NCAA/College Football - 2015 Discussion

Langdon Alger

McCAffrey is special

polaris68

Getting really ugly for the Hawkeyes, McCaffery is a machine.

eagle eye

Early in the second quarter and McCaffrey already has 202 all purpose yards and 2 tds.

Cardinals are playing lights out D too and are already up 28-0.

polaris68

Fake fumble, a trick play I haven't seen before. 35 - 0.

Clearly Ohio State should have gone to the Rose Bowl with Iowa playing the Fiesta Bowl.

mooreman09

Very disappointed with the postseason so far.

sportstar583

mooreman09 wrote: »

Very disappointed with the postseason so far.

Same. Idk why the playoffs were on NYE. Also, the bowl games haven't been close for the most part. It's not fun watching a team get run over. Hopefully the national title game is close.

polaris68

Oregon already up 21 - 0 on TCU, end of the 1st.

Big 12 suck!

polaris68

Horned frogs on the cusp of a comeback for the ages!

polaris68

Overtime it is, 31 point comeback.

polaris68

TCU do it in triple OT. Kohlhausen the backup QB won't have to buy a beer in Forth Worth, Texas for the rest of his life!

mooreman09

Two cracking games last night but too little too late. I think this will make an 8 team playoff even closer.

We aren't seeing the best vs the best.

Lirange

mooreman09 wrote: »

Two cracking games last night but too little too late. I think this will make an 8 team playoff even closer.

We aren't seeing the best vs the best.

How do you mean? Which team that was left out was more deserving or better than the committee's top 4? The right four made it to the semis. No other team had a strong argument this year. What is the best vs the best to you? When the bowls were announced I don't recall anybody making such claims. Blowouts are always a possibility no matter the arrangement. I don't really see how an expanded playoff would have resulted in the best vs the best anymore than what we already have. Not having enough teams in the playoff wasn't really the problem this year. They will probably move the semis from NYE but they are not going to an 8 team playoff any time soon.

Bateman

The small crowds due to some of the geographical features of a lot of those bowl games seemed more of a factor than previous years but that may just have been to the naked eye watching on tv. A lot of blowouts but not sure how that makes a final 8 any closer to be honest.

Realt Dearg Sec

Bateman wrote: »

The small crowds due to some of the geographical features of a lot of those bowl games seemed more of a factor than previous years but that may just have been to the naked eye watching on tv. A lot of blowouts but not sure how that makes a final 8 any closer to be honest.

I think with the playoffs expanded to four, some of the bowls became an anti climax for the fans. Certainly that was a factor for nd and Ohio state. Both had reasonable expectations of being in the final four and the disappointment of not getting there wasn't compensated by the bowl game. I'm that sense, the extra playoffs have devalued some bowls, and that, ironically, puts more pressure to expand the playoffs, especially if fans start to lose interest in the bowls and see the playoffs as the be all and end all.

Lirange

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

I think with the playoffs expanded to four, some of the bowls became an anti climax for the fans. Certainly that was a factor for nd and Ohio state. Both had reasonable expectations of being in the final four and the disappointment of not getting there wasn't compensated by the bowl game. I'm that sense, the extra playoffs have devalued some bowls, and that, ironically, puts more pressure to expand the playoffs, especially if fans start to lose interest in the bowls and see the playoffs as the be all and end all.

I'm not sure how it is any different than when you only had two teams make the National Championship game. Didn't the fans of all the other teams that came close to making that game towards the end initially feel deflated as well? The main ratings issue here was the ridiculous scheduling on New Year's Eve for the semifinal teams that were still in the hunt to win the championship. Several bowls had very good ratings this year...the Alamo, Citrus, etc. The Holiday Bowl had terrible ratings after setting a record for it's highest rating ever last year...and last year had the same four team playoff system. New Year's Eve and New Year's Day coinciding with the weekend usually does curtail viewership. If a bowl doesn't receive the hoped for ratings there are usually many factors... the primary one typically being scheduling.

One can make an argument to expand the playoffs further (though you can make a valid counter argument too). But I think it has little to do with any overall ratings issues bowl to bowl, year to year.

Realt Dearg Sec

When there was only two, the team that finished sixth probably didn't feel like they'd just barely missed out, no.

Lirange

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

When there was only two, the team that finished sixth probably didn't feel like they'd just barely missed out, no.

But the teams that finished 3rd or 4th probably did, yes.

It doesn't matter if there are 2, 4, or 8 teams. Someone will always just miss out.

Realt Dearg Sec

Lirange wrote: »

But the teams that finished 3rd or 4th probably did, yes.

It doesn't matter if there are 2, 4, or 8 teams. Someone will always just miss out.

Yeah but the scope for thinking you just missed out gets much bigger. If there's eight spots, probably the next eight teams will all feel like they had a chance of sneaking in, not just the next two. If there's sixteen teams, then anyone ranked at all would probably fancy their chances. That's all I'm saying.

Certainly Notre dame fans weren't particularly excited about the bowl this year, despite the prestigious opponent etc.

Lirange

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Yeah but the scope for thinking you just missed out gets much bigger. If there's eight spots, probably the next eight teams will all feel like they had a chance of sneaking in, not just the next two. If there's sixteen teams, then anyone ranked at all would probably fancy their chances. That's all I'm saying.

So you would rather just have the one championship game?

Lirange

Lirange wrote: »

So you would rather just have the one championship game?

personally i would prefer an expanded playoffs as i dont think the other bowl games mean that much anyway but for someone who enjoys them i can understand the issue the larger the playoffs get the more irrelevant the non playoff bowl games get

Realt Dearg Sec

Lirange wrote: »

So you would rather just have the one championship game?

I think devaluing the bowl games is a price worth paying for an expanded playoffs.

Bateman

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

I think with the playoffs expanded to four, some of the bowls became an anti climax for the fans. Certainly that was a factor for nd and Ohio state. Both had reasonable expectations of being in the final four and the disappointment of not getting there wasn't compensated by the bowl game. I'm that sense, the extra playoffs have devalued some bowls, and that, ironically, puts more pressure to expand the playoffs, especially if fans start to lose interest in the bowls and see the playoffs as the be all and end all.

I get what you're saying, but I don't believe the answer is to expand. There are still plenty of "smaller" schools for whom a .5 season and a bowl invite (ideally within 3 states of their own) is something to savour.

The idea that the "bigger" schools would just "write off" a bowl game out of disappointment at not making the final 8/16 is not a price worth paying IMO, I guess it just comes down to opinion maybe.

Plus, the performance of the SEC teams this season, in non-playoff bowl games, both on the field and against the spread, shows that motivation is as high as ever down south for some of these post-Christmas bowl games. Would be a shame to intentionally devalue that.

Also - you are potentially going to have teams with 3 and 4 losses against their name in a "final 8". This goes against what a committee is supposed to do. You should be punished for losing during the regular season.

Bateman

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Yeah but the scope for thinking you just missed out gets much bigger. If there's eight spots, probably the next eight teams will all feel like they had a chance of sneaking in, not just the next two. If there's sixteen teams, then anyone ranked at all would probably fancy their chances. That's all I'm saying.

Certainly Notre dame fans weren't particularly excited about the bowl this year, despite the prestigious opponent etc.

I wouldn't use the Irish as a great example this season. They did well but their ceiling was suspected all along by most people and they weren't good enough to be in the shakeup.

Realt Dearg Sec

Bateman wrote: »

I wouldn't use the Irish as a great example this season. They did well but their ceiling was suspected all along by most people and they weren't good enough to be in the shakeup.

I agree, they hung on to Clemson's coattails for a long time and eventually the reality of who they were became clear (albeit they were devastated by injuries and did very well to remain competitive when you consider who they lost along the way). I'm just telling you that the fans' expectations were interstellar, and no bowl game was ever going to make up for the disappointment.

Realt Dearg Sec

Bateman wrote: »

I get what you're saying, but I don't believe the answer is to expand. There are still plenty of "smaller" schools for whom a .5 season and a bowl invite (ideally within 3 states of their own) is something to savour.

The idea that the "bigger" schools would just "write off" a bowl game out of disappointment at not making the final 8/16 is not a price worth paying IMO, I guess it just comes down to opinion maybe.

Plus, the performance of the SEC teams this season, in non-playoff bowl games, both on the field and against the spread, shows that motivation is as high as ever down south for some of these post-Christmas bowl games. Would be a shame to intentionally devalue that.

Also - you are potentially going to have teams with 3 and 4 losses against their name in a "final 8". This goes against what a committee is supposed to do. You should be punished for losing during the regular season.

Yeah, maybe, but I just think that the more that are brought in, the less likely that a jury decision will screw someone over. The championship becomes more likely to be won on the field of play. The college game's structure is extremely problematic in so very, very many ways, I think playoffs, while they have some obvious drawbacks like the ones you've mentioned, at least go some way towards addressing the inherent structural problems that ultimately just can't ever be fully un-banjacksed.

mooreman09

I'm for a 6 team playoff....

Two 1/4 finals - Two Semi finals then - using 4 of the NY6 bowls alternating by year. The NY 6 bowls will have to start being more flexible in the new era.

Or

An 8 team playoff using all 6 NY6 bowls.

The reality is the playoffs have taken the luster from the majot bowls, so they might aswell all join the party and get on the bandwagon that will be an extended playoff.


As for the National Champiosnship game

It was fantastic. I thought Clemson were the better side but Alabama made huge plays when needed.

What can you say about Watson? He might have lost, but that was an amazing performance.

LuckyLloyd

The fake FG call was incredible, definitely the turning point in the game.

I ultimately believe we'll end up at 8 teams, but as per the movement from the BCS system, the opportunity to do it is only going to come to pass when general TV deals are due for renegotiation.