Bama Panther

Since these blowouts occurred in the 7/10 and 6/11 games, it suggests to me two things: (1) should the playoffs have been expanded to 12; and (2) if so, should SMU and Indiana, both teams who only got in due to the draw of extremely favorable schedules, have been amongst the 12?

Which is why they NEVER should have expanded to 12 teams. Now that we are here, it doesn’t mean we have to accept teams getting in due to weak schedules only to get railroaded in the first round.

Your issue must be with the 12-team format then. As I mentioned, there have been many prior seasons with 3-loss teams in the top 12. If we are going to have a 12-team (or God forbid, 16-team) format going forward, three losses is not a disqualifier. The real question we all should be asking is this: should there really be 12 teams in the playoffs? We know that there are at least 2, but I’d venture to guess about 6, teams that truly have no chance at winning this thing and should not be in a conversation about a “National Champion.”

In most seasons, multiple top 12 teams have 3 losses. It’s a nature of the 12-team format. You can’t say losing 3 games means you haven’t earned the right to be in the playoffs if you are still one of the top 12-ish teams (given auto bids for conference champs.

Gotcha. Where you said “no byes” threw me off. You mean no automatic byes for conference champs? Top 4, whoever they are, get byes, right?

if you seeded 1-12, SMU and Indiana wouldn’t be playing teams like Clemson and ASU. They’d be playing teams like Oregon and Georgia. Those games would be even worse.

I doubt ND and PSU will both be playing the NCCG. It could happen but it’s unlikely. Additionally, the past blowouts were against teams that were supposedly the #3 and #4 teams in the country. These were against teams ranked #8 and #10 who each struggled mightily in their regular season games against legit opponents.

I’m an SEC homer, so I was trying to be unbiased. Haha

The issue is the notion that all conferences and conference champs are created equally, when that just isn’t the case. 11-2 in the ACC is not the same as 9-3 in the SEC or B1G. The highest ranked G5 champion is very rarely going to be on the same level as the 3rd or 4th place B1G/SEC team.

Valid point, but those blowouts were at the hands of the teams that would go on to play in the NCCG. These blowouts have been at the hands of teams that may very well lose in the quarterfinals. That’s not the same thing.

These playoffs are a joke so far. Strength of Schedule should really be a consideration in the future. Not saying that Bama should be in, but South Carolina or Ole Miss would have absolutely had better showings.

This is a completely underwhelming game for being the first game of the first ever 12-team playoff.

Please, no! I don’t want to see Bama’s offense be an insane amount of QB keeps on RPOs, mixed with often erratic passing, again.

Patriots will jump back to #3 if they lose today. Don’t see the Cardinals record changing the Pats’ SOS enough for the Panthers to leapfrog them.

I don’t think this is being talked about enough in terms of XL’s abysmal performance today. He was completely half assing it on that go route until he realized Bryce threw the ball his way. Had he gone hard the entire route, the ball was perfectly thrown.

Absolutely agree concerning Milroe. When he is bad, he is REALLY bad, and you just never know which Milroe will show up. Agree. Good Bama could win the playoffs, but you can’t reward good Bama with the way bad Bama showed up in games against far lesser opponents.

I hate that Bama is out, but it’s the right call.

As it sits in ESPN’s (see Heather Dinnich’s) projections, I see three fairly comfortable wins in the first round (ND over Indiana, Texas over SMU, and Penn State over Clemson).

Don’t get me wrong, I hope Bama sneaks in. I just don’t know that the committee will do it with the way SMU fought back.

I wanted SMU to win before the game started. Once Clemson jumped out, I wanted them to throttle SMU, as I think a throttling would have allowed the committee to sneak Bama back in. Then, as SMU mounted their comeback, I wanted them to pull it out. The new system hasn’t changed anything, other than the amount of teams in the field. The arguments that folks used to have about the #4 seed are now just had at the #11/12 seeds (depending on where the fifth conference champ is ranked).

That’s my take as well. I know it’s been done in the past, but I don’t like punishing teams for losing in a conference championship game, especially games that come down to the wire.

My rankings, not that they mean anything: Oregon Georgia Arizona State Boise State Penn State Notre Dame Texas Ohio State Tennessee Clemson Indiana SMU First Two Out: Bama, Ole Miss

At the same time as the B1G game as well. I’d imagine ratings for Clemson/SMU will be far below Oregon/Penn St. ACC game should be entering the 4th quarter right now (225 pm EST).

Actually, Deion signed a five year contract with Colorado, so technically, he does owe them something (either three more years or a buyout).

He’s actually a liability in the running game as well. He’s wants to be the hero and keeps the ball waaaay too much on read options. It’s how Oklahoma beat them. He simply kept the ball and OU was keying on him. I’ll pull for Bama if they make it in. Do I think they deserve to be in? No. I said as much Monday when I sent a text to a friend with South Carolina as the #12 seed. Even if Bama does get in, I’m not sure they make it out of the first round.