Playoffs

[ForeverIowan]

Can someone explain this question to me?

Im hearing a lot of talk that 3 loss Clemson will jump the 2 loss Big 12 Champion because Clemson is the bigger brand and that is what the committee wants. Who cares that they have one more loss and to date only one impressive win.

Isnt the Big 12 champ a bigger "brand" than Boise freaking State? If the committee is trying to promote brands why wouldnt the Big 12 champ jump Boise State? You would think the committee would want all power 4 champions rewarded with a bye....

 

[NYCYFan]

Does a 2 loss Penn state have business being in?

They're ranked 4th. Losing to #1 Oregon doesn't drop them 9 spots.
Whether we like it or not, ranking going into the final week matters.

 

[BCClone]

They're ranked 4th. Losing to #1 Oregon doesn't drop them 9 spots.
Whether we like it or not, ranking going into the final week matters.

That’s the point. Who have they beaten to get there? Purdue and Maryland level teams? They got a ranking due to name.

 

[Cyclonsin]

Can someone explain this question to me?

Im hearing a lot of talk that 3 loss Clemson will jump the 2 loss Big 12 Champion because Clemson is the bigger brand and that is what the committee wants. Who cares that they have one more loss and to date only one impressive win.

Isnt the Big 12 champ a bigger "brand" than Boise freaking State? If the committee is trying to promote brands why wouldnt the Big 12 champ jump Boise State? You would think the committee would want all power 4 champions rewarded with a bye....

They got 1.53 million viewers against Nevada in week 11, so they have the ability to get as many eyeballs as we do this year because folks want to see Jeanty do something superhuman. Besides, the brand gap between Clemson and ASU/ISU is much larger than the gap between ASU/ISU and BSU. It's not really and apples-to-apples comparison.

 

[HFCS]

Does a 2 loss Penn state have business being in?

It's easier to ask: Who in playoff discussion does have big wins?

In rough order of which top 20 teams have the best wins
Oregon
Georgia
Ohio State
BYU (committee thinks SMU is god tier and BYU waltzed into their place and beat them)
Alabama
Tennessee
Winner of Big 12 title game
Winner of ACC title game
Penn St if they win B10
Texas if they win SEC

No amazing wins but still make playoff with no great wins club:
Boise State
Texas
Penn State
Indiana
Notre Dame (and also the worst loss of anybody by far)
Maybe SMU if they lose ACC title game

 

[NYCYFan]

That’s the point. Who have they beaten to get there? Purdue and Maryland level teams? They got a ranking due to name.

Who have most of these teams beaten?

Penn State - Illinois
Notre Dame - Texas A&M, 4 loss Aggies now
Texas - Same as Notre Dame
Indiana - Michigan I guess?

These are the teams locked in. It's a very weak field this year. Really, only the SEC teams have quality wins because they beat each other and Oregon, Ohio State. Somebody earlier in the thread asked why Ohio State is locked in? They beat Penn State and Indiana, arguably the best pair of victories of any team.

Penn State and those other 3 teams are there mainly because of eye test and favorable rankings throughout the season, plus brand name plays a role too I'm sure. Also no bad losses outside of Notre Dame losing to Northern Illinois somehow. They're the team that people should be griping about but....brand name and I suppose eye test have them ranked here.

 

[HFCS]

Who have most of these teams beaten?

Penn State - Illinois
Notre Dame - Texas A&M, 4 loss Aggies now
Texas - Same as Notre Dame
Indiana - Michigan I guess?

These are the teams locked in. It's a very weak field this year. Really, only the SEC teams have quality wins because they beat each other and Oregon, Ohio State.
Penn State and those other 3 teams are there mainly because of eye test and favorable rankings throughout the season, plus brand name plays a role too I'm sure.

Boise State, Texas, Penn State, Indiana and Notre Dame are the teams that are locks without having a great win. SMU could possibly get in without a great win, depends if you count beating Clemson as a great win.

Penn State and Texas can definitely change that. Indiana and Notre Dame should be treated as if they lose a CCG next week.

 

[NYCYFan]

Boise State, Texas, Penn State, Indiana and Notre Dame are the teams that are locks without having a great win. SMU could possibly get in without a great win, depends if you count beating Clemson as a great win.

Penn State and Texas can definitely change that. Indiana and Notre Dame should be treated as if they lose a CCG next week.

Boise State is only a lock if they beat UNLV with an auto bid. SMU has a weaker schedule than the other teams and will have 2 losses (worse losses) compared to Indiana's 1 loss so that's why Indiana would get the nod over them as a lock even though Indiana also had the weak schedule.
Notre Dame probably shouldn't be a lock but they are because of only 1 loss and looking strong in a lot of wins albeit against mediocre competition.

 

[HFCS]

Boise State is only a lock if they beat UNLV. SMU has a weaker schedule than the other teams and will have 2 losses (worse losses) compared to Indiana's 1 loss so that's why Indiana would get the nod over them as a lock.
Notre Dame probably shouldn't be a lock but they are because of only 1 loss and looking strong in a lot of wins albeit against mediocre competition.

But still they wouldn't have some amazing win if they beat UNLV. They already have that win, it's a rematch.

If that's an amazing win we'll have 3-5 amazing wins.

Only a small handful of teams truly have a great win.

 

[NYCYFan]

But still they wouldn't have some amazing win if they beat UNLV.

If that's an amazing win we could have 3-5 amazing wins.

It doesn't matter though because they're the best Group of 5 team so that gets them the auto bid, two wins over ranked UNLV and close loss to Oregon. Who should be in over them? Tulane is out now.
If Boise State loses, they're out.

 

[HFCS]

It doesn't matter though because they're the best Group of 5 team. Who should be in over them? Tulane is out now.

I'm not arguing they should be out.

We were talking about who has great wins...that PSU/Texas really don't yet.

 

[NYCYFan]

I'm not arguing they should be out.

We were talking about who has great wins...that PSU/Texas really don't yet.

But those are teams that we're talking about in an at large discussion when comparing resumes. Boise State isn't in that discussion.

 

[KidSilverhair]

It's easier to ask: Who in playoff discussion does have big wins?

Blue bloods/media: We must consolidate conferences into huge mega-groups! Think of all the top-tier matchups that will result! Endless conference games featuring battles of titans! It’ll be so much better than trying to arrange non-conference games between P4 teams!

Reality: Most of the “blue bloods” end up missing games with their top conference competition, resulting in fewer “big wins,” the need for complicated tiebreakers, and requiring action by biased humans on the committee to sort it all out instead of just looking at results on the field.

 

[HFCS]

But those are teams that we're talking about in an at large discussion when comparing resumes. Boise State isn't in that discussion.

I don’t disagree. I guess my different discussion was a lot of playoff teams won’t have a great win (that does include bsu unless someone wants to say ISU has 4-5 great wins).

 

[CloneIce]

Does a 2 loss Penn state have business being in?

Yes. Their second loss would be in the CCG against the #1 team in the nation.

 

[NYCYFan]

I don’t disagree. I guess my different discussion was a lot of playoff teams won’t have a great win (that does include bsu unless someone wants to say ISU has 4-5 great wins).

I agree with that and made a post stating that earlier in the thread but I'm just saying that Boise isn't in this dicussion. They're in the same situation as Clemson, the Big 12 teams and probably SMU, win and you're in lose and you're out so resume is irrelevant for them.

 

[BoomerClone]

Playoff seedings if ESPN got their way 100%

1) Georgia
2) Alabama
3) Texas
4) Tennessee
5) South Carolina
6) Ohio State
7) ND
8) Ole Miss
9) Penn State
10) Boise State
11) Clemson
12) Colorado (they would ignore the fact that ASU vs ISU even happened)

 

[HFCS]

I agree with that and made a post stating that earlier in the thread but I'm just saying that Boise isn't in this dicussion. They're in the same situation as Clemson, the Big 12 teams and probably SMU, win and you're in lose and you're out so resume is irrelevant for them.

It matters big time for seeding.

Almost no computers have bsu > big 12 yet virtually all humans who matter do. They play against easy teams, it should at least be a close decision, not a fore gone conclusion.

 

[CloneIce]

That’s the point. Who have they beaten to get there? Purdue and Maryland level teams? They got a ranking due to name.

Objectively - they have a similar schedule and wins as two loss teams like Miami or BYU. But they lost one game all year. Not two. Not 3. That’s why they are ranked ahead of all the 2 loss teams and all the 3 loss SEC teams. And they certainly won’t be punished for losing to #1 Oregon in the conf championship.

When I see people complaining that a one loss Penn St team is in the playoffs…. Yeah it’s hard to take these arguments seriously.

 

[NYCYFan]

It matters big time for seeding.

Almost no computers have bsu > big 12 yet virtually all humans who matter do. They play against easy teams, it should at least be a close decision, not a fore gone conclusion.

Oh yes, in terms of seeding you're right. I was just talking in terms of comparing to at large teams.
Will be interesting to see how the rankings shake out tomorrow. I'd assume that Arizona State and Iowa State creep up a little on Boise due to Clemson dropping and being more impressive in their wins but as it stands now they have a lot of ground to make up so it appears likely that Boise has the inside track on the 4th seed. Just having 1 loss helps them and that close loss to Oregon carries a lot of clout I'm sure.