Mythical Non-Mythical Natl Champ: Who's Your Top 16?
So let's pretend there was a 16-team playoff in what we call the FBS now, but would need to change its name if it had an actual playoff. (Does it become the FCS-A, versus FCS-AA?) (Maybe they don't have a playoff merely because they don't have a good name for it -- FCS is already taken?)
Now, ignore the stupid polls and computers. YOU are the selection committee. Who do YOU choose as the 16 teams? How do you rank/seed them?
Top 4: 1. LSU; 2. Okie State; 3. Alabama; 4. Oregon. Only possibly could argue if Oregon deserves to be up here, but who else does? Not Stanford; Oregon crushed them, two years in a row.
5. Wiscy; 6. Stanford; 7. Arkansas; 8. Boise State. All of these teams have thin resumes, except for maybe one win (and even Wiscy doesnt have that). But Wiscy has only 2 last-play losses, on the road. Stanford got blown out. I hedge that Wiscy is clearly about the same as MSU, and Boise State is about the same as TCU. But who else deserves to be this high?
9. Clemson; 10. MSU; 11. Georgia; 12. TCU. Yeah, TCU seems high to be in this group, but they had a close loss to Baylor, and are about the same as Boise State, have 10 game win streak. MSU seems high too, but they are about the same as Wiscy (but had two bad losses). Clemson had inexplicable losses but, when good, is pretty good. I put Georgia here b/c they really are a 2-loss team plus then the LSU thing at the end; they won 10 games before playing LSU.
13. South Carolina; 14. Kansas State; 15. UM; 16. Baylor. This isn't so much as who's here, as who ISNT here. Oklahoma - sorry, that last loss left a bad taste in our mouths; team is depleted now. VaTech - some really uninspired wins, plus no really good win. USC - not allowed to play. Houston - one bad bad loss, no marquee wins. tSIO - just had to point out, THEY SUCKED THIS YEAR.
Is it this obvious, these are the right 16? And I seeded them this way to avoid, for the most part, any conferences matching up in the second round (although UM/MSU would be possible, as would Alabama/Georgia):
LSU/Baylor v. Boises State/Clemson
Oregon/South Carolina v. Wisconsin/TCU
Oklahoma State/Michigan v. Arkansas/MSU
Alabama/Kansas State v. Stanford/Georgia
If this came to pass... personally I like our chances. Okie State hasn't played a real defense all year and we CAN put up points; if we escaped Stillwater, I'd favor us to beat done-nothing-all-year Arkansas, or get MSU a second time in EL with a HEALTHY Shoelace. 'Course, the semifinal game against Alabama... well it would be practice for the first game NEXT year!
December 15th, 2011 at 12:08 PM ^
But I really wouldn't want a 16 team playoff. I would much rather have a 4 team playoff and then have the rest of the bowl system stay the same way. I just think they need to bring all of the payoffs to the teams and the NCAA rather than the Bowls. But with regard to your list I would say that it is rather accurate. I don't think I would put Oregon in the top 4. They lost 2 games this year. I also don't think that TCU should be in the 3rd group. They should probably be in the 4th group. They lost 2 games and they weren't a great team this year. Other than that it is pretty solid.
December 15th, 2011 at 2:14 PM ^
playoff--in fact I'd prefer the current terrible system to a 16 team playoff which IMO 1- includes many undeserving teams, and 2- would weaken the critical nature of the regular season today. IMO there are never more than 4 to (occassionally) 6 teams, in any year, that actually can make a legitimate claim to even get into a playoff.
December 15th, 2011 at 12:11 PM ^
I don't know my top 16, but I'd put Sparty at 17 just for the laughs
December 15th, 2011 at 12:18 PM ^
your list - other than a few spots up or down. So would #1 play #16 and #2 play # 15 and so on? Using your rankings M would get Okie State! Yikes!
December 15th, 2011 at 12:23 PM ^
Part of it is matchups -- Baylor and K-State can't play Okie State in first round, they all played each other already.
Also, to be brutally honest -- who'd we beat this year? Our marquee wins are ND (8-4; just barely won, got lucky - DERP DERP DERP), and Nebraska (9-3), and tSIO (6-6!!!!). We can say, only two close losses on the road. But we didn't even PLAY anyone in the Top 10, our OOC sucked (SDSU was a major letdown), our conference opponents basically stunk. Thanks for tanking, Illinois, Iowa.
I think we probably deserve to be in over Oklahoma and Houston, MAYBE; but I can't justify us getting out of the bottom 4, in which case, we pretty much have to face Oklahoma State or Oregon.
December 15th, 2011 at 12:20 PM ^
16 teams is just way too many no matter how you cut it.
December 15th, 2011 at 12:25 PM ^
Disagree, says the FCS.
And Division II.
And Division III.
And just about every high school playoff in the country.
December 15th, 2011 at 12:30 PM ^
Half of the people can be part right all of the time,
And some of the people can be all right part of the time,
But all of the people can't be all right all of the time.
I think Abraham Lincoln said that.
December 15th, 2011 at 1:11 PM ^
to do their normal playoff inflation.
1964-1972, the College Division had 4 regional bowls (8 teams), and then a wire service poll to anoint 1 National Champion. Then, the 3 divisions were created.
1973 - Div III's first year, started with a 4 team playoff.
1973 - Div II's first year, started with an 8 team playoff. Side notes: Champion from that year is now in the WAC. Runner up has one of the scariest mascots around.
1978 - FCS's first year, started with a 4 team playoff. Side notes: runner up from the first championship game starts FBS play next year in the MAC. And champion, still in FCS, currently has a probe into the recent death of their drum major.
December 15th, 2011 at 2:13 PM ^
At least IMO. When you have a regular season like today's with 12 games that are all critical, IMO it is simply unfair that a 3 loss 16 seed could potentially beat LSU in a playoff first round in football. Some would love that, I'd say it's unfair to a wonderful season where they played an unbelievable strength of schedule and beat everyone. And I'd say that even if we were the 16 seed.
December 15th, 2011 at 3:19 PM ^
I think it should be 64 teams with a play-in game or maybe even 68 teams.
/s
December 15th, 2011 at 12:30 PM ^
means a lot to me. Just as with basketball selection, I'm looking at who you beat, not just your record. TCU and Boise just don't deserve it. One good win doesnt do it for me. Other than Georgia, SDSU jumps to the top of Boise's resume. I remember a team that destroyed SDSU the 4th week of the season, yep I'm talking about Big Blue. But for us, it was part of our warmup cupcake season, not cupcake conference schedule. When you play good teams week in and week out, if you are not an elite team, you will lose. non-AQ teams have no business in a playoff or playing in BCS games. I realize I have now hijacked this post into something completely OT, but Boise didnt get the short straw by being passed over a BCS game. If they wanted their football program to be taken seriously they wouldn't have jumped from the WAC to the MWC, thats not exactly moving up in the world.
December 15th, 2011 at 12:44 PM ^
16 teams is overkill. Four is probably more than enough, but what I'd like to see is a return to the old bowl system with all the conference tie-ins, followed by a Plus One game pitting the two top ranked teams at the conclusion of the bowl season. There was a time when New Year's Day was the greatest sports day on the calendar. This system would restore New Year's Day to it's rightful glory, while providing a more satisfying championship matchup than the current system.
December 15th, 2011 at 12:44 PM ^
I'd rate South Carolina just above Clemson, because they beat Clemson and have an even record, but under just about everybody else. Baylor is a toss-up. They Beat TCU, but lost 3 and Kansas took them to OT, lol. I don't feel good at all about the Big12 this year. They were playing round robin with embarrassing losses. Oklahoma to TxTech, Ok State to Iowa State, Baylor to KState, and A&M to just about everybody. Not 1 team in that conference can play a lick of defense. Virginia Tech didn't have any quality wins, but only lost to Clemson (twice) and are a better balanced team with good defense and special teams play.
December 15th, 2011 at 12:59 PM ^
This post reminds me of really bad sports talk radio where the host is getting desperate for callers.
December 15th, 2011 at 1:12 PM ^
So not true at all.
On a completely unrelated note, I was just about to post a topic about Jennifer Aniston being rated this week by some outfit the Hottest Woman of all time, ever. That still a good idea?
December 15th, 2011 at 1:25 PM ^
Yes, yes it is.
December 15th, 2011 at 1:29 PM ^
That debate would be much more fruitful than this one.
December 15th, 2011 at 4:45 PM ^
A long list of things I don't quite understand the appeal of: Jennifer Aniston, Kim Kardashian or anyone from the Kardashian family, Pippa Middleton, Angelina Jolie, Pamela Anderson, Zooey Deschanel, Paris Hilton, Ana Kournikova, Madonna, John and Kate Plus 8, Transformers, Twilight, every actor and actress associated with the movie Twilight, Quidditch as a real sport, Justin Bieber, Major League Baseball, baseball in general, Katy Perry's music (not her body, which lives up to the hype, or even her music videos, which are pretty amusing), the TV show Survivor, Jim and Pam's romance on The Office, Ronald Reagan's film career, University of Michigan's American Studies major, fraternity parties, Mike Barwis, Every Day Should Be Saturday, French cuisine, Notre Dame football, every football school on the west coast that isn't USC, Oregon, or Stanford, Jon Gruden is a candidate for every coaching opening anywhere, learning languages as a way to acquire new 'perspective' not as a way of communicating with people you interact with on a daily basis, professional football, anthropology, Twitter, James Joyce, Plato, and constantly complaining about uniforms on MGoBlog.
That is all.
December 15th, 2011 at 1:29 PM ^
All I know is that its better than a hypothetical thread about an average band playing somewhere at some future date.
December 15th, 2011 at 1:38 PM ^
Way to be a TOOL Profit.
/do you see what I did there???
December 15th, 2011 at 5:07 PM ^
Hahaha. I should have been ready for that one. Dammit.
December 15th, 2011 at 1:54 PM ^
That list had Britney Spears pretty high up. As one of the sexiest women of all time...
That list is not valid.
December 15th, 2011 at 3:23 PM ^
a 5 star recruit in years past, but some (Scout and Rivals I believe) have dropped her current star rating to a 3 star. I would also give her 40 time of 4.53 a 5 fakes out of 5 rating.
December 15th, 2011 at 2:30 PM ^
I'd give out 11 autobids, so it would look like this:
(16) Arkansas State @ (1) LSU
(15) Louisiana Tech @ (2) Oklahoma State
(14) Northern Illinois @ (3) Alabama (at large)
(13) Southern Mississippi @ (4) Stanford (at large)
(12) West Virginia @ (5) Boise State (at large)
(11) TCU @ (6) Oregon
(10) Clemson @ (7) Wisconsin
Pick two of Michigan, Virginia Tech, Arkansas, Kansas State for the 8/9 seeds. I'd take Michigan as the 8 seed because the other three didn't beat anyone or are awful by advanced metrics. We can play Kansas State.
Boise gets bumped up a seed to avoid a conference matchup in round 1. You could also move Oregon to 5, Boise to 6, and flip TCU and Clemson if that were your preference.
Second round also played at the site of the higher seed, semis in Miami and New Orleans, Championship in Pasadena.
December 15th, 2011 at 3:37 PM ^
3 loses is more than 2 move those Sparties down.