Nothing compared to the Michigan fan conspiracy theories if UM is a bubble team and doesn't make the playoff.
Give me an option to bet that nobody below ewers will be a finalist. Should be a fun year with so much uncertainty though
He's the only no brainer to me. Ewers makes some sense and then it's a whole lot of reaches. Although maybe howard will get in if osu has the season it's paid for.
Ewers has a big showcase game in week two at Michigan. UM's offense is a massive question mark because of the QB/OL, but the defense should still be really good unless Martindale is a disaster against tempo. That game could have a massive sway on his campaign so early in the year.
This is funny, but still probably worth it for ND considering how much better this system is for it than the previous one. The first time they lose out on a top 4 seed will probably create some interesting discussion and pressure from within for them to join a league, though.
It's basically trading having to win a CCG for hosting the #12 team in South Bend in December if that were to happen. A little tougher, maybe, but not brutal. Especially considering more CCGs are going to be true matchups of a confernce's two top teams versus being set by divisions. And it's been known since the 12 team format was announced, so we've grown accustomed to the idea. Some don't like it, but a lot shrug their shoulders at it.
Based on some of the Twitter discourse today, it sounds like ND conceded on this pretty quickly years ago to help make the 12-team happen.
Yeah. We've known this since the original 12 team format was announced. It's not new to this updated format. If you think of the requirement to win a CCG against one of the top two teams from your conference as part of the playoff to earn a bye in the "next round," this really isn't much tougher, and a lot of fans concede it as being a fair price for independence. It's Twixer, though, so I'm sure there are plenty of hothead idiots chiming in as well.
do ND football players get a ring for perfect regular seasons? has to be tough graduating with no chances to get trophies / rings outside of a natty
That's a legit part of the concession. What's going to be really weird is the first time ND hosts a playoff game and we see a game from ND Stadium not broadcast by NBC. Each network's production kind of has its own look and feel. NBC's is synonymous with games broadcast from South Bend at this point. Oddly enough, I'm kind of looking forward to that.
The “5 seed at best” thing has been included in all the 12 team talk. People locally freaked out initially, and then we all realized it just means we likely get the G5 team at home in the first round.
ND will be fine for this version of the playoff. I would be surprised if this version isn’t tossed out in a couple years, though, and I imagine any future iterations are no longer viewed favorably at all for ND or anyone not in the SEC/B1G.
That honestly depends on money. If the brand is still a draw, and right now it is, ESPN isn't letting the conferences exclude any program that could add financial value to a playoff.
Yeah except the big ten and the SEC are going to be the ones writing any changed proposals, not ESPN. Sure ESPN will have the rights as currently constructed…as soon as the acc implodes this will all be null and void again and I’m sure by that time the outsized influence will show through.
This is all dumb and that’s not what I think anyone wants to happen, it’s what I think will happen. The sport has consistently shot itself in the dick for years for money so it seems that’s likely to continue.
The biggest downside for ND in the new scenario is not having to play the extra game, which is a home game the weekend before Christmas against the 12 seed (likely mid major). It’s being forced to play the 12, then the 4, then the 1, before a Championship Game. That path is a difficult one. But even then, if you’re the best team you’re expected to beat anyone in your path. So again, not a terrible trade off for ND to control its own schedule and not have to play in a conference championship game. It all becomes null and void once they’re forced into the B1G though.
ND was a top 4 seed in the last 12 or so years more often than like 95% of college football. Granted, it will be difficult to get to #1 or #2 when our schedule doesn’t match up with the B1G and SEC schedules, but a 3 or 4 seed (which is still affected by this) is likely going to happen at some point.
It’s going to be legitimately interesting how much the voters change their tune on pure win/loss record for rankings going forward. SEC and B1G schedules get absurd next year and NDs gets considerably easier. It wouldn’t shock me if the top 6 is full of two loss teams but their resumes are still considerably better than a (presumably for argument’s sake) undefeated ND resume. They’re going to have to correct for that in their thought process. ND will probably lose two games to shitty ass teams though and be on the bubble.
I just wanted to defend the strategy of telling the fans to fuck off, have an embarrassing schedule, and then amass a lot of wins. Nobody talks about Michigan’s ridiculous 2023 schedule now. Nobody ever talks about how the SEC and ACC have awful schedules with only 8 conference games and (usually) and FCS game before rivalry week. Just win games, that’s the only stat anyone gives a shit about.
Our shitty teams that lose those games aren’t exactly in Playoff conversations anyway. We do have quite a few teams in the last decade+ that would’ve been though.
The TV networks have driven every bit of expansion AND the fact that we're in a playoff era at all. They are also the reason the B1G and SEC are poised to "drive" college football in the first place. The money that those conferences will wave around while drawing up future plans? It's TV money. TV networks may not "write the changed proposals," but the hands holding the pen will have strings attached. And those strings will stretch all the way to Bristol, Connecticut.
Vegas has: Georgia - 10.5 Texas - 10.5 Ole Miss - 9.5 LSU - 9.5 Mizzou - 9.5 Alabama - 9.5 Tennessee - 8.5 A&M - 8.5 Oklahoma - 7.5 Auburn - 7.5 So that really isn’t too far off from anything.