FSU screwed out of playoffs

[Dave Gray]

I don't really have anything to add that hasn't already been said, but I just feel like it's a topic worth creating.

More than anything, I feel sad.  ...not for FSU.   I don't really care about any individual teams.  I feel more sad for the state of college football.  Like, what's the point of any of this if winning the games don't matter?

I kinda felt this way for boxing back in the day.  When the fight you were watching started to feel like a commercial for its own rematch, I lost interest.  And that's kinda how this feels.  I knew it's always been about money, but at least they pretended to be legitimate.  This is egregious and makes me feel icky about all of it.

[Engineering Owl]

Fortunately next year there will be a 12 team playoff structure.

[AQNOR]

From the rumblings I'm seeing, this was all about money.   The SEC and the Big Ten are the two "money conferences" and everyone is joining them or being left by the wayside as they have the TV deals that can generate hundreds of millions for every school.   The Big 12, ACC, and Pac 12 may have TV networks but they don't pay out anywhere near as much nor does the quality of their coverage stand out.   I think a handful of teams from the ACC will join the SEC and the Big Ten, and what's left of them along with what's left of the old Pac 12 will merge with the Big 12, and the Big 12 will be seen as the weak conference in what will be now a Power 3 conference group.

Fortunately next year there will be a 12 team playoff structure.

And it will include one Group of Five school, one or two Big 12 teams, and everyone else will be from the SEC or Big Ten.

[Phishfan]

FSU is clearly not the better team. Let's not even pretend simply being undefeated is enough criteria.  I don't see any mention of Liberty here or anywhere else

[Spider-Dan]

Liberty doesn't count, they aren't a Real Program.

Personally, I'm glad the last year of this dumb-ass system is causing more wailing and gnashing of teeth on the way out.  I'm glad an undefeated FSU got snubbed, I'm glad the #1 team all season got kicked out at the last second.  The only thing that can make this better is if Washington wins it all right before the Pac-12 is disbanded.

[Fau Teixeira]

Liberty doesn't count, they aren't a Real Program.

Personally, I'm glad the last year of this dumb-ass system is causing more wailing and gnashing of teeth on the way out.  I'm glad an undefeated FSU got snubbed, I'm glad the #1 team all season got kicked out at the last second.  The only thing that can make this better is if Washington wins it all right before the Pac-12 is disbanded.

i like that you're bringing chaos to the party. carry on

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I feel any team that goes undefeated should get a seed including Liberty. 

[Dave Gray]

FSU is clearly not the better team.

This is exactly why they should be there.  They aren't the best team and the won despite that adversity.

[Sunstroke]

I feel any team that goes undefeated should get a seed including Liberty. 

So, if being undefeated is your "first and foremost" criteria for CFP entry, then what do you do when you have 6 undefeated teams and only four spots?

[Dave Gray]

So, if being undefeated is your "first and foremost" criteria for CFP entry, then what do you do when you have 6 undefeated teams and only four spots?

The easy answer is to pick 4 of the 6, based on the other criteria, like a tiebreaker.  But first and foremost is undefeated or not, I would think.

I know that college football is its own animal, but realistically, Liberty could be the best team in the nation, win all their games, do everything they can, and still not make the playoffs.  That's crazy.  Why even have games?

[Phishfan]

This is exactly why they should be there.  They aren't the best team and the won despite that adversity.

Then where is your argument for Liberty? The idea is to select the four best teams, not someone that isn't but had an impressive record. Did you make the same arguments for UCF?

[Engineering Owl]

It is impossible for any non power 5 conferences to make it to the 4 team CFP. UCF had 2 undefeated regular seasons in a row with a bowl win against an elite Auburn team. they weren't even in the conversation for the CFP's, flawed system from the start.

[Dave Gray]

Then where is your argument for Liberty? The idea is to select the four best teams, not someone that isn't but had an impressive record. Did you make the same arguments for UCF?

I think the whole system is bullshit, so I'll just start with that.

However, it is known that going undefeated isn't enough, as evidenced by Boise State and UCF in years past.  It's bullshit, but it's known bullshit.

But the lie was always that these teams weren't from good enough conferences or they didn't play good teams.  So, the FSU thing just exposes that lie; that's all.


I think the whole college football system is total garbage, but I think the unfortunate reality is that the whole thing: the conference system, the bowls, all of it -- needs to be gutted and re-evaluated and there is too much money and hands in the pot and history and contracts and power in the conference leadership to ever enact real change.

So the change we're seeing, while better than what we have, is incremental and within the limitations of the current system.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

So, if being undefeated is your "first and foremost" criteria for CFP entry, then what do you do when you have 6 undefeated teams and only four spots?

Has that ever happened?  What is the likely of it happening in the future? 

In that case we use the current system to choose among the four.  Likewise if there is one undefeated team it gets in plus 3 that are chosen based on various criteria.

[Sunstroke]

If Liberty was placed in the CFP, after they fattened up on the Sam Houstons, Old Dominions and Jacksonville States all season, their first playoff opponent (Georgia?, 'Bama?) would destroy them by a gazillion points and invalidate the entire playoff process.