2024 NCAA College Football Thread

[Boston Red]

There were definitely Tennessee receivers in the end zone as Nico scrambled, and there was time for him to make a desperation attempt. It would have had about a 10% chance of succeeding, but the only chance on the path he decided to take was if someone grabbed his facemask or hit him out of bounds.

Here's the video. As he's rolling right, there's ample opportunity to throw it in the end zone (even though no one was open).

[Sea Ray]

Ok, he’s been on campus for 2 seasons. This is his 2nd season.

Correct. That's why I said RS freshman

[Strikes Out Looking]

Indiana is really good.

Indiana continues to be really good.

[GAC]

You have two top 5's facing off this coming weekend on OSU and Oregon. And the following week you have Tennessee and 'Bama squaring off with dire implications. Will two losses pretty much kil ones chances at the playoffs?

[Sea Ray]

You have two top 5's facing off this coming weekend on OSU and Oregon. And the following week you have Tennessee and 'Bama squaring off with dire implications. Will two losses pretty much kil ones chances at the playoffs?

You also have Texas and Georgia next week. I think two loss teams will definitely be in the playoffs this year

[Boston Red]

There won't be enough power conference one loss teams to avoid having a couple of two loss teams in the mix. Plus, you could easily have two loss teams winning the ACC and/or Big XII. Granted, one loss Notre Dame with their hilariously awful schedule and loss to Northern Illinois will probably end up taking someone's spot.

[bucksfan2]

There won't be enough power conference one loss teams to avoid having a couple of two loss teams in the mix. Plus, you could easily have two loss teams winning the ACC and/or Big XII. Granted, one loss Notre Dame with their hilariously awful schedule and loss to Northern Illinois will probably end up taking someone's spot.

ND is going to be an interesting case study. Their schedule is pretty pretty terrible, and looks even worse with USC struggling when they leave the Pacific Time zone. Just for fun, does a one loss ND get in over say a two loss PSU or a two loss Oregon? There is nothing for ND to help prop up that schedule. They got a pretty weak ACC draw with FSU being terrible.

I do think we may see a 3 loss power team make the playoff. The biggest question will be, are there 11 better teams out there than say a 3 loss Bama or Georgia? Not that they lose three games, but its on the table, and the Committee would be salivating about the matchups with those team playing as an 11 seed.

[Boston Red]

Looking at last year's final CFP rankings:

Michigan, Washington, Texas, Alabama, and Florida State were ranked 1-5 and convieniently would have taken up the power conference auto bids. #23 Liberty would have gotten the nod over #24 SMU (though I wonder if the rankings would have been the same if a playoff spot had been on the line. Teams 6-11 in the rankings that also would have made the playoffs: Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, Missouri, Penn State and Ole Miss. Of that group, Oregon, Missouri, Penn State and Ole Miss all had 2 losses. LSU at #13 was the highest ranked 3 loss team.

Only 7 power conference teams ended up with 1 loss, so there were always going to be 4 playoff spots available to power conference teams (or Notre Dame) with multiple losses in a 12 team playoff.

[bucksfan2]

Looking at last year's final CFP rankings:

Michigan, Washington, Texas, Alabama, and Florida State were ranked 1-5 and convieniently would have taken up the power conference auto bids. #23 Liberty would have gotten the nod over #24 SMU (though I wonder if the rankings would have been the same if a playoff spot had been on the line. Teams 6-11 in the rankings that also would have made the playoffs: Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, Missouri, Penn State and Ole Miss. Of that group, Oregon, Missouri, Penn State and Ole Miss all had 2 losses. LSU at #13 was the highest ranked 3 loss team.

Only 7 power conference teams ended up with 1 loss, so there were always going to be 4 playoff spots available to power conference teams (or Notre Dame) with multiple losses in a 12 team playoff.

The thing with the CFP rankings are only the top 4 matter. Everything after 4 is made to justify the top 4. When the committee would talk about top 25 wins, and then you see someone in the top 25 that would make you scratch your head, they were in there for a reason.

I have no doubt if ND is around the 11-13 range, they are more than likely to get that last seed. Same with OSU and Alabama and Georgia and any blue blood that brings eyeballs to the playoff. Just for fun, lets assume the last playoff spot comes down to a 3 loss LSU, 2 loss BYU, and two loss Syracuse. Is there any doubt that the committee would choose LSU. You would probably see a couple of their opponents with inflated rankings to validate their inclusion in the playoff.

[Boston Red]

I agree that the rankings will be affected by the fact that playoff spots are on the line (and acknowledged as much with my comments around Liberty/SMU). But last year would have been pretty clean. Things can obviously shake out differently in any given year.

The thing I like about this system is that it's similar to fighting over the 68th spot in the NCAA Tournament: people are going to be mad, but the stakes are way lower, and you will have had every opportunity to play yourself into the playoff. You can be upset with the decision on who is the 12th team selected, but you're unlikely to have a situation like Florida State last year when they literally won every game and still got left out (I mean, it's still possible, but will it REALLY matter if 13-0 Liberty or Eastern Michigan gets left out)?

[bucksfan2]

I agree that the rankings will be affected by the fact that playoff spots are on the line (and acknowledged as much with my comments around Liberty/SMU). But last year would have been pretty clean. Things can obviously shake out differently in any given year.

The thing I like about this system is that it's similar to fighting over the 68th spot in the NCAA Tournament: people are going to be mad, but the stakes are way lower, and you will have had every opportunity to play yourself into the playoff. You can be upset with the decision on who is the 12th team selected, but you're unlikely to have a situation like Florida State last year when they literally won every game and still got left out (I mean, it's still possible, but will it REALLY matter if 13-0 Liberty or Eastern Michigan gets left out)?

FSU was a unique case that I doubt you see anymore. QB get hurt before the ACC Championship and backup doesn't look the part. As much as it was unfair to the players, FSU wasn't the same team.

I may be an outlier here, but I don't really want to see a group of 5 get the automatic bid. I would go as far to say if you are ranked in the top 15 as a group of 5 team then you get the 12 seed. But I have no desire to see the 25th ranked Liberty get pantsed by #5 Oregon.

As it is, you can almost argue that the #5 overall seed is the best seed to get. You get the weakest team in the field at home in your first game. Then you get the weakest of the conference championship winner in a neutral site. Would you rather be Oregon or OSU or Georgia and play Liberty at home in game one, then Iowa State in the round of 8? As opposed to say the #1 overall seed who may get a blue blood who lost a game or two they shouldn't have in the second round?

I would almost like them to go the NCAA tournament route, if you win your conference, you are guaranteed a spot in the tournament, but you are not given a first round bye.

[Boston Red]

I like the G5 autobid. Would have sucked last year, but there have definitely been deserving G5 teams that absolutely would have been overlooked without the rule. In fairness, Boise is the only G5 left who had one of those really good teams (with Utah, Cincinnati, TCU and UCF all now in the Big 12).

[Sea Ray]

I like the G5 autobid. Would have sucked last year, but there have definitely been deserving G5 teams that absolutely would have been overlooked without the rule. In fairness, Boise is the only G5 left who had one of those really good teams (with Utah, Cincinnati, TCU and UCF all now in the Big 12).

I agree. OK, most of the time they will get waxed by the #5 team but there will be rare times where the G5 team will win, just like we occasionally see #15 or 16 seeds win in the basketball tournament

[Sea Ray]

FSU was a unique case that I doubt you see anymore. QB get hurt before the ACC Championship and backup doesn't look the part. As much as it was unfair to the players, FSU wasn't the same team.

I may be an outlier here, but I don't really want to see a group of 5 get the automatic bid. I would go as far to say if you are ranked in the top 15 as a group of 5 team then you get the 12 seed. But I have no desire to see the 25th ranked Liberty get pantsed by #5 Oregon.

As it is, you can almost argue that the #5 overall seed is the best seed to get. You get the weakest team in the field at home in your first game. Then you get the weakest of the conference championship winner in a neutral site. Would you rather be Oregon or OSU or Georgia and play Liberty at home in game one, then Iowa State in the round of 8? As opposed to say the #1 overall seed who may get a blue blood who lost a game or two they shouldn't have in the second round?

I would almost like them to go the NCAA tournament route, if you win your conference, you are guaranteed a spot in the tournament, but you are not given a first round bye.

I'm not so sure about your #5 scenario. For some reason you're assuming the #4 seed will be an FSU or some other weak champion. Last year the #4 seed was a really tough Alabama. 2022 was Ohio State. Another year the Buckeyes won it all from that spot. More often than not, I'd much prefer to face the #8 seed than #4 and many years there will be an upset in the first rd and the opponent might well be worse than the #8 seed

[Assembly Hall]

Indiana continues to be really good.

Kurtis for the Heisman?

https://www.si.com/college/indiana/f...n-01j9pcz6dtyh