Why doesn't college football just add another week and scrap conference title games?
If hypothetically this was still the big ten of before divisions but a playoff system, OSU and Penn State would have shared the big ten title. But as far as the playoff team OSU would have the edge because of better overall record and higher ranking. The obvious problem we have now is
1. A lot of teams have better resumes than division champs
2. Certain divisions are tougher than others
3. One game should not determine a conference champ. Ex if somehow a miracle happened and Florida beat Alabama no one thinks Florida is better.
Obviously conference championship game weekend was pretty much created as an extra weekend and money grab, so if they're going to do this why not just add another weekend? Go back to shared titles and highest ranked team gets into the playoff. Obviously there's the argument then that the four best teams should still get in and if two teams in one conference still appear best so be it. Obviously I like the fact that Michigan still has a chance, but not really for the fact that Clemson and Washington are playing extra games. Based on resumes Michigan clearly has a better one than either two, but if all three teams played 13 regular season games and went 11-2 it would be a no brainer.
November 30th, 2016 at 7:42 PM ^
The B1G needs to realign the divisions ASAP. Michigan and OSU should be in opposite divisions with The Game locked in every year. This unbalance of power is hurting competition and sending the wrong teams to the playoffs. The big boys in the East are knocking each other off.
November 30th, 2016 at 7:54 PM ^
November 30th, 2016 at 7:57 PM ^
Michigan and OSU should be in opposite divisions with The Game locked in every year.But then we might play two weeks in a row. I'd rather send PSU over to the West.
December 1st, 2016 at 9:59 AM ^
The only 2 teams Michigan should play every year are OSU and MSU. Those are the natural rivals and yes I agree, they should realign the conferences. But the logic was not to have both teams play twice(The Game and in the B1G title game).
November 30th, 2016 at 7:51 PM ^
Right now you need to win as many as 15 games to win the National Championship, which tbh is just way too many. In my opinion any talk about expanding the playoff or conference schedule has to be done hand in hand with reducing one of the non-conference games.
November 30th, 2016 at 7:51 PM ^
The conference championships are completely irrelvant. In all four scenarios this weekend (SEC, B1G, ACC, PAC12) if the upset happens, the loser still would have a better or equal conference record than the crowned champion. In the case of SEC and B1G it may not matter who wins the championship because there's very clearly a team from each conference going.
We're about to find out how much the committee REALLY values conference championships. Colorado, Penn State, Wisconsin all have worse resumes than M and may get in because they won the functional equivalent of a quiz bowl championship. Conference championships should not trump overall resume. No one in the pac 12 has a better resume than Michigan or Ohio State. Neither does Clemson. Neither does Penn State or Wisconsin. Yet its almost a certainty that its Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and p12 champ or Penn State.
November 30th, 2016 at 7:52 PM ^
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November 30th, 2016 at 7:57 PM ^
Here is a wild idea to replace conference divisions. The conference should schedule games through week 11. Week eleven would be treated as the last regular season week, OSU vs UM, senior day etc. Then week 12 is a play in to the conference championship game. At the end of week 11 rate the teams 1 through 14. ln week 12, four plays @ one, three plays @ two. Match up the remaining 10 team in a simular fashion. The winners of 4 vs 1 & 3 vs 2 play in the conference championship. So the best two teams in the conference play in the championship.
November 30th, 2016 at 8:04 PM ^
along these lines...one isse with this, though, would be the near certainty of repeat games, particularly back to back games.
Your setup could lead to a Michigan-Ohio State rematch in the "conference semis" or even worse, what if we got a Michigan-Rutgers rematch this year?
What about keep divisions, #1 from division A plays #2 from Division B, and #1 from Division B plays #2 from Division A. The remaining teams play their respective "place," i.e. #4 seed from A plays #4 from B.
November 30th, 2016 at 8:32 PM ^
Hopefully when cable dies we can go back to 10 team conferences and 9 game round robins.
November 30th, 2016 at 8:54 PM ^
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November 30th, 2016 at 9:01 PM ^
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November 30th, 2016 at 9:39 PM ^
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November 30th, 2016 at 9:43 PM ^
November 30th, 2016 at 10:18 PM ^
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November 30th, 2016 at 10:21 PM ^
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December 1st, 2016 at 1:25 AM ^
Brian's take on the importance of conference titles is nostalgic and illogical. The bigger leagues get, the more haphazard and imbalanced the schedules are. Want conference titles to matter again? Round robin or GTFO.
December 1st, 2016 at 7:08 AM ^
I always thought the ideal conference size was 8- enough to play a round-robin schedule, and several interesting intersectional games.
December 1st, 2016 at 7:22 AM ^
Whether you keep conference champions or not, I'd like to see most or all teams a rotating conference division challenge on Week 14 or 15. One year each B1G East team would play a corresponding team from, say, the SEC West Division (#3 vs #3, #4 vs #4, etc.). The next year it would be the PAC-12 North; then the year after that the ACC Atlantic, etc. Home and visitor status would be predetermined, but who fills the visitor slots may not be determined until the end of the the regular conference season.
This would give balanced competition, as well as a better determination of SOS for any playoffs as well as the bowls, etc.
December 1st, 2016 at 8:38 AM ^
All about money and that won't be changing anytime soon
December 1st, 2016 at 8:38 AM ^
December 1st, 2016 at 10:17 AM ^
...but scrap the conferences completely. Play 12 teams, regardless of where they are, and finish with an 8-team playoff. Set up a point system that rewards tough competition, road games, and any other reasonable metric. No more weak divisions like the B1G West or SEC East.
And teams like Clemson would be forced to do better than scheduling Troy. Didn't they beat Troy by 6? WTF, HOW IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THIS??? We get crap for blowing out Hawaii and UCF and they scraped by Troy...and NC State. WTF, HOW IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THIS??? If NC State had a kicker worth a damn, we'd probably be #4 in the polls right now and Clemson would be somewhere behind Oklahoma and Okie State. Damn, that's a tangent. I'm done.
December 1st, 2016 at 11:38 AM ^
Because then Rutgers would have to play one more game. Have some sympathy, man.
December 1st, 2016 at 11:43 AM ^
I posted this in another thread:
The easiest fix is to eliminate all divisions with in every conference. This will create true conference championship games that actually mean something. Take the 2 best teams and if there is a tie between...go with the highest playoff ranking. If we did that we would get the following matchups below.
My point is the top 2 teams in the conference dont always play in the conference championship...it would make it more clear in the playoff discussion.
ACC
Clemson vs. Louisville
Big 10
Ohio St. vs Penn St.
Pac
Same - Wash vs Colo
SEC
Same - Bama vs Fl
Big 12 - NO CONF. Champ. this year.
Oklahoma vs Okla St or WVU