(01-02-2019 01:28 PM)ArQ Wrote:  

(12-30-2018 11:21 AM)OrangeDude Wrote:  

(12-29-2018 01:39 PM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  

(12-28-2018 06:02 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  ...With Auto-bids, every P5 champ will be in and the top G5 champ will be in. So, in what sport do division or conference champs NOT get in. Rank is subjective. Making the right play, at the right time, and winning when its all on the line is literally the definition of a conference champion. There would still be two wildcards to give high ranking deserving teams a SECOND chance to get in after they FAILED to win their conference championship. Nobody is going care if a team is left out because they couldnt even prove they were the best team in their own conference (or even division in some cases)--and then FAILED to convince the even the ice skating judges that they were one of the 2 best teams not automatically in the playoff.

This is a critical point that too many people miss. By definition there can ONLY be one undefeated team per conference (at most), and by definition that team WILL be the champion. So all of this talk of "more deserving at-large teams" really applies to the runners-up, second-place (or worse) teams. Why would those teams deserve more sympathy than the conference champ who lost a couple of upsets early in the season - then won when it mattered most (i.e. the championship game)?

It's hard to justify calling any team best in the nation if we know for a fact they aren't even the best in their own conference... isn't their conference in the nation?

No matter what the system, no one is going to be satisfied. Let's say this year's Syracuse beat Clemson as a result of us knocking Trevor Lawrence out of the game early. We still lose to Pitt and ND so Clemson is 11-1 and we are 10-2 but we hold the conference tie-breaker against Clemson so we get to play in the ACCCG while they don't. Everything else stays the same. We get revenge on Pitt in that game to get to 11-2 and are the auto-bid or Pitt beats us again and finishes the season 8-5 and gets the auto-bid. Are we truly getting "the best team in the conference"? I'd still believe the Tigers were the best team in the conference, but a fluke in one game allowed us to play in the ACCCG and left Clemson out when it should have been Clemson vs Syracuse all along in this alternate reality.

This is why I only want auto-bids for conference champions IF the conferences devise a system where the top two teams play each other in that game. Right now this only happens in the Big 12.

Of course then, depending upon what criteria the conference develops, someone will still complain.

Cheers,
Neil

As many people have pointed out, championship game should pair the best two teams (according to rankings) instead of two division champions. Problem solved. Also in your scenario, Syracuse and Clemson will meet in the conference championship game, not Pittsburgh and somebody.

But you don't know who the two best teams are if you don't play everybody. CCGs pairing the top two without a round robin are little better than another beauty contest. You will need all kinds of tiebreaks. Bad, bad idea.