Fix the CFP now...please

Submitted by nappa18 on
Easy and clean. P5 champs and top ranked G5 team are in. Teams seeded 1 and 2 draw byes, teams 3-6 play week after the Army -Navy game. 4 remaining teams play on as now. What could be easier? Or fairer? An extra game possible for teams 3-6. Weekly CFP standings (and ESPN) mean little. Anyone see a problem except for the two elephants in the room, ESPN and the NCAA.
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SpikeFan2016

December 3rd, 2017 at 11:49 AM ^

No. 

 

4 is good. The only reason college football stands out as the best sport is that it's the only game where every regular season game matters. 

 

You can't do 6 because the extra game is a huge disadvantage and there's such a marginal difference between #2 and #3. 

 

8 is way too many and makes it too easy to get in. 

 

It should be hard. 

Joined: 04/03/2015

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MotownGoBlue

December 3rd, 2017 at 12:22 PM ^

Four teams would be ideal if four teams went undefeated every year, but that’s never the case. Even if that were the case, selecting teams is still subjective. Selecting eight teams decreases the margin of error. And what about the Oregons, Utahs, Boise States, etc., of yesteryear, that weren’t voted into national championship games because they were smaller brands? This year we have 12-0 UCF that won’t even sniff a shot at the title. Open it up to 8 teams and it allows for a truer competition to become national champion.

Joined: 08/09/2014

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ndscott50

December 3rd, 2017 at 11:50 AM ^

The three teams that are in deserve to get in. OSU or Alabama both are justified to not get in. Alabama could have not lost to the one good team they played all year (play a 9th conference game instead of a November cupcake) and OSU could have not got their butt kick by Iowa. It is not a travesty if either team is left out.

Joined: 10/02/2009

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Sione For Prez

December 3rd, 2017 at 12:00 PM ^

In OP's scenario there would still be major controversy because you have to decide between 3 one-loss conference champs for seeds 1 & 2 and a major advantage in having a bye.

There will always be outrage as long as polls determine who plays for titles.

Joined: 11/16/2015

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jbrandimore

December 3rd, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^

Divisions 2 & 3 have playoffs with 24 teams. Those kids manage just fine. Expand to 24 or 32 and do away with all fleabag bowl games. If someone feels 32 isn’t enough create an “NIT of football.”

Joined: 01/06/2015

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JWG Wolverine

December 3rd, 2017 at 12:19 PM ^

I want an 8 team playoff, but if they go down that road, I'm afraid people will keep wanting it to expand, and then the next thing you know it's "January Madness". And that smells like Dave Brandon traditionless crap to me.

 

8 team playoff, no more, no less. Please!

Joined: 01/07/2017

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CarlosSpicyweiner21

December 3rd, 2017 at 12:33 PM ^

Easy answer is record. You then go to SOS of the teams you beat. Of course this kills low conference teams because we still won’t entertain a undefeated team who played garbage conference schedule. This forces teams to schedule tougher opponents while still forcing you to win.

Joined: 12/28/2015

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chatster

December 3rd, 2017 at 12:34 PM ^

I’ve always thought that the playoffs in all sports start with the first game of the season. The key for every team is “just play to win the game” from day one.  Whether there will be four, six or eight teams in the college football playoffs, every team in every Power Five conference has a chance to make the playoffs when the season starts.
 
If the “Group of Five” conferences feel left out, then let them have their own playoff system and let them play their games at some of the second tier bowl venues, so that those bowl committees will feel like the games at their venues will have some greater significance than some random matchups between "Group of Five" teams.
 
Start the season with meaningful games for every team in Power Five conferences and require at least nine games within the conference for all FBS teams. Consider a Big Ten-ACC Challenge to start or finish the season. The two conferences already do it for basketball. (Notre Dame can shove it.)  Let's see how the ACC's southern schools react to playing in the north during November.
 
Play no games against FCS teams. Maybe add a tenth conference game for conferences that have more than ten teams.  For Big Ten teams, that would allow for five home and five away games for every team every year. For Michigan, make sure that Michigan State and Ohio State games never again will be scheduled so both of those teams play at Michigan Stadium in the same year.

Joined: 09/14/2010

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The Dude

December 3rd, 2017 at 1:03 PM ^

the top 2 teams would have to get byes to the semifinal. 8 teams would be more entertaining. 

-Conference champs from the P5 schools get auto bid and take slots 1-5. 

6,7, and 8....

-Notre Dame auto bid if in top 8. 

-Non-P5 conference champ gets auto bid if in top 10. 

-Remaining slots got to top P5 teams.

-I would limit it to 3 teams for each conference in the 8 team playoff.  

Round of 8 the higher ranked team hosts the week after the conference championship game. There could be a Friday night game and 3 games on Saturday. 

Winners of Round of 8 go to aligned semi. Losers get placed in appropriate bowl game. 

 

So it would look like...

Penn State (Wld Card #3)* at Clemson (ACC Champ) 

Wisconsin (Wild Card #2) at Oklahoma (Big 12 Champ) 

Alabama (Wild Card #1) at Georgia (SEC Champ) 

USC (Pac 12 Champ) at Ohio State (Big 10 Champ)  

*Based on how badly Auburn lost in the SEC game I'd give the third wild card spot to Penn State. 

 

 

Joined: 09/13/2014

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Killer Khakis

December 3rd, 2017 at 1:26 PM ^

Go back to the BCS era: play 11 regular season games, have your conference winners play in a big BCS bowl game (have 4 BCS games so you can have all P5 conference winnners going and 3 wild card teams in a BCS bowl), and have these games between Christmas and New Years. The winners go the BCS games will go to a 4 team playoff, and that's how the playoff should be done. You still finish playing 15 games if you are the champs and the bowl games get their endorsments still, plus it solves isues about winning your confrence and honesty if you don't win your conference or aren't one of 3 wildcard teams selected your resume and work isn't that good and you won't have a shot to compete in the playoff.  

Joined: 12/03/2015

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Beat Rutgerland

December 3rd, 2017 at 2:03 PM ^

I'm basically fine with the current system. I'd prefer an 8 team playoff (with a guaranteed spot for the G5), but anything more than 8 feels like it would ruin the sport, and if they expand it again, there's a good chance they won't be able to resist going to 16 or something else ridiculous like that

Joined: 11/29/2015

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cloudman

December 3rd, 2017 at 2:29 PM ^

CFP should transition to a 16 team playoff as per Coach Harbaugh. Nix Alabama for the next playoff and let them play in their own Bowl. Welcome the AAC, MAC, Mountain West, PAC-12 and Big Ten champions, along the other P5 and Ivy League champions. Let’s go old school!

Joined: 07/28/2011

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BuckNekked

December 3rd, 2017 at 2:50 PM ^

I see a problem. G5 teams rarely if ever belong in the conversation. I dont care if your 12-0. If you dont play P5 teams its meaningless. Everyone in the P5 plays at least 1 and more likely multiple top 20 teams. G5 teams do not.

I like the 5 conference winners. Then the next best team. If that team looks to be a G5 team, fine. But Id think it would be a once in 10 or 20 year occurence that a G5 has the resume.

Joined: 12/06/2013

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gbdub

December 3rd, 2017 at 7:02 PM ^

Let’s say an 8 team playoff gives the top G5 team an auto bid. Best case, they deserve it but didn’t get a chance to show it with their schedule. Worst case, they don’t, but then the #1 seed gets a glorified scrimmage. That’s not so bad, considering the “6 teams is best” crowd wants to give them a BYE!

Joined: 02/16/2010

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JTGoBlue

December 3rd, 2017 at 3:00 PM ^

I believe I read it here, but someone posited the idea of six 11-team conferences that would play a ten game round robin schedule. Who was that? Great idea.

Joined: 08/31/2009

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rugbypike11

December 3rd, 2017 at 7:03 PM ^

I'd go with an 8 quarterfinal with a CFP ranking driving the seeding and atuomatic bids.  The rule for automatic bids would be fairly simple.  Conference Championship Game winners ranked in the top 16 of the final CFP rankings would get an automatic bid.  I'd also make it so that CCG losers aren't eligible for one of the at-large playoff positions.  That makes it so the CCG are basically do-or-die first round playoff games.  The 6 CCG winners in the top 16 who would get automatic bids this year in my proposed hypothetical 8 team quarterfinal round would be: Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia, Ohio State :-(, USC, and UCF.

Now I hate the idea that a non-division winner can back into the playoffs without having to go through the CCG game (especially in a system where the CCG loser would be ineligible for an at-large slot), so I'd put in a play-in game during Army/Navy week for the remaining top ranked programs.  This year, the play-in games for the two at-large slots would be:

Notre Dame at Alabama
Washington at Penn State

If you only had 5 CCG winners ranked in the top 16, that would open up another at-large play-in game.  I guess it's also theoretically possible to only have 4 CCG winners ranked in the top 16, but I don't really see that happening very often. That said, the mechanism would be in place to automatically address really weak P5 conference champions or strong Group of 5 conference champions.  Anyway, after the conference champion auto-bids are awarded and the play-in round is played, I'd reseed for the 8 team quarterfinal.  This year, assuming Alabama and Washington win their play-in games, that would look like:

1.) Clemson vs. 8.) UCF
2.) Oklahoma vs. 7.) Washington
3.) Georgia vs. 6.) USC
4.) Alabama vs. 5) Ohio State

There's potential for controversy in seeding and in the selection of the at-large play-in games.  I don't think anybody below Notre Dame has an argument that they're a national championship contender, and frankly, Notre Dame itself doesn't have much of an argument as the last at-large team in.

Joined: 12/02/2008

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Jeep

December 3rd, 2017 at 7:29 PM ^

You already have a non official playoff system with the conferance championships.  Just institue a rule you have to be a conferance champion to get into the playoff.  Alabama didn't even win thier division and they are in the Playoff? ????

I think USC, OSU and UCF got hosed.

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