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Dream on, Yankee. Year after year I have seen Ohio State wind up with a 12-0 record, be ranked in the top three, and come down South here, and get annihilated in the bowl game by the SEC team.

It is easy to figure out who will win the Big Game. The state in which the most cotton was grown in 1850 will win.

This comes up every year, so once again:

One of the fundamental principles of the ranking system is that every game counts.

Here's the problem with conference championships: They only count conference games. In a typical Power 5 schedule there are 9 conference games and 3 non-conference games. How does ignoring a quarter of the season produce a more accurate selection?

Worse, it skews the results in weird ways. A team can lose a non-conference game and it might knock them out of the playoffs. It would no effect on the conference championship. Why shouldn't that loss count against them?

In fact, a team could lose ALL of their non-conference games in addition to their one conference loss. They could be 8-4, but they could have still be conference champions over 11-1 team whose only loss is against them. How does that makes any sense as a playoff criterion?

Let’s illustrate how this might work. There’s Team A, who’s non conference games include Vassar, Rhode Island State Tech and St. Swithen’s seminary. They also lose one conference game to the weakest team in the conference.
Team B is in Team A’s division. Instead of the usual three cupcakes, Team B schedules Alabama, Clemson and Oklahoma as their non conference games and beats them all. They play Team A and lose by a field goal. So Team A is 8-4, Team B is 11-1. Who goes to the playoffs? Team B at 8-4, because their CONFERENCE record is an identical 8-1 and they have the head to head win which makes them conference champion. Team A’s weaker schedule, poorer record and Team B’s fantastic season mean nothing. How does that make any sense?

So if you want to criticize the current system and say that it should be based on conference championships, then please answer the following questions:

Why shouldn't every game count?
Why should Team B be out of the conference championship (and therefore the playoffs) because their only loss was to Team A?
Why should the playoff be based on a system that could put an 8-4 team in ahead of an 11-1 team?

Excellent post with excellent points!

Every game doesn't count now; you can go undefeated and not make the dance. You can lose one game and not make it. The "rankers" can also pick a one loss team ahead of you, not out of any equity, but because ESPN wants large market teams only. That's where the schedule strength "argument" comes in. Never mind the teams beaten could be ranked in the Top 25 and wind up 4-8. (Nebraska anyone?)

The problem isn't the conference games, it's the Power non-conference ones. There is no reason for Power 5 LSU to play Texas the third or second week of the season, other than money. There's no reason Notre Dame can't join a conference. Its all about creating the "every game counts" mantra, when in reality that idea "depends" on who you are and manipulating cash games. Like I said, tradition isn't getting canned, and that's the problem, because most people like it that way.

Pretty simple, unless you have a vested interest in two teams in the same conference playing twice. Never mind the money that conference makes of their ties to the broadcaster.... Playing the same team twice, when every game counts? Um, okay...

Because it works in every other sport. Is anyone pissed off the Yankees didn't win the World Series because they got beat by a team with fewer wins? Because they beat a good National League team during the season? I know, college football is a limited season, but that's the BS excuse for continuing manipulating things and not fixing them.

I know, no one wants Boise State to beat Oklahoma again and everyone wants a LSU/Georgia or Alabama redux.

Because football is a limited season, it is completely ridiculous for any two teams to meet twice. The issue was decided the first time that they met. If the same team wins both games, it only further proves that they were the better team. If they split, the way it is now, the team that won the second game gets the glory that should be shared. The only semi-sensible thing to do if that scenario plays out is to play a third time, but that really only reverts to a one-game competition, which is what existed back at the time of the first game.

#7 for LSU didn't make a tackle the entire game! Let several Bama runners go! Hasn't figured out to hit in such a way as to lock the arms!!

Some of the Bama guys were so busy trying to strip the ball, they let several LSU runners go way too far before stopping them.

It's hard to beat basic, fundamental football.

DF

Every year there will be a team that does well in one of the smaller conferences and claims they should go to the playoffs because they are 12-0. Western Michigan in 2016 is a good example. Going undefeated in any conference is an accomplishment to be proud of, but Western Michigan didn't play a single ranked team all year. Their signature wins were against Northwestern and Illinois. The rest of their schedule was made up of teams like the North Carolina Central Eagles, the Akron Zips and the Kent State Golden Flashes. Should they have gone into the playoffs instead of Alabama, who lost one game to Old Miss, but beat ranked teams Wisconsin, Georgia, Texas A&M, LSU, Mississippi State, and Florida? Really?

Western Michigan got a bowl game against the Big 10 runner up, Wisconsin. They lost. Alabama went on to beat Michigan State and Clemson to win the championship.

The fact is that FBS has 128 teams in it and the difference between the top teams and the lower teams is far greater than in any professional sport. Because of this some subjective evaluation is required. Comparing records made against wildly different levels of competition is foolish.


Strength of schedule is continuously changed based on an opponents CURRENT record, not what it was when you played them.

Minnesota is ranked #7 now.

Yeah baby.

It's amazing. After squeaking into a bowl last year at 6-6, the Gophers have made an amazing improvement. They were a bit shaky early in the year, winning by thin margins over Georgia Southern and Fresno State, but they have really hit their stride lately. If they beat Iowa next week, they will have a clear shot at the Big 10 Championship. The Rose Bowl is a real possibility then. Wow!

And such is what makes college football fun, the yearly ups and downs and surprises.

I believe the FBS has 130 teams, but what you said about going 12-0 in a weaker conference as compared to one of the stronger conferences is correct. Just look at the Fiesta Bowl last year. UCF (USA Conference) had the longest winning streak in the country (25) and was 12-0, but they got dominated by LSU (SEC Conference) at 9-3. The score wasn't that lopsided, but anyone that saw the game knew that UCF was basically 'out of their league".

I've proposed this before. (I don't want it, but offer it as a solution to the need for a NATIONAL CHAMPION.) Make what used to be (and I will call it) Division 1A 126 teams. Divide them into 18 units of 7 teams each. (Geographically, by draw, however.) The first six games of the season will determine the standings within each unit. Then reconfigure for the last six games: all 18 of the first place teams go into one division, all 18 of the second place teams go into the next division, and so on. They then play the last six games. After all is said and done, the 7 teams in the "first division" are teams #1- #7 in the final standings, the teams in the "second division" are #8-#14, and so on down the line. Everyone had a chance to earn their way into the "first division" by winning their first six-game division. After that, play the bowls for fun. For the teams that were left out of the 126 and wished to be there, they play in 1AA. For the following season, the top two teams from 1AA replace the #125 and #126 teams from 1A, while those two go to 1AA.
This of course, would have its own problems to work out, but it wouldn't be any more of a mess than what we have now, and would give everyone a shot at the TITLE as the whole season would be a play-off.

5sdad, Logic and common sense will get you nowhere! But, without thoroughly dissecting your idea.....it sounds pretty darn good! memtb

An excellent example. Last year's LSU team wasn't as good as this year's and their defensive backfield was so depleted by injury that they were using a backup wide receiver in coverage. In order to keep UCF's offense off the field LSU played ball control and their offensive line thoroughly dominated UCF's defense. Time of possession was 44:31 LSU, 15:29 UCF.

If UCF had played a team like Ohio State or Alabama it would not have been pretty.

P.S. You're right, FBS has grown to 130 teams.

In any case....there was a bunch of folks in Alabama that woke up the morning after with a CASE OF THE SQUIRTS!!