With College Football Playoff change looming, a 12-team model leads the way (Yahoo/Thamel)

[huskymedic]

 

[Exit 4]

CF national media heavy hitters thread

 

[Drew]

This is a really good read:



https://twitter.com/espn_billc/status/1403382459224539143?s=21

 

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[huskymedic]

CF national media heavy hitters thread

Can you imagine happy hour w/ Brando/Blaud when they’ve had a few hours head start on ya?

Blaud’s musings yesterday were painful.

 

[shizzle787]

If the six highest rated conference champions plus six at large model passes it's a huge win for the G5.

It will be interesting to see what BYU does if it passes, logic would dictate that they join the MWC because it would give them their best shot at the tournament, however the MWC TV contract stinks compared to what BYU gets from ESPN. Does ESPN push BYU into the AAC?

Would this increase UCONN's interest in the MAC? (football only of course) Western Michigan would have made the tournament 5 years ago. UMASS might reconsider moving all of their sports into the MAC. The bottom line is being in a G5 conference becomes slightly more attractive and being independent slightly less attractive.

I like being independent. We can schedule 5-6 P5 schools a year (something we can't do in the MAC). The MAC champion in most years will not be one of the top 6 conference champions so I would rather be an independent as a 13-0 MAC champion UConn might not get in, but a 12-0 independent UConn who played at least 4 P5 schools + 2 AAC schools + Army would absolutely get in. An 12-1 MAC champion UConn would never get in and might not even be ranked. An 11-1 independent UConn is unlikely to get in but could depending on strength of schedule.

 

[DoctorWho85]

If the six highest rated conference champions plus six at large model passes it's a huge win for the G5.

It will be interesting to see what BYU does if it passes, logic would dictate that they join the MWC because it would give them their best shot at the tournament, however the MWC TV contract stinks compared to what BYU gets from ESPN. Does ESPN push BYU into the AAC?

Would this increase UCONN's interest in the MAC? (football only of course) Western Michigan would have made the tournament 5 years ago. UMASS might reconsider moving all of their sports into the MAC. The bottom line is being in a G5 conference becomes slightly more attractive and being independent slightly less attractive.

Why UCONN go to the MAC, which makes significantly less in TV dollars than than the AAC, after leaving the AAC which is by far and away a better conference.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

State this after an 11-0 Bama team sits 1/2 their starters in an SECCG and gets an 8-4 Florida in.

If the top 4 conference champs get a first round bye, won't Bama want to win the conference championship unless Bama does not want the bye? I would think Bama would want to have the bye vs. not having it.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

I like being independent. We can schedule 5-6 P5 schools a year (something we can't do in the MAC). The MAC champion in most years will not be one of the top 6 conference champions so I would rather be an independent as a 13-0 MAC champion UConn might not get in, but a 12-0 independent UConn who played at least 4 P5 schools + 2 AAC schools + Army would absolutely get in. An 12-1 MAC champion UConn would never get in and might not even be ranked. An 11-1 independent UConn is unlikely to get in but could depending on strength of schedule.

Agreed. Going to MAC would be a huge mistake. In most years, a MAC champ won't make it while a season full of MAC opponents won't be interesting to most UCONN fans.

As an indy, UCONN can schedule 5 to 6 P5 schools per year. If UCONN is able to go 12-0 or 11-1, UCONN has a chance to make the playoff. The only thing UCONN won't get the is the 1st round bye for conference champs. The chance of MAC champ as a top 4 conference champ is slim to none, so it is not much of a loss. In just about all the years, top 4 conference champs will come from P5 conferences.

Based on this, I definitely think UCONN should stay as an indy while continuing to build up the program.

 

[Forte]

Agreed. Going to MAC would be a huge mistake. In most years, a MAC champ won't make it while a season full of MAC opponents won't be interesting to most UCONN fans.

As an indy, UCONN can schedule 5 to 6 P5 schools per year. If UCONN is able to go 12-0 or 11-1, UCONN has a chance to make the playoff. The only thing UCONN won't get the is the 1st round bye for conference champs. The chance of MAC champ as a top 4 conference champ is slim to none, so it is not much of a loss. In just about all the years, top 4 conference champs will come from P5 conferences.

Based on this, I definitely think UCONN should stay as an indy while continuing to build up the program.

That and what is the MAC TV contract. Haven't looked into it but the TV exposure alone is worth Indy. If UConn were to play in the mac for a snowball chance in hell to play a team like Clemson vs. being able to play at least one big name a year along with regional rivals and p5 its a no brainer. Why in the hell get stuck playing teams like Toledo on no name TV for an almost zero chance to play brand names when we already have CFP brand names like Clemson, OSU and Michigan lined up? Would destroy recruiting success we've been seeing now. As WestCoast said... we wouldn't get a bye... neither would BYU or Army. Indy is hands down better than MAC

In fact if we were by rule excluded from the playoffs due to being Indy I would still rather be Indy and play some good fall games and go to a bowl than pretend we would ever go to a playoff once every 20 years to play CFP teams we already will be playing.

 

[metsfan2323]

In fact if we were by rule excluded from the playoffs due to being Indy I would still rather be Indy and play some good fall games and go to a bowl than pretend we would ever go to a playoff once every 20 years to play CFP teams we already will be playing.

As the playoff expands and the bowl system becomes more and more worthless opinions might change. This is really a discussion to have after the playoff expansion passes, but I personally would rather be playing for a league title and a shot at the playoff's vs just going through the motions with no real end goal.

BTW each MAC team has 4 non conference games so we could still schedule local P5 rivals and avoid filling out our schedule with the likes of Yale. You brought up our road games vs Michigan and Ohio State as reasons to stay independent, yet all of the B1G schools play MAC schools.

A yearly schedule comprised of two P5 home games and two P5 road games followed by an eight game league schedule where rivalries will develop is much better than what we have now IMO. Is Fresno State more exciting than a league game vs Ohio?, is Holy Cross more exciting than a league game vs Kent State? Is Middle Tenn more exciting than a league game vs Buffalo? Is Yale more exciting than a league game vs Bowling Green? Is Wyoming really more exciting than a league game vs Ball State if a conference title is on the line? UMASS would become more fun as a league rival.

 

[BlueDogs]

This model basically puts the winner of the American in the playoff most years.

Yup.

 

[hank970]

Agreed. Going to MAC would be a huge mistake. In most years, a MAC champ won't make it while a season full of MAC opponents won't be interesting to most UCONN fans.

As an indy, UCONN can schedule 5 to 6 P5 schools per year. If UCONN is able to go 12-0 or 11-1, UCONN has a chance to make the playoff. The only thing UCONN won't get the is the 1st round bye for conference champs. The chance of MAC champ as a top 4 conference champ is slim to none, so it is not much of a loss. In just about all the years, top 4 conference champs will come from P5 conferences.

Based on this, I definitely think UCONN should stay as an indy while continuing to build up the program.

That's fan-boy talk. UConn might be able to schedule 5 to 6 games against P5 opponents some years, but how many of those games would the Huskies ever be able to win?

Losing a bunch of body-bag games against P5 schools won't enhance UConn's football bona fides or offer it a pathway to post-season play. The Huskies might prevail against a P5 opponent from time to time, but the chances of them ever going 12-0 or 11-1 against a slate which includes a number of worthy power opponents is nil. As always, the big ones eat the little ones.

UConn's best shot for any semblence of football success was in a multi-revenue-sports conference like the AAC. UConn's best shot for relevance on the court is in the basketball-centric New Big East. The Huskies made a choice -- probably a good one, considering its history and location in a football recruiting desert -- and there's no going back. Live with it.

 

[Storrs South]

On paper, that would make playoff access much more challenging for an independent program. But honestly, outside of Notre Dame, playoff access for independents is more of an academic question. The strongest non Notre Dame independent, BYU, was excellent in 2019, but has mostly struggled to break out of the ranks of "merely good" since leaving the Mountain West. Liberty needs a few more seasons like last one to begin to seriously wonder about playoff access, and the others struggle to even go .500.

No disrespect to my many UConn readers, but "can UConn make the College Football Playoff under this system" should not crack the top twenty-five most important questions right now. The only system where UConn can currently make the College Football Playoff is one where UConn is given an automatic bid thanks to some obscure clause in Randy Edsall's contract.

 

[Jimdish255]

Giving teams a bye is an unfair tournament. Not surprised this is the route they would take.

 

[pepband99]

If the top 4 conference champs get a first round bye, won't Bama want to win the conference championship unless Bama does not want the bye? I would think Bama would want to have the bye vs. not having it.

My line was before the byes/etc were announced.

It's still semi-valid, though - you could easily build a scenario where a home game against a cupcake, and potentially dodging other seeds in the next game, ends up in your favor, though it's not clear cut.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[freescooter]

That's fan-boy talk. UConn might be able to schedule 5 to 6 games against P5 opponents some years, but how many of those games would the Huskies ever be able to win?

Losing a bunch of body-bag games against P5 schools won't enhance UConn's football bona fides or offer it a pathway to post-season play. The Huskies might prevail against a P5 opponent from time to time, but the chances of them ever going 12-0 or 11-1 against a slate which includes a number of worthy power opponents is nil. As always, the big ones eat the little ones.

UConn's best shot for any semblence of football success was in a multi-revenue-sports conference like the AAC. UConn's best shot for relevance on the court is in the basketball-centric New Big East. The Huskies made a choice -- probably a good one, considering its history and location in a football recruiting desert -- and there's no going back. Live with it.

We made a choice but I don’t completely agree with your analysis. Being a major power in the New Big East is going to be very difficult. Only one program has actually managed it and really they were already one. People blamed the AAC for UConn’s decline when that could more realistically be attributed to hiring an inept unprepared head coach. People talk about al the bids the Big East gets but when you look at what actually happens, there have been 2 teams besides Villanova to get beyond the first weekend. That is likely our future. Basically Seton Hall.

We sold out every other program, football and baseball in particular, for the fools gold of the New Big East which is really nothing more than a strong regional league.
On the other hand it is possible to qualify for the playoffs I suppose. We would need to win 11 games which would require beating some P5 teams. But BC isn’t getting there and Duke isn’t and Illinois isn’t and Cal is t so we aren’t that different I suppose. I have never been very much in favor of a playoff. I think it cheapens the season. And in any case they will expand to 16 in fairly short order. I can just imagine the SEC meeting where 5 seed LSU tells 1 seed Alabama how much they made hosting a first round game. Do it 2 straight years and you can build a roller coaster over the lazy river

 

[ConnHuskBask]

We made a choice but I don’t completely agree with your analysis. Being a major power in the New Big East is going to be very difficult. Only one program has actually managed it and really they were already one. People blamed the AAC for UConn’s decline when that could more realistically be attributed to hiring an inept unprepared head coach. People talk about al the bids the Big East gets but when you look at what actually happens, there have been 2 teams besides Villanova to get beyond the first weekend. That is likely our future. Basically Seton Hall.

We sold out every other program, football and baseball in particular, for the fools gold of the New Big East which is really nothing more than a strong regional league.
On the other hand it is possible to qualify for the playoffs I suppose. We would need to win 11 games which would require beating some P5 teams. But BC isn’t getting there and Duke isn’t and Illinois isn’t and Cal is t so we aren’t that different I suppose. I have never been very much in favor of a playoff. I think it cheapens the season. And in any case they will expand to 16 in fairly short order. I can just imagine the SEC meeting where 5 seed LSU tells 1 seed Alabama how much they made hosting a first round game. Do it 2 straight years and you can build a roller coaster over the lazy river

Clown take. You can argue the decision on the grounds of football for sure, but to say the Big East is anything less than a power basketball conference is ridiculous.

Since the new league formed they've sent: 4,6,5,7,6,4,4 teams to the NCAAs and won two national titles.

Not bad for a strong regional league.

 

[DoctorWho85]

Giving teams a bye is an unfair tournament. Not surprised this is the route they would take.

How is that unfair? Almost every level of football rewards the top teams in playoffs with a bye and home field advantage. Are you saying the NFL is unfair because the top 2 seeds in each conference gets a bye?

 

[Scoe]

Personally I would go with a 25 team playoff.

 

[Scoe]

How is that unfair? Almost every level of football rewards the top teams in playoffs with a bye and home field advantage. Are you saying the NFL is unfair because the top 2 seeds in each conference gets a bye?

It doesn't take away from the regular season, theres added incentive to being a top 4 team.

 

[Guapo]

Personally I would go with a 1000 team playoff

 

[Husky25]

Agreed. Going to MAC would be a huge mistake. In most years, a MAC champ won't make it while a season full of MAC opponents won't be interesting to most UCONN fans.

As an indy, UCONN can schedule 5 to 6 P5 schools per year. If UCONN is able to go 12-0 or 11-1, UCONN has a chance to make the playoff. The only thing UCONN won't get the is the 1st round bye for conference champs. The chance of MAC champ as a top 4 conference champ is slim to none, so it is not much of a loss. In just about all the years, top 4 conference champs will come from P5 conferences.

Based on this, I definitely think UCONN should stay as an indy while continuing to build up the program.

Just so I'm clear, If UConn does what it has never done in the modern era, they have a chance to make the playoff.

The last time UConn had only one loss was 1945 after an 8 game season during which they played WPI, Middlebury, and Amherst. On the other hand they won the conference so they'd theoretically be eligible for a bye.

 

[Waquoit]

I don't see how this tiny sliver of hope for the AAC changes a thing for UConn, except for giving UConn a slightly tinier sliver for themselves. The AAC was killing UConn. Look at all of that teams thrived over the past year outside it's oppressive yolk. Fans calling for UConn to "beg" their way back in certainly aren't UConn fans.