January 11th, 2021 at 7:47 AM ^
I'd rather sand down my eyeballs than watch this game.
January 11th, 2021 at 8:59 AM ^
The only way I would watch would be a guarantee of a meteor hitting the stadium
January 11th, 2021 at 9:27 AM ^
Must see TV right there
January 11th, 2021 at 10:47 AM ^
"The only way I would watch would be a guarantee of a meteor hitting the stadium"
love dad jokes.
January 11th, 2021 at 2:25 PM ^
Best line of the day. Agree. Will not watch but rooting for Alabama rout of the Bucks. And I don’t like Bama or Saban. Like choosing between liver and sardines for dinner.
January 11th, 2021 at 9:26 AM ^
bring lemon juice too
January 11th, 2021 at 10:41 AM ^
Good idea - will clean the sand out of his eyes so it doesn't hurt afterwards...
January 11th, 2021 at 10:34 AM ^
I would definitely rather watch you sand down your eyeballs than watch this
....or any other game
January 11th, 2021 at 7:55 AM ^
The prospect of OSU potentially winning their third national championship since Jim Tressel rolled into Columbus while we have TWO wins against them in that same time span is just sickening.
January 11th, 2021 at 12:58 PM ^
When you put it this way... Good Lord. This is so much worse than any possible doomsday prediction back in 2001.
January 11th, 2021 at 1:19 PM ^
We were swindled by that 2016 officiating crew, but still...
January 11th, 2021 at 8:05 AM ^
I'd feel disgustingly dirty cheering on either team tonight, so I'll continue to root for the meteor that blows up the NCAA and gives us a true minor league football organization. With money and business practices evened out across the landscape of 'college football', each team would have an equal shot at parity. As it is now, three teams will dominate for the foreseeable future.
And Michigan is not one of them.
January 11th, 2021 at 8:08 AM ^
Add in a 16 team playoff. Harbaugh is right about this one.
January 11th, 2021 at 8:15 AM ^
I've wanted a 16 team playoff for a decade, now! If every other division in football can do it, so can FBS...
January 11th, 2021 at 8:43 AM ^
FCS has had at least a 16 team playoff since 1995. 24 team playoff since 2013. The fact that people act like it's impossible to pull off is mind numbing.
January 11th, 2021 at 8:58 AM ^
....it is called special interest groups. Of course they will claim that it will take too much time away from the student athletes, but it some how doesn't happen in the other divisions???
January 11th, 2021 at 9:49 AM ^
There are about 40 bowl games right now and I'm sure the NCAA is worried about what a 16 team playoff format would mean for some of those. Many would not be sad to see some of them go, I couldn't care less about the Frisco Bowl, the Cure Bowl or the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. However , most of those non-playoff bowls could still be viable for P5 and G5 second and third place teams and some of them would be added to the playoff bowl list.
January 11th, 2021 at 2:27 PM ^
Some of those bowls would be the first round matches. 1 v 16 in the Frisco Bowl, 2 v 15 in the YoMammaEndDem Bowl, whatever.
Plus it would be a boost to some of those bowls which are only solvent because of ESPN.
January 11th, 2021 at 9:10 AM ^
What is the reason why FBS doesn’t expand the playoff? I’ve never read anything about why the committee and FBS can’t expand the playoff to at least eight teams.
January 11th, 2021 at 9:19 AM ^
There are currently about 7,847 bowl games, and they each have their own TV contract and sponsors. You wanna try buying them out?
January 11th, 2021 at 10:51 AM ^
You don't have to buy them out. They can either be incorporated into the playoff system or just keep on holding pointless bowl games for teams not in the playoff.
January 11th, 2021 at 12:59 PM ^
Exactly. Nobody cares about non-CFP bowl games anymore. The players don’t even care to participate due to added injury risk for no championship related benefit (which is a valid concern on their part). Maybe there is still some interest in non-CFP NY6 bowls but that is waning fast as well.
The old bowl system was killed a long time ago in favor of the golden egg of the playoff. Now, the system might as well open the thing up to more teams. It will be difficult though because those that currently control it will not easily be persuaded to share.
January 11th, 2021 at 12:56 PM ^
The real reason? Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney oppose expanding the playoffs.
January 11th, 2021 at 2:12 PM ^
I don't hear many say that it can't be pulled off. of course it could happen. I would argue it hurts college football. Winning during the season suddenly wouldn't matter much. It would hurt the value of all games during the season to possibly elevate a few postseason games. I don't think any of the first round matchups would be interesting. Maybe I'd glance at them but none are must watch. For example:
#1 Alabama vs #16 BYU (might be the most interesting until Alabama gets up by 30 points)
#2 Clemson vs #15 Iowa
#3 OSU vs #14 Northwestern (i assume they'd move to avoid in conference rematches)
#4 Notre Dame vs #13 UNC
#5 Texas A&M vs #12 Coastal Carolina
#6 Oklahoma vs #11 Indiana
#7 Florida vs #10 Iowa St
#8 Cincinnati vs #9 Georgia
Nothing there really excites me. The only way i'm excited is if all games are played on the same day with staggered starts. I would dedicated a day and setup multiple TVs to watching all of that but I expect each game would get its own timeslot over 3 days and I probably watch parts of 2 or 3 games. Assuming chalk on day 1, here's the next matchups:
#1 Alabama vs #8 Cincinnati
#2 Clemson vs #7 Florida
#3 OSU vs #6 Oklahoma
#4 Notre Dame vs #5 Texas A&M
Now i'm starting to get a little more interested in the matchups but again, I think they have to do all games on one day. Otherwise it turns into the same thing as the bowl season and I didn't prioritize any games and didn't watch a single full bowl game. I think conference championship games get cancelled and any P5 team with 2 losses is automatically in.
Michigan has been bad for awhile but to me, the excitement of every single game having significant consequences makes it more exciting. It's like betting money on a game. it changes how much I care each week. I might be convinced to do a bigger playoff if the higher ranked team gets to play at home until the final 4 but I doubt that happens either.
January 11th, 2021 at 9:20 AM ^
Okay, FCS has a 16 team playoff. What is the lowest seed that's ever made it to the championship game? More games just to have them when we know the outcome isn't going to solve anything. North Dakota State still dominates FCS football just like Alabama and OSU dominate FBS.
January 11th, 2021 at 10:44 AM ^
So what? A chance, vs no chance...
January 11th, 2021 at 10:49 AM ^
I don't think any basketball seed lower than 8 has won it all. Should we go back to a 32-team tourney?
You're missing the larger point, which is that this is supposed to actually be fun.
January 11th, 2021 at 1:04 PM ^
And ideally we should actually play for it.
January 11th, 2021 at 1:50 PM ^
Richmond won as the #7 in 2008 and James Madison won as #8 in 2004. With that said, you're right about imbalance. North Dakota State has won 8 of the last 9 national championship games.
January 11th, 2021 at 9:29 AM ^
It would be great to have, but I have a hard time seeing it change who is playing for it all in the end. The difference between the top three teams and the rest of the field, in any given year, is disgustingly large.
Don’t give me wrong, it would be great to see other teams get a shot at the big dance. But until proven otherwise, it’s going to be Alabama, OSU, and Clemson playing each other in the semis and then playing for it all in the title game.
January 11th, 2021 at 10:53 AM ^
Right now, those three schools can sell annual playoff appearances to recruits. Other schools can't. That's a big reason why they recruit so well.
Expand the field and that changes.
There is also the possibility that they lose along the way. Clemson actually did lose a game this year, while OSU and Bama had close calls against IU and Florida, respectively.
January 11th, 2021 at 8:05 AM ^
Hate to say this because I know the SEC is the best college football there is but Ohio State will beat Alabama tonight. It will be a high scoring game and Alabama’s offense is great but their defense is not that great. Florida almost beat Alabama. Ohio State is a more complete team. Look for a 52-48 score
January 11th, 2021 at 8:14 AM ^
i'm having the same feeling. At least OSU blew it against Clemson last season, so maybe there is a chance they will blow it again.
January 11th, 2021 at 9:02 AM ^
My hope is the Buckeyes blew their load against Clemson and come out limp against Bama.
January 11th, 2021 at 11:39 AM ^
Bama is definitely going to test Fields' ribs early on. If the Fields from last game shows up, OSU wins. If Bama can make him read the field like NW did, then Bama should win. He throws a nice ball, and is good at hitting wide open guys.
January 11th, 2021 at 12:11 PM ^
I think you may be correct. I think they can cover the 8 or 8.5 point spread and put money on that. I also put a smaller amount on them winning outright.
January 11th, 2021 at 8:07 AM ^
First meteor game of 2021?
January 11th, 2021 at 11:37 AM ^
Meteor's out, guns out!
January 11th, 2021 at 8:09 AM ^
I want both teams to lose... although I would like OSU to lose by more (as in score fewer points than Bama).
I have zero intention of watching the game, but I will check the score every now and then.
January 11th, 2021 at 8:46 AM ^
Agreed. I'd much rather Alabama win just so I don't have to hear about osu for the next 6 months
January 11th, 2021 at 8:12 AM ^
I can't bring myself to root for Alabama. I am just hoping for an entertaining game. I don't want to see ohio blow them out. Now I would be lying if I said I wouldn't enjoy Bama blowing them out of the water. But I have this weird feeling like ohio is going to win. Which sickens me. You see the recruiting gap now...imagine what will happen if they beat Bama. Their recruiting is only going to get better which is hard to imagine. It is already out of this realm.
January 11th, 2021 at 8:16 AM ^
Can they both lose?
January 11th, 2021 at 8:16 AM ^
Please
January 11th, 2021 at 8:34 AM ^
Ohio State will limit Alabama’s possessions on offense by running the ball and OSU’s defensive line is coached well enough to pressure Mac Jones enough to make him uncomfortable
January 11th, 2021 at 8:33 AM ^
Having this game on a weekday always feels weird. Football is meant to be played on weekends. Weekday games are for the MAC and such.
January 11th, 2021 at 8:41 AM ^
Agreed. Never understood why this game isn’t on a Friday
January 11th, 2021 at 1:36 PM ^
Because Friday night is awful for TV ratings. If a network wants to kill a show, they send it to Friday night so they can say, 'oops sorry, bad ratings.'