1VaBlue1

January 3rd, 2018 at 1:45 PM ^

Why not claim it?  They're 13-0 with a win over Auburn.  And don't tell me Auburn wasn't there to win!  

Now, I don't think for a minute that UCF would win a playoff.  But they earned a shot and would have a second game if 6 or 8 teams were in...

bluebyyou

January 3rd, 2018 at 3:03 PM ^

Ah...the eight game playoff.  One of my concerns is how the eight and seven seed would fare in a typical year against the one and two seeds.  Blowouts are only fun when they happen against OSU and MSU.  And then there is scheduling two more games at an NFL peak time.

Arb lover

January 3rd, 2018 at 7:46 PM ^

vs FIU W61-17
vs MEM CANC
vs GT CANC
@ MD W38-10
vs MAINE CANC
vs MEM W40-13
@ CIN W51-23
vs ECU W63-21
@ NAVY W31-21
vs PEAY W73-33
@ SMU W31-24
vs CONN W49-24
@ TEM W45-19
vs USF W49-42
vs 20 MEM W62-55
vs 7 AUB W34-27

Also consider that Michigan played both Maryland and Cin as well as UCF did, and while those are the only two teams they played in common, they were some of the better teams UCF played (excluding Memphis and AUB and possibly USF). Instead of back to back USF vs Memphis, Michigan is playing back to back top 10 teams. And nobody in their right mind is going to say Michigan was a 2017 national champion contender. It's all schedule.

Charlestown Chiefs

January 3rd, 2018 at 8:29 PM ^

I'll make this easy: take that same schedule and same win margin etc... and replace UCF with an Independent school like Notre Dame.  If that's who they scheduled, would people be saying they deserved to be in the playoff?  Not a chance.  That's how it works when your conference is garbage.  The G5 teams really should just have their own playoff.

Sione For Prez

January 3rd, 2018 at 1:48 PM ^

It's fun to mock but this is the only way the G5 teams will have a chance. They need the playoffs to expand to 8 with automatic qualifiers to get a seat at the table.

smwilliams

January 3rd, 2018 at 1:59 PM ^

And it's a pretty easy sell too.

P5 Champions get auto bids

Highest-ranked G5 team gets in.

2 At-Large Bids.

Play the quarters on campus and then proceed as usual.

So, this year would've been

#8 UCF (G5) at #1 Clemson (ACC Champ)

#5 Ohio State (B1G Champ) at #4 Alabama (At-Large)

#7 USC (Pac-12 Champ) at #2 Oklahoma (Big XII Champ)

#6 Wisconsin (At-Large) at #3 Georgia (SEC Champ)

 

Sione For Prez

January 3rd, 2018 at 2:13 PM ^

That's where I'm at with it as well. I would LOVE a playoff game in December at Michigan Stadium. Unfortunately money probably wins out and the non-playoff NY6 bowl games find a way to block this plan.

EDIT: It also preserves the sanctity of the regular season we all love so much. It would be a huge advantage to play at home so no need to worry about a team mailing it in at the end of the year just to get in.

Sione For Prez

January 3rd, 2018 at 3:30 PM ^

I don't know if I agree with that. The Committee went out of their way to blast UCF's schedule. I think that would have continued and they would have put 4 P5 teams in the playoff  without a qualifier. I expect UCF to get more love in the final poll after beating Auburn but that data point didn't exist when the playoff field would have been selected.

Cruzcontrol75

January 3rd, 2018 at 7:03 PM ^

When my #21 ranked WMU Broncos kept getting leapt over despite teams ahead and around them losing. And #19 Boise st managed to stay ahead of Western into week 13 at 10-1 and Western was 11-0. If not for a loss to Air Force in that last game Boise St would’ve gone to the Cotton Bowl. The committee chose to take the side of a program that had previous years of success, which should have no bearing on the current years bowl selection process but it shows the extent of the political process as if filters down through the G5. So no, Western would not have made it in as a 12-0 had Boise St gone 11-1. And i would bet that neither would be chosen for an 8th seed. Western took care of a middle tier B1G at Evanston in the opener and destroyed an bottom tier Illini team in their house.

jmblue

January 3rd, 2018 at 2:35 PM ^

Basketball de-emphasized the regular season ages ago by going to the giant tournament.  I don't want football to do the same.

Also, there are about 350 D-I basketball programs, so to be #10 in the country in basketball is a little different than in football.

mgobaran

January 3rd, 2018 at 2:54 PM ^

All Michigan has ever cared about is winning the B1G. Doing so under an Auto-bid playoff makes winning the B1G (regular season) even more meaningful.

50% of the life of the College Football Playoff, the B1G Champ hasn't had a chance to win a National Title. And that is horseshit when on the field results mean everything, and interconference football is completed 2 months before the end of the season.

mgobaran

January 3rd, 2018 at 2:48 PM ^

All 5 power conferences get 2 teams (conference championships) into the playoff. Two additional at-large teams (undefeated Group of 5 teams get placed first, then highest rated non-conference champ from college football playoff gets in.)

You get a 12 team playoff, and that 3/4 loss division champ surely has done enough to be apart of a 12 team playoff. 6 winners, top two seeds (from final poll) awarded byes, 3rd highest plays winner of play in game between at-larges, 4th and 5th play). 1 gets lowest seed, 2 gets other winner. Winners meet in National Title Game. 

That is how it currently is, basically, except 1 or 2 power conferences don't even get a chance to move on after winning conference, and G5 is completely screwed, and college football fans get less meaningful football.