Why expanding the College Football Playoff soon is not as simple or likely as you may think
https://www.cbssports.com/college-footba...may-think/

While I would like to see The American and othe G5 leagues have a realistic shot at making the playoffs, I don’t, however, believe changing the playoff format to benefit The Big Ten, without some concessions from Delaney, would make smart business sense. Delaney is the sole reason The ACC has divisions. Now that Delaney needs something we need to force him to pay for it

(12-22-2018 03:19 PM)CardinalJim Wrote:  While I would like to see The American and othe G5 leagues have a realistic shot at making the playoffs, I don’t, however, believe changing the playoff format to benefit The Big Ten, without some concessions from Delaney, would make smart business sense. Delaney is the sole reason The ACC has divisions. Now that Delaney needs something we need to force him to pay for it

Simple enough... ACC will vote for expanding the playoffs ONLY if rule change includes conference championships without divisions (plus autobids for P5 champs of course). ACC gets to schedule their best matchups in the regular season without going North/South; Big Ten gets a guaranteed playoff spot. Win-win.

(12-22-2018 03:59 PM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  

(12-22-2018 03:19 PM)CardinalJim Wrote:  While I would like to see The American and othe G5 leagues have a realistic shot at making the playoffs, I don’t, however, believe changing the playoff format to benefit The Big Ten, without some concessions from Delaney, would make smart business sense. Delaney is the sole reason The ACC has divisions. Now that Delaney needs something we need to force him to pay for it

Simple enough... ACC will vote for expanding the playoffs ONLY if rule change includes conference championships without divisions (plus autobids for P5 champs of course). ACC gets to schedule their best matchups in the regular season without going North/South; Big Ten gets a guaranteed playoff spot. Win-win.

I can live with that. Gonna miss Delaney crying about being left out though..lol

(12-22-2018 03:59 PM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  

(12-22-2018 03:19 PM)CardinalJim Wrote:  While I would like to see The American and othe G5 leagues have a realistic shot at making the playoffs, I don’t, however, believe changing the playoff format to benefit The Big Ten, without some concessions from Delaney, would make smart business sense. Delaney is the sole reason The ACC has divisions. Now that Delaney needs something we need to force him to pay for it

Simple enough... ACC will vote for expanding the playoffs ONLY if rule change includes conference championships without divisions (plus autobids for P5 champs of course). ACC gets to schedule their best matchups in the regular season without going North/South; Big Ten gets a guaranteed playoff spot. Win-win.

Don't forget that the CCGs winners should receive the auto-bid. We need something to keep interest in the championship games and if the top 2 teams are featured it will rarely matter if there is an upset.

(12-24-2018 06:31 AM)ChrisLords Wrote:  

(12-22-2018 03:59 PM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  

(12-22-2018 03:19 PM)CardinalJim Wrote:  While I would like to see The American and othe G5 leagues have a realistic shot at making the playoffs, I don’t, however, believe changing the playoff format to benefit The Big Ten, without some concessions from Delaney, would make smart business sense. Delaney is the sole reason The ACC has divisions. Now that Delaney needs something we need to force him to pay for it

Simple enough... ACC will vote for expanding the playoffs ONLY if rule change includes conference championships without divisions (plus autobids for P5 champs of course). ACC gets to schedule their best matchups in the regular season without going North/South; Big Ten gets a guaranteed playoff spot. Win-win.

Don't forget that the CCGs winners should receive the auto-bid. We need something to keep interest in the championship games and if the top 2 teams are featured it will rarely matter if there is an upset.

Yeah, it needs to be a package deal:
- 8 team playoffs; P5 champs get autobids
- CCG w/o divisions (top 2 teams as determined by conference)
- CCG w/ 8 conference games

I'd specify first round 2 weeks after CCG weekend, but that's negotiable. Just keep minimum 10 days between rounds.

Swatting away one of the worst arguments against expanding the Playoff
https://www.sbnation.com/college-footbal...nce-champs

Vote in the tournament of 8 College Football Playoff expansion plans
https://www.sbnation.com/college-footbal...on-formats

Nick Saban: Bowl games would 'disintegrate' by expanding playoff
http://www.espn.com/college-football/sto...yoff-field

Nick’s smart
He doesn’t want to have to play three or four playoff games. Right or wrong he’s looking at the access problem for the G5, PAC and Big Ten as a coach. Why increase competition if he doesn’t have to?

Don’t necessarily agree with him but he’s doing what he should do. Nick is looking out for his programs best interest

The supreme College Football Playoff expansion plan, according to the voting public
https://www.sbnation.com/college-footbal...izes-teams

The BCS would’ve been a perfect fit for 2018, but ...
https://www.sbnation.com/college-footbal...-expansion

Quote:Don't forget that the CCGs winners should receive the auto-bid. We need something to keep interest in the championship games and if the top 2 teams are featured it will rarely matter if there is an upset.

By any reasonable rationale -- CAN'T HAPPEN in an 8-team playoff. You cannot give an unconditional auto-bid to a team just because they're the P5 Champ. You're setting yourself up for Misery when a G5 Champ is ranked higher (but also not close enough to get an at-large). Oh, always give a G5 an auto-bid, right? WRONG. Won't work either. Most of the time, the lowest P5 Champ is going to be "close enough" to #8 (50%-ish greater than 8 in it's rank) -- but only about half the time a G5 Champ will. You'll see a P5 Champ #22 one year out of 8 getting in, and you'll see three years in a row a G5 Champ ranked #15-22 getting in, and once every 10 years the best G5 Champ not ranked at all!

It took the BCS/NY Bowls expanding to 12 teams to allow a G5 Champ in. When there were 10 teams, a G5 Champ had to be ranked Higher than a P6 Champ + Ranked #16 or better. So if a top G5 Champ was ranked #17, and a B1G team was unranked, the B1G team would go. This was bad, a lesson learned *BUT* it Was NOT A PLAYOFF. Bowls are Much more giving. It's for Show & $$ for a 1-time game, NOT a National Championship.

So with Playoffs for a National Championship not being fan-level/viewership biased for who goes and who stays home, unlike the previous BCS Bowl setup -- you really think shrinking it down to 8 teams allowed is going to be giving a G5 Champ an Unconditional slot? Really? Heck, a few years ago there was a Big Controversy with Marshall being undefeated with one of the EASIEST schedules, with CUSA not having a strong year + they played an FCS + 3 (easy) MAC East teams for their OOC schedule. They weren't even ranked most the time. There was talk about this whole Unconditional G5 auto-bid. And that was with 12 team slots for a mere BOWL which is more forgiving than a National Championship! Thankfully, Boise rose to the occasion, and Marshall lost a game to kick them out of the rankings, and Boise made #20 (phew). But that Wouldn't cut it if we were talking an 8-team actual PLAYOFF instead!

So going down to 8, for any Reasonable Scheme, you can't give P5s an unconditional auto-bid either because more uncommonly, but does happen, a P5 Champ can be pretty low ranked, or as a super rarity, not ranked at all. Fine for a 12 team BOWL system which is focused on viewership & ticket sales -- not for a Nat Champ Playoff with only 8 going.

Instead, you give ALL Conf Champs a *conditional* auto-bid -- by ranking. You mix Conf Champs + Rankings and find a balance there. If you're ranked at #x or better if you win your Conf Championship, you get to go to the mere 8-team playoff instead of a bottom at-large ranked #7 or #8 who didn't.

Should the CFP expand? FBS athletic directors respond
https://sports.yahoo.com/cfp-expand-fbs-...ncaaf.html

Change may be coming to the College Football Playoff, just not the type you might expect
https://www.cbssports.com/college-footba...ht-expect/

The College Football Playoff isn’t expanding now, but that doesn’t mean it can’t soon
https://www.sbnation.com/college-footbal...n-when-how

(12-31-2018 04:46 PM)toddjnsn Wrote:  

Quote:Don't forget that the CCGs winners should receive the auto-bid. We need something to keep interest in the championship games and if the top 2 teams are featured it will rarely matter if there is an upset.

By any reasonable rationale -- CAN'T HAPPEN in an 8-team playoff. You cannot give an unconditional auto-bid to a team just because they're the P5 Champ. You're setting yourself up for Misery when a G5 Champ is ranked higher (but also not close enough to get an at-large). Oh, always give a G5 an auto-bid, right? WRONG. Won't work either. Most of the time, the lowest P5 Champ is going to be "close enough" to #8 (50%-ish greater than 8 in it's rank) -- but only about half the time a G5 Champ will. You'll see a P5 Champ #22 one year out of 8 getting in, and you'll see three years in a row a G5 Champ ranked #15-22 getting in, and once every 10 years the best G5 Champ not ranked at all!

It took the BCS/NY Bowls expanding to 12 teams to allow a G5 Champ in. When there were 10 teams, a G5 Champ had to be ranked Higher than a P6 Champ + Ranked #16 or better. So if a top G5 Champ was ranked #17, and a B1G team was unranked, the B1G team would go. This was bad, a lesson learned *BUT* it Was NOT A PLAYOFF. Bowls are Much more giving. It's for Show & $$ for a 1-time game, NOT a National Championship.

So with Playoffs for a National Championship not being fan-level/viewership biased for who goes and who stays home, unlike the previous BCS Bowl setup -- you really think shrinking it down to 8 teams allowed is going to be giving a G5 Champ an Unconditional slot? Really? Heck, a few years ago there was a Big Controversy with Marshall being undefeated with one of the EASIEST schedules, with CUSA not having a strong year + they played an FCS + 3 (easy) MAC East teams for their OOC schedule. They weren't even ranked most the time. There was talk about this whole Unconditional G5 auto-bid. And that was with 12 team slots for a mere BOWL which is more forgiving than a National Championship! Thankfully, Boise rose to the occasion, and Marshall lost a game to kick them out of the rankings, and Boise made #20 (phew). But that Wouldn't cut it if we were talking an 8-team actual PLAYOFF instead!

So going down to 8, for any Reasonable Scheme, you can't give P5s an unconditional auto-bid either because more uncommonly, but does happen, a P5 Champ can be pretty low ranked, or as a super rarity, not ranked at all. Fine for a 12 team BOWL system which is focused on viewership & ticket sales -- not for a Nat Champ Playoff with only 8 going.

Instead, you give ALL Conf Champs a *conditional* auto-bid -- by ranking. You mix Conf Champs + Rankings and find a balance there. If you're ranked at #x or better if you win your Conf Championship, you get to go to the mere 8-team playoff instead of a bottom at-large ranked #7 or #8 who didn't.

If there are 8 teams, then there simply is no need to give anybody an automatic bid. The chances that a team ranked outside the top 8 could win a three game tournament are awfully close to zero.

Rather than expanding the playoff, though, I would rather expand the conference tournaments to four teams for large conferences.

College Football Playoff isn't expanding now, but it still could
http://www.espn.com/college-football/sto...-in-future

(01-16-2019 12:08 PM)joeben69 Wrote:  College Football Playoff isn't expanding now, but it still could
http://www.espn.com/college-football/sto...-in-future

Good article. Doesn't have all the "Oh, we'll never do that." Thoughtful responses in the quotes.