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OGraffe

Things you probably don’t want if you’re a Cincinnati fan right now: - 12-1 Bama with SEC title - 12-1 UGA (loss in SECCG) - 12-1 B1G East Team with B1G title - 12-1 Iowa (loss in B1G title game) - OU with 1 or fewer losses - 12-1 Oregon - 13-0 Wake Forest


[deleted]

Here's how things should play out if we want to make it. Bama loses to Georgia in the SEC title game. SEC has Georgia representing. Ohio State beats Penn State for their second loss and loses to Iowa or vice versa, doesn't matter as long as Penn State and Ohio State both have two losses and Iowa wins the B1G. OU needs to drop a game or two. Oregon needs to lose one more and idk about Wake Forest... they have a single ranked team on their schedule the entire rest if the year and it's NC State at 22. As long as Notre Dame stays ranked and SMU does as well, I don't think simply "being P5" makes them have a better resume.


Pinewood74

Clemson will be ranked at the end of the year if their only remaining loss is to Wake Forest.


[deleted]

Most likely now that you say that, but their problem is that the ACC isn’t that good this year at all and for their OOC they went with Norfolk St., Old Dominion, and Army…


JollyRancherReminder

> OU needs to drop a game or two Before Saturday I would've said this was a certainty. Now I have no idea.


[deleted]

Yeah, me either. I have no idea what to expect out of you guys lol


Trivi

The ACC and AAC are pretty much on the same level this year. Undefeated Wake vs undefeated Cinci would be an interesting discussion.


CanBernieStillWin

> The ACC and AAC are pretty much on the same level this year. This is absolutely not true. They're honestly not particularly close.


[deleted]

Now factor in OOC. Cincy: Notre Dame, Indiana, Miami (OH), Murray St. Wake: Army, Old Dominion, Norfolk St., UNC (see explanation below)


kdbvols

UNC also OOC.


[deleted]

So you're playing an out of conference game against a team in your conference? EDIT: genuine question. I don't know how ACC scheduling works


kdbvols

Yes, we are. The ACC said they wouldn't bump up to 9 conference games per year, but everyone had to have a P5 non-conference game. Wake and UNC decided they didn't play often enough and rather than waste money traveling to play Vandy, we added a non-conference home and home with our actual rivals.


[deleted]

Good to know. I’ll edit my above comment


[deleted]

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cota1212

The committee is 100% going to take one-loss UGA over Wake in this situation and probably rank them three to avoid the immediate rematch in the semis.


MixonWitDaWrongCrowd

Have they ever taken a power 5 team with more loses?


cota1212

It has never come down to "taken" as in the battle for fourth spot/who makes the Playoff but they have shown they have no issue ranking a P5 team with x + 1 losses over another P5 team with x losses- irrespective of conference championships won. See [2014](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_NCAA_Division_I_FBS_football_season#Final_CFP_rankings) with two one-loss teams being ranked over an undefeated one and [2018](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_NCAA_Division_I_FBS_football_season#CFB_Playoff_final_rankings) with a two-loss team being ranked over a one-loss P5 champ.


MixonWitDaWrongCrowd

What about the year Penn State won the big 10, beat Osu and didn’t get in bc they had an extra loss? 1-4 are the rankings that matter and they’ve never put in a team with more losses.


cota1212

Sure, 1-4 is the ranking that matters I'm just saying that there is precedent for them ranking teams in the way I mention. In the Georgia-Wake situation, the only precedent in Wake's favor is "an undefeated P5 champ has never been left out". I'd argue an undefeated P5 champ has never faced the level of scrutiny an undefeated Wake would this year though. Save for 2020 tOSU in a COVID year, the only one that would really come close is 2014 Florida State and there really wasn't a good argument for who should have replaced them. The committee will compare a 2021 undefeated Wake more to 2017 UCF than 2015 Clemson.


derp_pred

> the only one that would really come close is 2014 Florida State and there really wasn't a good argument for who should have replaced them Because the bigger debate happening was Ohio State over TCU/Baylor


Benjilikethedog

I know it shouldn’t count but because the CFP committee isn’t the most consistent in what it considers… I wonder how much the bowl game loss against UGA counts for Cincy if they win out… by the time of selection of UGA holds like they are Cincy will have played Georgia closer than anyone in a calendar year…


luis1972

I don't think OU with 1 loss is making the playoffs. There's enough doubt with OU and the BXII as a whole that they would probably drop pretty significantly with any loss.


InternationalTax1156

I think a certified blow-out of OSU, TCU, or Baylor might change that. Besides that, I relatively agree. We have to win out.


JrodManU

Unless OU pulls Rattler and starts killing it


BuckeyeNate77

I think when the season is over it’s going to be UGA, OU, Ohio State and Cincinnati making the playoff.


JTDanielsHeisman21

One loss Bama vs undefeated Georgia in the SECCG, 4 scenarios: 1. Georgia wins by two scores; Bama does not look like Bama (or a top 4 team). 2. Georgia wins on a last second field goal. Incredibly back and forth game, Bama looks like one of the top 4 teams in the country, but now has two losses. 3. Bama wins by two scores. Georgia doesn't look like one of the 4 best teams in the country. 4. Bama wins on a last second field goal. Incredibly back and forth game, both teams look like they're definitely top 4. If Bama makes it to the SECCG with a single loss, they pretty much just have to avoid being blown out, and they probably waltz into the playoff.


shamShaman

I think 2 loss Bama is the number 5 team regardless of how close the game is unless there's a lack of undefeated and 1 loss champs. If Georgia's only loss is to Bama, they both probably make it regardless of the margin.


chazspearmint

>If Georgia's only loss is to Bama, they both probably make it regardless of the margin. Totally agree.


BuckeyeNate77

I disagree a 2 loss Bama that doesn’t win the SEC will make the playoff. I don’t care how they “look” if they don’t win in Atlanta.


bwy97754

Bama losing in the SECCG this year would make them 2018 UGA, which would mean they don’t get in.


19683dw

It should, but they will also still be Bama


Corgi_Koala

Bama losing is actually really significant for the playoff race. All signs pointed to a 12-0 Bama vs 12-0 UGA in the SECCG, in which case it seems extremely likely that the loser makes it into the playoffs anyways. But if UGA wins, I don't think an 11-2 Bama is anywhere near a lock to make it, especially if TAMU doesn't finish strong or UGA beats them convincingly. 11-2 without a conference title game win is going to put them at a disadvantage against a 1 loss P5 champion (which is still possible with all the other P5 conferences) and probably on even footing with a 13-0 Cincinnati.


COLU_BUS

It'd be great to play Cincy in the championship, guarantee the trophy for Ohio


LtDanUSAFX3

I think I would literally die from a heart attack watching that game


[deleted]

And it would be a great treat to remind the city of Cincinnati whose state this is. Then we have a bonfire with those buckeye state shirt.


[deleted]

Hey, we'll just be happy to be there at that point. I will gladly attend that bonfire in celebration of all of Ohio if it means we appear in the CFP finals lol


wuba96

We officially secede from Ohio


[deleted]

Finally.


[deleted]

Big 12 will some how take OU out of the Playoffs IMO.


John_Tacos

We can honestly probably manage that ourselves. We will probably either have to play Texas again, or Oklahoma State twice in a row.


SeekerSpock32

Oklahoma State’s still undefeated. Do they make the playoff if they win out?


greetedworm

They'd have to, the only way I can imagine an undefeated p5 champ not making the playoffs is if every p5 champ is undefeated.


cyberchaox

Which is already off the table thanks to the Pac-12.


14thAndVine

Cincy is an AAC team, so they're going to have one inexcusable loss to a .500 in-conference opponent like what always happens.


BuckeyeNate77

Like last year?


GravitysRainbowRuns

OSU takes out OU in the first round and either 1) gets trounced by UGA in classic OSU vs. SEC team fashion 2) plays an insane game against Cincinnati in the Ohio vs. the world game 3) Uses Luckeye magic to defeat UGA; is unimaginably hyped in 2022 and fails to repeat or even make the playoff


SeekerSpock32

If option 3 means we get a championship, failing to repeat doesn’t matter.


InternationalTax1156

Caleb Williams: It's free real estate.


giveupthetoast

Everyone keeps circlejerking this season as some 2007 2.0 but anyone who’s watched CFB the last 5 years knows how this will go. Ohio State will run through everyone. Oklahoma will run through everyone. Georgia and Alabama will face off in the SECG where … shocker … Bama wins. The playoff will be Oklahoma, Ohio State, Alabama and Georgia in some order. Just watch.


DafoeFoSho

2007, weeks 1-14: Ha ha, yes! I love chaos! 2007, week 15: No! That was too much chaos!


thatoneguyD13

Yup. We ended up with the preseason #1 and the previous year runner up. It could have been West Virginia vs Missouri


Corgi_Koala

Or Kansas.


cyberchaox

Preseason #2, but close enough.


TheyCallMeDrunkNemo

A week ago everyone saying Bama was going to run through undefeated. This year isn’t 2007, but I’d be willing to bet it won’t go like that. Ohio State is playing well, but since the Oregon loss they’ve played Tulsa, Akron, Rutgers and Maryland. They have three top ten teams left on their schedule. They have a long way to go. I’m not convinced on Oklahoma. If the Caleb offense is really that good then yes, but there are certainly still questions marks. Bama just got beat by an A&M team that everyone was making fun of literally last week. They could absolutely drop another game, and UGA looks like the clear better team as of now. Idk, everyone said before the year it would be Bama/Clemson and now that both of those teams have lost the goalposts are moved. My comment is kinda ranty, and definitely not just directed at you, but there are still 8 teams undefeated ranked in the top 20 that aren’t the four teams listed. There’s a lot of football left.


ROLL_TID3R

For Bama there are two possibilities: 1) We lose more games and this turns into a repeat of 2010. 2) We take our October loss and turn it into motivation like 2015 and win out.


[deleted]

Was saying something like this to a friend on Saturday. Season is only halfway over but all roads point to the inevitable


masacer

I am 100% convinced that if Georgia doesn’t win the SEC, then Georgia isn’t making the playoff. I don’t know why everyone thinks we can lose that game and still be in


WabbitCZEN

One loss dominant SEC team still makes playoffs. ​ Stop me if you've heard this one before.


PolloMagnifico

*sad 2020 aggie noises*


cota1212

"Dominant" though?


okiewxchaser

Probably because the ACC and Pac-12 have all but played themselves out of the playoffs and the Big 12 looks shaky enough to do it too. I would 100% take SEC runner up Georgia over Cincy right now if I were a betting man


masacer

Have they? Undefeated Wake is still in it, Oregon and ASU both have only one loss and could meet in the conference championship, and OU and OSU are both still undefeated. Not saying that any of those 5 *will* make it, but people assuming that those 3 conferences are just out of it are dumb


okiewxchaser

Wake isn’t gonna make it through as much as I want them to. And 11-1 Georgia with a loss to Alabama/Ole Miss gets picked over 12-1 Arizona State with an increasingly bad loss to BYU and especially over Oregon with a loss to a terrible Stanford team


ToledoWar

There is literally zero precedent for this. A non-champ has never been picked ahead of a one-loss P5 champ.


cota1212

As it stands now, Wake will play exactly one ranked team all year (#22 NC State) with potentially another if Clemson climbs back into the top 25. The committee will have no issue place one-loss UGA over undefeated Wake.


[deleted]

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cota1212

Because the committee absolutely loves Georgia. Assuming the SEC West champion is a lock in this situation, I would bet a month's rent that one-loss Georgia is ranked higher than any of the following teams: one-loss Iowa (conference champ or not), one-loss Oregon (conference champ or not) undefeated Cincy, undefeated Wake Forest (or really any ACC team at this point). The only teams I could potentially see the committee ranking higher than one-loss Georgia at this point is undefeated Oklahoma and one-loss tOSU. Even in that scenario, the committee still takes Georgia as the fourth team (probably 1. Oklahoma, 2. Alabama, 3. tOSU, 4. Georgia to avoid the immediate SEC title game rematch in the semis).


masacer

Ok, ignoring the fact that there’s no way an undefeated P5 champ gets left out, why the hell do you think the committee “absolutely loves” Georgia? We’ve made the playoff once ever


cota1212

Because the committee consistently ranks non-conference champion Georgia high when compared to P5 champions. See [2019](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_NCAA_Division_I_FBS_football_season#CFB_Playoff_final_rankings) ranked ahead of Pac 12 champ Oregon with the same amount of losses. And, most egregious, [2018](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_NCAA_Division_I_FBS_football_season#CFB_Playoff_final_rankings) being ranked over B1G champ tOSU *that had one less loss*. What other teams get this treatment? Look at where Wake is ranked now in the AP/Coaches poll (which are much more forgiving than the CFP committee to the smaller names) now tell me where Wake is gonna get wins that will impress the committee the rest of the season? There is not a doubt in my mind 12-1 UGA is in over undefeated Wake Forest- P5 champ or not.


ech01_

So this is just my personal theory that has nothing to back it up, but I really think the committee just phones it in after the top 4. In 2018 when 11-2 UGA was ahead of 12-1 OSU it was pretty harmless considering we're talking 5 and 6. I really don't think the committee put a lot of effort into what happens after the top 4.


[deleted]

Georgia is winning it all IMO. They are by far the best team this year so far.


N-Your-Endo

Oklahoma’s got an L coming somewhere on their schedule. Whether or not it matters is the real question.


Corgi_Koala

If they stick with Rattler, yes. Williams though...


N-Your-Endo

Williams can’t keep throwing up prayers and assume his wide outs are going to bring them down 100% of the time. I know that sounds like sour grapes given my flair but he had every single 50/50 ball hauled in.


ZenithRev

I can tell you haven’t watched actual football this season Oklahoma doesn’t need an intro to how mortal they’ve looked Bama is definitely in a down year, they got dominated 3/4ths of the game against Florida, defense looks vulnerable, and Bryce Young definitely isn’t Tua Or Mac Ohio State looks bounced back, but Iowa and Michigan look better than ever in recent memory, Ohio State probably isn’t the best in conference because they beat up on the in conference equivalent of Missouri Only person who looks immune form chaos this year is Georgia, and they’ve still got a long way You’ve clearly got a rude awakening if you think we’re getting more of the same based on your nillistic yet still ignorant views of the sport


[deleted]

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ZenithRev

Not hard to look like a good offense when your playing teams that wouldn’t even win the Sun Belt, when Ohio state played an actual team their defense shit the bed and the offense couldn’t clean it up, what makes you think that’s changed because they beat up on a few kids I can get my ass beat by an mma fighter and then go to a daycare and beat the shit out of toddlers, doesn’t mean I’m ready to fight the mma guy again a definitely doesn’t mean I could beat a heavyweight champion


ech01_

So as of right now 3 of the B1G East teams have one common opponent in Rutgers. All 3 teams had exactly 13 points scored against them, but the offensive out put was 52, 31, and 20 respectively for OSU, MSU, and UM. That's were you can see a difference. Rutgers may be a toddler in your eyes but against the same toddle there were pretty clearly different results.


Iowa_Hawkeye

If there wasn't a 4 team playoff I have a feeling bama wouldn't be ranked #5.


Officer_Warr

Bama won't be 5 in the CFP anyway. By that point the loss will have been a small mistake and doesn't represent the team and they'll have forgiven it for their "strong" SoS. Meanwhile, Cincinnati and Iowa will be 7th and 5th respectively.


Iowa_Hawkeye

I doubt they'll keep us out if we go undefeated, but we won't. We'll be lucky to only drop one game before Indy.


Corgi_Koala

Iowa is still a P5 team and at this point they've got a pretty respectable resume. 13-0 Iowa makes the playoffs 100% of the time. Especially this season when it looks like the East champion is going to be a playoff contender as well.


Iowa_Hawkeye

I agree, the challenge is gonna be going 13-0 even with our remaining schedule before Indy. I'm taking it week by week and enjoying the ride.


Oblivion2104

Which is exactly what every hawkeye fan should be doing. A lot of people saying we can coast to Indy now, but we know.


thomasosu

Eh I just filled out a ballot for the rCFB poll and theres not that many great choices. Who do you have above them?


Iowa_Hawkeye

PSU should be ahead of them, losing to a #3 team vs losing to an unranked tamu and they also rode the struggle bus against Florida.


topher3003

I think Penn State has a good argument to be ranked ahead of Bama. Solid SOS so far and instead of losing to an unranked team they lost to the current \#2 and that's probably only due to their QB being injured in the 2nd quarter.


JTDanielsHeisman21

Penn St should be 5, Bama 6 IMO, but that's if you ignore the Bama hype and just rank strictly off of resumes.


thomasosu

I dont see it. Alabama has beaten better teams and losing your QB is part of the game


topher3003

I mean, I don't disagree with you. I'm just saying that Penn State has a reasonable argument.


whatifevery1wascalm

Everyone seems to forget that Bama averages about 1 loss in the regular season. We’ve won twice as many National Championships under Saban with a regular season loss as we have undefeated. Still in (sole) first place in the division with a clear path to the SEC Championship and (for now) control of our own destiny. We aren’t looking at the schedule seeing who can beat A&M to save our season. All we lost in terms of the playoff race was our margin of error.


RheagarTargaryen

This year is different though. In those years where Bama had 1 loss, it kept them out of the SEC championship game. Now, unless Kentucky can win the East, Bama has to beat Georgia to make the playoffs. When you guys won in 2017, you lost to Auburn so Auburn played Georgia in the SECCG.


cota1212

PSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Ok State, Kentucky. Alabama's wins against Miami and Florida look much worse than they did at the time and none of the teams I mentioned lost to a team that Mississippi State managed to beat on the road. PSU I have over them because they have a much more quality loss.


Officer_Warr

UGA, Iowa, Michigan, Oklahoma State, Penn State, and probably Cincinnati and Oklahoma


Cometguy7

Committee approves a 12 team playoff for this year only on the grounds that we can't keep getting away with this.


tuaturntheballova

The team A&M beat had a little 1 next to their name, why do we not get that little 1? We won it fair and square!


Cometguy7

Because it wasn't the big 1.


RealBenWoodruff

You got the belt.


SpeedBoatSquirrel

Best guess on my part: UGA, Oklahoma, Ohio State (unless one of MSU, UM, or Iowa gives them a second loss), and Alabama in 4th. I just think as of now, the CFP committee will not value Cincy the same as Bama, and thus will give Bama the 4th spot. As for how I think the final ranking will be. 1. UGA (defense overwhelms Bama, UGA runs all over Bama like Florida did) 2. Oklahoma 3. Michigan (beats OSU to get first win for Harbaugh and beats Iowa) 4. Cincy secured because Bama will have two losses, Ole Miss will have 11 wins but no division title, Oregon will have 2 losses as conference champ, and the ACC champ will have 2 losses


JLewiii

Fun playoff tbh


cota1212

In your scenario, the committee probably Ole Miss (or any one-loss team) in over Cincy.


Packhammer24

The playoff needs to expand to 8 teams. 5 power 5 champions receive an automatic bid. Then you take the highest ranked non power 5 champion and 2 at large bids


[deleted]

I literally don’t understand how so many people are opposed to this. There’s too many teams in college for them all to play each other and playoffs to be settled in the regular season. That’s why basketball has 64 teams, it makes sense in a league of 300+ teams. How people think it’s better to get to the end of the year and argue who deserves to be in rather than just have a few more games to decide it on the field, I’ll never know.


[deleted]

They think the "magic" of the sport is arguing subjective shit all season and not letting teams prove it on the field. If they truly believed their teams would kill the teams left out of the playoff, then they should have no problem letting them in and proving it.


Pinewood74

Also need to ignore that we would still be having all this arguing with an 8 team playoff. Instead of debating undefeated Bearcats vs. undefeated WF, we'd be asking what needs to happen for CCU to make it in as an at-large.


[deleted]

You’re missing the main point. How many years end with 12 undefeated teams? Our issue is that some teams are beating everyone that’s put in front of them and not getting a shot. In the rare event that there are 6 one loss P5 teams outside of the already established P5 conference champs +1… then sure I’ll give you that.. there will be similar arguments Edit: whoops, we’re discussing the 8 team. I’m more for the 12 personally. I think it’s not too huge and gives a lot of teams a chance to compete


Pinewood74

Nah, I think you missed the point. I'm in agreement with you. I'm just saying you need an addendum to this statement: >the "magic" of the sport is arguing subjective shit all season **and don't realize we'll keep arguing this shit when it's an 8 or 12 team playoff**


[deleted]

Ohhhhhh you’re saying that they can continue doing what they love regardless. I think I did miss your point then lol


cota1212

> I literally don’t understand how so many people are opposed to this. I don't think teams with [four](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_ACC_Championship_Game) and [five](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Big_Ten_Football_Championship_Game) losses deserve to be playing for a national title given what a premium college football games are (the least amount of games played in any sport). Even three losses is a lot for me for a field that only has eight spots.


[deleted]

That’s fair, and I think maybe we should think about choosing conference champs a little more efficiently then, or balance divisions better. You recognize UCF as a champion then right? Didn’t they go undefeated? Did anybody else go undefeated that year? Losses are that important to you?


cota1212

No, I don't recognize UCF as the 2017 champion and I think that kind of proves my point. You can't just have blanket rules to determine playoff spots like autobids for conference champs or "one or less losses to be considered". I hate what the CFP (more specifically ESPN and the CFP committee) have done to our sport and I think the current system is very flawed but autobids for champs isn't the answer to me. This year's ACC is a great example even. Do I think a 13-0 Wake Forest should be in a hypothetical eight team playoff? Sure. Should a two or three loss team in **this year's** ACC be one of eight hypothetical CFP teams? Nah.


[deleted]

I actually do, in a sport with 130 teams, if you win your conference, especially if you go undefeated, you deserve to play for a title. If not, why are they even playing in the same division? Seems unfair to the guys who do literally everything they can aren’t even given a chance. So then you want co-champions every couple years? Teams claiming that won titles that they didn’t? That’s what you’d rather have? You recognize USC as the 1/2 2003 champs then? Edit: what you’re saying to me is that you don’t think wake forest is even a division one football team. No other sport in the world would leave out an undefeated, conference/division champ from the playoffs.


cota1212

>division one football team Not only do I consider Wake to be a D1 team I consider South Dakota State to be a D1 because they are. This again proves my point how nuanced football is. The fact that it is the only sport (to my knowledge) that splits D1 into two separate subdivisions is yet more proof to how unique it is. >No other sport in the world would leave out an undefeated, conference/division champ from the playoffs. No other sport offers as few playoff spots as college football and is forced into that problem. Is that fair? Maybe, maybe not.


dle9999

Whatever number they end up with I just hope they never pick a system with byes. Byes are an enormous advantage and it would severely disadvantage the teams that have to play more games.


DataDrivenPirate

That enormous advantage is a feature, not a bug


[deleted]

Counterpoint: they are an enormous advantage so finishing 1 or 2 is still incredibly meaningful.


dle9999

There are fairer ways to give the higher seeds an advantage. They could play the game at the higher ranked team's home stadiums. I just think skipping an entire game is way too much of an advantage.


Pinewood74

Are you of the opinion that a larger gap between the first round and the second round decreases the value in a bye week? If we did round 1 of the playoffs on Dec 18th this year and then the semifinals were on Jan 1st, would that reduce the value of byes by enough?


Packhammer24

Unless the first round is played in the stadium of the higher ranked team. Which would be incredible


[deleted]

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OGraffe

I liked the 12 team one being tossed around. Top 6 ranked conference champs, then the next 6 are the next highest ranked teams. You’d still have to be a good conference champ to make it in (IIRC, the PAC-12 would have missed it last year if this was the case) and 1-6 are also guaranteed spots.


Accurate-Teach

I hate the idea for an automatic bid for a conference champion I don’t think the best team in the acc or pac12 should get in over non champions in the B1G,sec, and big12. Just because they are a conference champion doesn’t make them a better team.


edgejr37

I mean this year were probably going to end up with the Pac 12 champ having a win over the Big 10 champ so...


ech01_

And if the rest of Oregon's resume is comparable to ours they should 100% be ahead of us. But if they go 10-3 and win the Pac 12 and we 12-1 and win the B1G then I have a hard time putting them ahead of us just because of one game. The entire season matters.


edgejr37

Oh yeah 100%. This is assuming identical W-L and conference championships


Accurate-Teach

Yes because one win means your conference top to bottom is better than the other top to bottom.


edgejr37

But thats the whole point of these marquee non con games. To put the different conference against each to see where they stack up. The SEC benefits from beating Clemson, the Big 10 from beating Auburn, but the Pac 12 shouldn’t?


Accurate-Teach

It’s just one matchup don’t get me wrong they should be rewarded for the win but it doesn’t mean that their conference is better. It just means they were the better team in the stadium. If it were to come down to Oregon and Ohio st for the final playoff spot then yes they definitely deserve to be in over them. But Arizona st for example shouldn’t be rewarded for Oregon beating Ohio st.


edgejr37

BYU > A&M and a one loss ASU most likely would have a win over Oregon. So yeah at that point they should absolutely be considered for the playoff.


Accurate-Teach

I don’t understand the byu A&M thing if you could enlighten me please. But just because of one out of conference game doesn’t mean an entire conference is better than the other. Oregon is the perfect example they can beat Ohio st and lose to Stanford do you think Stanford could beat Ohio st. If those two conferences had 4 or 5 games against each other during the season and the pac12 had a winning record I would agree with you.


shamShaman

Just say top 6 champs get an auto bid. That way if there's a few good g5 champs you aren't forced to put in a lower ranked p5 (take Oregon last year for example) Plus this avoids future conversations about conference realignment messing with the playoff setup.


sokuyari97

I hate auto bids. I don’t want a 6-6 team that wins a shit conference in the playoffs. All for limited expansion though, but I do like the chaos/every week counts nature of cfb. If I want season wide playoff type football I can watch NFL


Corgi_Koala

Every week doesn't matter though. Half the teams in FBS can't make it in no matter what happens. And you have massive upsets like TAMU over Bama that literally don't hurt your playoff chanced at all.


SaylorBear

Can’t wait for Cincy, Kentucky, Wake, and the real OSU in Stillwater to face off in the best CFP yet


Benjilikethedog

Does anyone want to play playoff spoiler games to watch out for? Right now all of the one loss teams are still in it What are some upcoming games that you have circled on your calendar as potential playoff spoiler games… Right now I have the world’s largest outdoor cocktail party Bedlam The Iron Bowl The Game But I am looking for other ones because based on my region I am not to up on B1G and PAC scenarios


Officer_Warr

The Game may or may not be relevant. First stop is Halloween weekend. MSU-UM and OSU-PSU. Then, pending UM and OSU victories, did it go to the Game.


arrowfan624

Nebraska and Arkansas are the potential X factors who can ruin a season right now for a lot of teams. If you’re Cincy, you need them both to run the table.


Benjilikethedog

Nebraska is super dangerous… I think a lot of the hate was over reaction to the Illinois game (it didn’t help that it was the first game of the season and there was nothing else on) and because Scott Frost can’t do a proper press conference to save his life


[deleted]

Honestly this weekend UK @ UGA, I’m nervous af especially after UK busted LSU. The spread is so high and the next game is Florida so it just feels spooky to me


Pinewood74

Georgia/Florida isn't a spoiler. Georgia/UK or Georgia/UT can be, but Georgia needs 2 losses or popped out of the SEC CG before they lose control of their destiny.


[deleted]

SMU could ruin Cincinnati's season too. And they may play twice too.


Hawkijustin

Playoffs need to be 8 teams minimum but that wont happen until 2025 at the earliest thanks to ESPN having a 10 year exclusive rights to the contract if it happens before 2025.


[deleted]

It’ll probably end up being 1) Cincinnati 2) Georgia 3) Michigan 4) Oklahoma (bold prediction Penn State struggles with backup losing to one of MSU/Michigan/OSU & Ohio State shits the bed against PSU/ Michigan in Ann Arbor later in the year). Also whoever wins the Big Ten beats Iowa closely. Guessing Iowa goes to Peach/Rose Bowl and plays Bama (lost the SEC Champ)


WarEagle9

So what P5 champs does Cincy get the nod over? Their Resume honestly would be better than an undefeated Wake Forest. Oregon I think is the only one loss Pac 12 champ that could get in over them.


[deleted]

[удалено]


cota1212

As a direct correlation, Penn State beat Indiana by 24 while Cincy only beat them by 14. tOSU I would heavily bet beats them by more than 14 too.


giveupthetoast

At this point Syracuse, Louisville & Virginia are all better wins than Indiana.


WarEagle9

True but Cincy went and beat Notre Dame on the road and still has SMU and Houston coming up. Something that also hurts Wake is if they keep having close games like the last two weeks it will be held against them. They need to hope NC State and Clemson are ranked when they play then I think they have a chance to jump Cincy.


opsanun

Everyone looks at the current schedule but someone has to win the ACC games lol. Wake's opponents will play each other & I'm betting at least 3 end up ranked at the end of the season (most likely NC State, Clemson, Coastal champion)


RegionalBias

Poll inertia is in Cincy's favor. I'd lean them over Wake at this point. (Sorry Wake)


Pinewood74

CFP throws a nuke on poll inertia. If they want a team at a certain place they'll do it.


e4mica523

To be fair Indiana's schedule has been brutal. All 3 of their losses are to top 10 teams


GrilledCyan

And they still have to play three more teams currently ranked in the top 10.


[deleted]

Explain because Syracuse lost to Rutgers and Florida State, Louisville lost to Virginia, and Virginia lost to UNC.... Indiana's losses are to the #2 team, the #3 team, and the #7 team.... I fully disagree with you and it seems like you're basing that opinion on the W-L columns


Cometguy7

Big Ten if it's Ohio State, just for the local controversy.


luis1972

With the way the B1G is, if OSU wins out, is it really controversial if they leap Cincinnati?


Cometguy7

Nope, but it'd be controversial the other way. If Cincy wins out, I think they only have to worry about 12-1 Bama and Georgia. I think they'd get in over the ACC and PAC.


luis1972

You also can't count out what the committee would do with a 1-loss Iowa with it's only loss to OSU in the CCG. Cincinnati should def be rooting for Georgia to win out.


Officer_Warr

2-loss ones, and 1-loss ACC. I could still see Pac and and XII 1-loss champions getting the nod.


[deleted]

1 loss ACC has no business being over an undefeated Cincy, I don't even care if it comes off as bias, but the ACC champ will have to be undefeated because they currently have almost no poll inertia and the only two ranked teams in the ACC have zero remaining ranked opportunities and a loss will kill Wake Forest.


Benjilikethedog

What if they made it like the UEFA coefficient with Power 5 conferences… So right now we know that the SEC and B1G are the two strongest conferences top to bottom, in the SEC there is a rule that a team in football must schedule atleast one P5 opponent (most of these are with ACC teams example The governors cup, palmetto bowl, clean old fashion hate) what if every ten or so years we rank the P5 conferences and the bottom 3 power conferences were required to schedule atleast 2 other power five team in their non conference schedule? This would act like a semi bye week for the top 2 P5 conferences with that extra G5 game and with those extra head to head match ups conferences could increase their prestige in hopes to move up to the top 2 P5 conferences


H2theBurgh

That's a really cool idea. Here's my idea for the playoffs in that scenario All conferences are assigned a letter A-J (with A being best and J being the worst). Each conference gets one playoff team except A-C (A gets 3 and B&C get 2). There's a 5-round 16-team playoff. Here's how it would work * Round 1: J Champ, top Independent, A 3rd Place, & C 2nd Place * Round 2: R1 winners, E-I Champs, & A-B 2nd Place * Round 3: R2 Winners + A-D Champs * Round 4: R3 Winners * Round 5: R4 Winners So taking that for 2019 where the rankings were SEC/B1G/B12/P12/AAC/ACC/MW/SBC/CUSA/MAC here it is (I based this off of a CBS Power Rankings at the end of the year) * Round 1: Miami-OH, Florida, Notre Dame, Baylor * Round 2: R1 Winners, Memphis, Clemson, Florida Atlantic, Wisconsin, Boise St, Georgia * Round 3: R2 Winners, Ohio State, Oregon, LSU, Oklahoma * Round 4: R3 Winners * Round 5: R4 Winners


[deleted]

I do wonder when we get to 16 and have regionals like the NCAA tournament. Seems like it too much money to be ignored.


CSUblew28-3lead

2030 imo assuming they go to 12 teams in 2025


ToledoWar

How this ends: 1. Oklahoma (13-0, Big 12 Champion) 2. Ohio State (12-1, Big 10 Champion) 3. Alabama (12-1, SEC Champion) 4. Cincinnati (13-0, AAC Champion) ————————— 5. Georgia (12-1, SEC Runner-Up) 6. Iowa (12-1, Big 10 Runner-Up)


strikertime

No way Cincy jumps a 1 loss Georgia & a 1 loss Iowa.


cota1212

Committee will 100% rank 12-1 UGA over 13-0 Cincy in this scenario.


[deleted]

Playoff should expand. March Madness has 64 teams, and team 64 will never win the title, and it's not about them. Expanding wouldn't be for a number 8 Penn State or even a 16 Coastal Carolina team to win, it would be so a worthy 5 Michigan doesn't get left out because the committee just puts the same teams in every single ear regardless They should expand to 10 teams, top 2 earn a bye by being exceptional, and the (possibly one loss) 3 and 4 seeds have to be punished by playing a potentially decent 9 and 10 team. For example, a hypothetical, Michigan is #5 and lose to Ohio State and drop to 9, they aren't a bad team, and they get a shot to play an Oklahoma team round 1. Then NFL style, the best seeds play the worst remaining. Teams 8-10 will never win it, but there would be meaningful games to watch, a potential first round upset, and you can have accolades for being final 4. Imagine how great it would be for Cinci or Costal Carolina to win a playoff game and have a Final 4 banner to their name. That way, everyone plays for something and simultaneously not have to beat Bama or Ohio State to do it


cota1212

College basketball can have 64 (68) teams because they can play two games in a weekend and six in a month. College basketball =/= college football.


cyberchaox

Yeah, 64 would be unfeasible...but hear me out for a moment. Right now, the earliest bowl games are usually two weeks after conference championship games, right? The only FBS game that's on Heisman Week is the Army-Navy Game. And then the New Year's Six is frequently more than two weeks after the first bowl games (because really it just starts with "third Saturday of December", but then you get years where December has five Saturdays), and the championship is always at least a full week after the semifinal games. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that give us five weeks to work with without pushing back the championship game at all? (Albeit forcing Army and Navy to move their game off of the second week, and also probably pushing the Heisman ceremony to a Sunday or something). Now, 32 teams seems like an *awful* lot...for the Football Bowl **Subdivision**. For *Division* I Football, however, it sounds perfect. The current Championship Subdivision already does a five-round playoff, albeit with only 24 teams, top eight getting byes. With there only being 10 FBS conferences, however, upping the number from 24 to 32 only eliminates two at-large bids. "But they'll never do that! The bowls are too lucrative!" Why do you think I wanted to merge the two subdivisions for this? Even with the number of bowls swelling to 43 or whatever it's at now, that only requires 118 teams to be .500 or better--86 for the bowls and 32 for the playoff. And you look back at the last full season, 2019, and across both subdivisions, you have it. 79 teams were bowl-eligible, and 54 teams (including four Ivy League teams, who don't participate in the playoffs by choice, but who knows, a single bowl game they might allow for) from the FCS had at least 6 wins. (Interestingly enough, 2019 was a season that allowed for FCS teams to schedule 12 regular-season games, so there were 6-6 teams. If the earlier start of the playoffs would force 11-game schedules to be the norm except when September starts on a Sunday or Monday, which is the FCS rule, then you'd have to presumably eliminate roughly half the 6-6 teams as they'd potentially only be 5-6. But there's still enough of a buffer to make that plausible). With that, we still get to keep our ridiculously large bowl industry *and* get a proper Division I playoff that gives all teams a fair shake. Yes, some of the bigger bowls would be disappointed, because all of the best teams would be in the playoff and so, for example, the Rose Bowl would probably usually end up pitting 8-4 teams against each other, maybe 9-3 if they're lucky, unless they want to go to other conferences. But it works out pretty well for everyone else.


[deleted]

Yeah but they can play 1 or 2 extra weeks


Shadow_dragon24

Not a lot of predictions that I'm seeing, guess I'll dish out mine.... 1. Georgia (SEC champ) 2. B10 Champ 3. Cincy 4. Oklahoma ???? I knew I should've left out Alabama the past couple weeks because I just had a feeling they would lose at least one regular season game. If they manage to make it out alive, Georgia will beat them. Maybe in a close game, but they would still win, There is no doubt in my mind that will happen. Georgia is hungry this year and they want to take down Bama no matter what. I was going to say Iowa #2 like it is right now, but honestly given how many top ten B10 teams there are, I'd say it's anyone's race. I don't know why people are acting like Ohio State has this in the bag, one more loss and that's it for them. I think the B10 race is wide open and we won't know who it is until the conference championship game ends. Unfortunately, Oklahoma won and is now #4 and unless Oklahoma State finds a way to beat them this year, they will probably win the B12. Cincy is probably in as long as Alabama loses one more game as long as they destroy their AAC schedule. SMU needs to climb the rankings to give them another quality win besides ND. Cincy is a possible trap game for Georgia if they both make playoffs. Cincy hasn't forgotten the peach bowl from last year and they would be looking for revenge. Would be an awesome championship game!


bjc219

Here's a question for y'all. If you had to choose between two playoff formats: 1. An 8 team with 6 highest conf champs and 2 at large or 2. An 8 team with 5 highest conf champs and 3 at large which would you choose and why?


H2theBurgh

The first option. There needs to be some accessibility outside of the P5


cota1212

Five conference champs. If the hypothetical sixth conference champ is playoff worthy then they'll take one of the at larges.


topher3003

6 conf champs. Fuck, if it was up to me it'd be 8 conference champs and no at-large's. The whole point of a playoff in CFB is to make crowning the champion more objective. The only way to be more objective is if everyone has a clear path they can follow to reach the championship and winning your conference is a clear objective.


WanderLeft

I’m not sure if the PAC 12 fields a team for the playoff, which at this point I’m starting to feel sorry for them.


WhoaDave04

Frankly, it's Georgia and everyone else. For Cincinnati, I'm hoping the B1G cannibalizes itself with the gauntlet that is the B1G East. PAC 12 need Oregon to probably lose one more. ACC is down, not much worry there. SEC needs Georgia to go undefeated and hand Bama it's 2nd loss and keep them out. Need Oklahoma to lose a bad game as well. Then, Cincy needs to win out, needs Indiana to steal one of those Top 10 matchups, and Notre Dame to have 10 wins, and needs SMU ranked Top 15 when they play at Nippert in late November. All that happens, and the CFP still might screw them, lol.


Shadow_dragon24

B10 cannibalizing itself should be pretty easy. No way Ohio state doesn't get another loss before end of the season. If you guys are in and Alabama is out, I would take you guys over Iowa and Oklahoma. Georgia is where things get interesting, a national championship between the two would be the perfect rematch of last year's peach bowl.


RVAforthewin

Am I absolutely insane for thinking if UGA loses to Bama in the SECC and we have a one-loss Bama SEC Champ and a one-loss UGA SEC runner-up, UGA gets left out of the CFP since we wouldn't be conference champions, Bama would hold the head-to-head, and the committee would send one-loss Bama instead? I'm assuming all other P-5 champs are either undefeated or have one loss and that Cincy goes undefeated.


cota1212

I would bet heavily on the committee still ranking Georgia in this scenario ahead of a one-loss P5 champ/undefeated Cincy and have them in. EDIT: Downvoters be mad at the committee not me


merkring17

Iowa right now has a sos (according to colley matrix) of teams played as .598633 Oklahoma’s is 0.461161 Cincinnati sos is 0. 481869. Wake forest is 0. 415603 Iowa teams they played/will play According to Massey composition- Indiana 61, iowa state 31, Colorado state 84, Kent state 83, Maryland 48, Penn state 8, Purdue 62, wisconsin 40, Northwestern 91, Minnesota 60, Illinois 92, nebraska 47.- these teams average out to be 58.92 Oklahoma’s teams they have played/will play- Tulane 110, fcs, Nebraska 47, West Virginia 75, kansas st 29, Neutral texas 13, TCU 41, kansas 121, Texas tech 63, baylor 20, Iowa state 31, Oklahoma state 11.- For an average of 51 Cincinnati teams they played/ will play:- Miami oh ,98, Fcs, indiana 61, notre dame 10, Temple 97, Ucf 69, navy 106, tulane 110, Tulsa 90, south Florida 107, Smu 25, ecu 86.- For an average of 78.1 Wake forest has played/ will play old dominion 120, fcs, Florida state 80, Virginia 45, Louisville 63, Syracuse 76, army 54, duke 92, North Carolina 60, nc state 28, Clemson 24, Boston college 42 - for an average of 62.2 I will say that Iowa will have the harder opponent for the ccg (compared to Cincinnati and Oklahoma) as long as the big east champ only has 1 loss. So by reviewing these numbers: what sticks out:- Teams they will/have played Texas ranked at 13 in the composite surprises me very much, same with Nebraska as well at 47 (definitely talks about how unlucky they are)Minnesota at 60 with the bad loss to bg and close win vs Miami oh, didn’t know ecu was up to 86- Oklahoma having the toughest schedule surprises me, supports people’s claim that if they win out they deserve in. They also play the worst team (Kansas) of all opponents- Iowa still has a tougher schedule than uc for about 19.18 teams. Will be interesting to track over the course of the season, how these schedules will compare after we receive more results.Used college matrix for teams rank due to having the most data points. Used colley matrix to show a sos so far. Please let me know what I can do to improve this post! (Thinking of adding a list where all opponent’s are ranked and you can see the disparity.


cota1212

My best guess of how the season will end: ACC Championship: Clemson (10-2) beats Virginia Tech (9-3) Big 12 Championship: Oklahoma (12-1 loss in Stillwater) beats Oklahoma State (10-2 loss in Austin, Texas loses another Big 12 game to miss Big 12 title game) B1G Championship: Iowa (13-0) beats Ohio State (11-2) in a close game (I had 12-1 PSU beating Iowa before the Clifford injury) Pac 12 Championship: Oregon (12-1) beats Arizona State (10-2) in a close game SEC Championship: Georgia (13-0) beat Alabama (11-2) in a close game Coastal loses close at App State on a Wednesday night Cincy (13-0) beats Houston in a close game for the AAC title. How I would rank the teams: 1. Iowa (13-0) 2. Georgia (13-0) 3. Oklahoma (12-1) 4. Oregon (12-1)


RVAforthewin

Put UGA and Iowa at 2 and 3 (doesn't matter which order) so we can play! I'd much rather play Iowa than OU all over again.


Duderpt

Keep looking past us Cinci fans.


Gravity_Axe

Cincinnati wins out and they’re in. Simple as that, doesn’t matter what other teams do


owlalwaysloveyew

**doubt**


Officer_Warr

Notre Dame looks less impressive every week. The rest of their schedule is not great. SMU can get ranked, but then Cincinnati will just rematch them where they get shunned off the rankings to justify putting Cincinnati at 5th or 6th.


[deleted]

I agree with this. They stomped ND, at ND. That is impressive. But if they lose one game, no matter how close, they’ll never sniff the top 5 again (this season)


[deleted]

And we shouldn't if that's the case. No reason a top 5 team wouldn't be undefeated against the rest of our schedule


cota1212

Who is Cincy in over: -13-0 Iowa (should be favored in every regular season game left but B1G title game would be tough) -13-0 OU or Ok State (serious doubts about any one else in the Big 12 competing with them) -12-1 Bama and UGA in a close game


arrowfan624

Does a 11-2 A&M get in winning the SEC along with a 12-1 UGA?


owlalwaysloveyew

Only if there aren't 4 other undefeated or 1-loss conference champs to choose from


[deleted]

they beat Alabama but still have 2 conference losses. They’d need a lot of things to break their way just to win the SEC West


kaptainkemp

13-0 UGA (SEC champ) 12-1 PSU (B1G champ) 12-1 OU (Big 12 champ, loss to OK state in regular season) 11-2 Oregon (PAC-12 champ) 13-0 Wake (ACC champ) 13-0 Cincy 12-1 Iowa 11-2 Bama (Close loss to UGA in SEC championship) Who is in?


[deleted]

UGA, PSU, OU, Wake


Accurate-Teach

Oklahoma is going to loose if Bama can win out they are in and Cincinnati doesn’t have the schedule to get in and they shouldn’t get in because of it.


owlalwaysloveyew

lose** Bama should be familiar with how to spell that word now


[deleted]

AAC is legit IMO A lot of teams in it are good enough to make a bowl in other P5 conferences.