(01-12-2022 01:20 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote: (01-12-2022 12:58 PM)BearcatMan Wrote: In the long and illustrious history of playoffs in sports, how many times has a team like a "crappy Utah" won a championship? The whole argument is that if a team does hiccup, they aren't the best team, regardless of who their opponent at the time is, and talent wins out in prolonged stretches, a bad team can't beat 4 good teams in a row.
Yup. Not only that, seedings and byes can help adjust for [not eliminate] outliers from advancing in a deep run. We didn't even mention injuries. That is something you can't control but it can impact who the "best teams" are at the end of the year. The bottom line is expansion will happen and I don't see any real downside to it.
How many times are playoffs won by teams that everyone agrees aren't dominant? Let's just look at the FCS championship:
NDSU has been absolutely dominant since 2011. But before then:
2008 winner Richmond was #7 in the final regular season poll and finished 3rd in its 6-team CAA division. They also got destroyed by 5-7 Virginia.
2007 winner Appalachian State was 9-2 and #5 going into the playoffs (including a loss at home to unranked conference rival Georgia Southern). There were 3 undefeated teams (Northern Iowa, Montana, and McNeese State) and a 1-loss Southern Illinois whose only loss was to undefeated UNI (and both beat FBS teams that year). But App State never faced any of those four teams - Montana and McNeese State lost in the first round, and UNI and USI both got knocked out of the playoffs when #13 Delaware (who finished 3rd in its 6-team division) went on a roll.
2004 winner James Madison was #8 in the final poll. They had already lost to #6 William & Mary in the regular season. But they beat #2 Furman in a 14-13 game in which they blocked 2 field goals. They won the rematch with W&M in the semis, and beat #7 Montana in the finals, never facing the top-ranked SIU Salukis (who were #1 almost the whole season but were upset in the first round).
2002 winner Western Kentucky was #15 in the final regular season poll. They had already gotten blown out by #1 McNeese State and #2 Western Illinois in the regular season. But the playoff allowed them to get rematches with both squads, which they won.
1998 winner UMass was #12 in the final regular season poll. They had 3 losses, including 2 losses to #8 UConn.
1997 champion Youngstown State finished 3rd in its conference.
1995 champion Montana was #8 in the final regular season poll, including losses to 3-8 Washington State and 6-5 conference mate Idaho (2nd in the conference that year). There were 4 undefeated teams that year, but Montana won by never having to face any of the top-4 teams in the playoffs.
1992 champion Marshall finished in a 3-way tie for 2nd in its 8-team conference. They also got blown out by a 3-8 Missouri team.
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Georgia vs Bama Thread
