and one thing I enjoyed was that everyone played everyone every season, so you had a real champion. Today, with so many teams in conferences, because of MONEY, some teams in the same conference play a much weaker schedule than others, which I don't like. But it's the way of the world.

(12-01-2014 10:52 AM)outsideualr Wrote:  and one thing I enjoyed was that everyone played everyone every season, so you had a real champion. Today, with so many teams in conferences, because of MONEY, some teams in the same conference play a much weaker schedule than others, which I don't like. But it's the way of the world.

The Big 12 has got it right. 10 teams (I know they can't count) that all play each other. Seems like there would be no controversy who the champion is and who should go to the 4 team playoff. Problem is, most believe TCU is better than Baylor, but Baylor beat TCU. If Baylor beats KState, I don't think the committee can decide in favor of the team that lost the head to head matchup. It could very well happen, however. The championship games are rather stupid as well. What if Mizzou beats Alabama? Does Mizzou get into the playoff? Probably not, but if an SEC team goes how can it not be the league champion? Still a losing Alabama team probably has a better shot than Mizzou of getting in. So in the end, it's likely that unscientific human opinions will make the decision rather than results on the field.

As I recall, when there was a tie for the championship in the old SWC, the team winning the head to head was declared the champion. There is no other fair way to decide it. Only games that count toward the conference championship are conference games, so it doesn't matter who they played out of conference. Of course when you get humans involved, they'll always find ways to $&%& it up.

(12-01-2014 03:37 PM)outsideualr Wrote:  As I recall, when there was a tie for the championship in the old SWC, the team winning the head to head was declared the champion. There is no other fair way to decide it. Only games that count toward the conference championship are conference games, so it doesn't matter who they played out of conference. Of course when you get humans involved, they'll always find ways to $&%& it up.

But is fair as I am aware the committee is under no obligation to take the champion of a particular league. Obviously, if Mizzou beat Alabama they are the league champion. Still would bet Alabama gets in before Mizzou, as crazy as that would be.

That's the problem with the way things are set up now. My suggestion a few weeks ago was confirmed by one of the sportswriter who said exactly what I said, with one exception. We both said the champions of the Top Five are automatics. Here is where it differs. He suggested three wild cards from the Big Five Conferences. I suggested two from the Big Five and one from the highest rated team from a non Top Five conference. Either way, you make it simple. Every team knows they have to win their conference or they have no gripe about not being in the playoff. Like the Ryder Cup standing in golf. A certain number are automatic qualifiers, but the others are Captain's picks. You don't need a committee meeting every week to tell you how things stand. It doesn't really matter until all the games are over. And then it's a subjective situation. If Missouri wins the SEC championship, they should be an automatic. It's up to Alabama to win the game. If they don't, that's their fault. They can't then complain they should be in. It's all in their hands. Now if a league doesn't have a championship game, and they don't all play each other, it's a more complicated matter.
But the Big 12 has the best and most fair situation, IMO.