor plays @ OU
- Texas A&M plays @ Bama and @ Auburn
- Notre Dame plays @ FSU
- Auburn plays @ Bama
I realize that AP rankings mean nothing now, but the point is that the teams ahead of us are guaranteed some losses by virtue of playing each other while MSU will be favored in every game the rest of the season. In the end I can still see MSU landing at #5 due to strength of schedule. A year similar to 2010 where we had a statement game at Iowa and didn't get it done.
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:32 PM ^
If Sparty runs the table, they are in the playoffs. I'm not convinced they will, in fact I'd bet against it.
September 24th, 2014 at 4:56 AM ^
No they are not. FSU, Pac12 and SEC are likely in. There is a decent chance one of the Big12 teams runs the table.
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:42 PM ^
I agree with the people who think it would be all that great for MSU to finish 5th and miss. Sure, it's better than them making the playoff, but I'd like for our house to be in order before we get back to enjoying their pain.
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:45 PM ^
Yeah this might leave more room for SEC teams to get into the playoff over other conferences, but you can't argue with their results. You also can't argue with the fact that the Big Ten, collectively, sucks something fierce. More often than not, the conference whiffs big time when presented with an opportunity to make a national statement. The point is that if we want this to be a true playoff, I think you put the best 4 teams on the field, whether all 4 of them are SEC, or all from different conferences. You're still giving conference champions a chance to play in a big bowl game, but you can't sit there and convince me, especially this year, that the Big Ten is deserving of a playoff spot. At least not right now anyway.
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September 23rd, 2014 at 10:43 PM ^
for anyone to determine who the 4 "best" teams are. Everyone plays such a radically different schedule, that it is impossible to tell. Anyone that tells you they "know" who the best 4 teams are, definitively, is completely full of s***,.
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:47 PM ^
September 24th, 2014 at 9:34 AM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:22 PM ^
Might as well beg now, because it isn't going to happen for him. He had his shot against Oregon and lost, and nothing in this conference will save him. His only hope would be a crazy number of losses, but given how the SEC looks they'll get at least 1 team, the Pac 12 should get another, ACC/FSU will probably get one, and then you have to hope something crazy happens in the Big 12 to break up that slot.
September 23rd, 2014 at 11:35 PM ^
September 24th, 2014 at 9:02 PM ^
Heck, the SEC will probably get two in regardless of what happens with FSU. I mean, half of the conference is ranked in the top 20. They'll just have "good" losses the rest of the way.
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:30 PM ^
Politicking for this type of thing is S.O.P. in college football. Any of you would do it as well if you were coaching a B1G team. If anything it's presumptuous of Dantonio to imply Sparty would be the B1G champ. But one never knows how the season will play out.
September 23rd, 2014 at 11:31 PM ^
September 24th, 2014 at 1:23 AM ^
Unfortunatley at this point, there's no guarantee the Big 10 would be one of those 4 power conferences.
September 24th, 2014 at 1:43 AM ^
Good for Dantonio for sticking up for his team, and the Big 10. I don't care for the guy, but he is an excellent coach and better than what we have now, or the guy before what we have now.
September 24th, 2014 at 8:31 AM ^
September 24th, 2014 at 8:47 AM ^
Let's see if he still thinks that after we beat their ass and win the B1G. That's right, at the end of the season it's going to be Michigan.
September 24th, 2014 at 9:37 AM ^
I'll take some of what you're drinking.
September 24th, 2014 at 9:36 AM ^
Would anyone disagree with him if he wasn't HC at MSU? What he says makes perfect sense...how can you legitimately play for a national championship when you're not even your conference champion?
September 24th, 2014 at 9:50 AM ^
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September 24th, 2014 at 2:00 PM ^
LSU beat Alabama in the regular season, but there was, in my opinion, very little disputing that any other team in America came close to being as high-caliber as either of those teams. Alabama didn't win its conference, but it deserved to be there. And they showed why when they shut out LSU, and completely prevented them from ever crossing mid-field.
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September 24th, 2014 at 2:04 PM ^
we had a playoff angle to discuss
September 24th, 2014 at 4:54 PM ^
Hey Tressel, you want to play some pocket pool? Yessiree I do. Just let me warm up first.
