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Topic: 16-team playoff talk for 2026 and beyond

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SFBadger96

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Re: 16-team playoff talk for 2026 and beyond
« Reply #112 on: Today at 03:49:35 PM »
Hell yeah, On Wisconsin!

But back here in the real world, it's less the record of the champion, and more the impact on the overall feel of the sport that I don't like. The old bowl system was at the same time stupid and brilliant. It gave also-rans something to care about; it made conference championships really important, and it made every game matter in a way that it will not anymore.

There are reasons that the new system could improve the sport. First, the number of games is still so small that the margin of error for a 2-loss team is pretty narrow. Second, the punishment for losing a big game is reduced, which means that maybe contenders will schedule more, better OOC games. Those games are lots of fun, so whatever we can do to encourage them is a step in the right direction. Frankly, the first round of a 16-round tournament will probably produce some interesting upsets, and quarter-, semi-, and final games are likely to be good matchups (if not good games; those aren't the same).

So...I don't like it, but I'm not sure it's because of the 3-loss issue. A team that gets through the modern playoff will undoubtedly have won some big games to get there. You won't get a 1984 BYU, or the 1990 Buffs/Yellow Jackets, at least not without a resume that makes the championship winner feel legit. 

medinabuckeye1

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Re: 16-team playoff talk for 2026 and beyond
« Reply #113 on: Today at 05:48:05 PM »
So...I don't like it, but I'm not sure it's because of the 3-loss issue. A team that gets through the modern playoff will undoubtedly have won some big games to get there. You won't get a 1984 BYU, or the 1990 Buffs/Yellow Jackets, at least not without a resume that makes the championship winner feel legit.
This, I think, is the biggest benefit and simultaneously the biggest detriment of the new system.  

I've always considered BYU's 1984 MNC to be a complete joke.  Their schedule was laughably weak and they got some REALLY big breaks (notably playing Pitt in their opener when Pitt was thought to be a top-5 team rather than later when everyone knew that Pitt sucked).  In their bowl they barely beat literally the worst Michigan team of Bo Schembechler's tenure and when you compare results vs common opponents to the actual quality teams, BYU comes up short, VERY short.  Doing away with that possibility is a good thing in some ways.  A team like 1984 BYU would make the playoff now but they'd get smoked by any of the real contenders and on the off chance that I'm wrong they'd prove how good they were by winning four consecutive games against top-flight opponents.  

At the same time this is the worst thing about it.  In the old days a team like your Badgers or (since he asked the question) @betarhoalphadelta 's Boilermakers had at least a minute shot* at an NC.  Now you might get into the B1GCG but your chances of winning it are substantially reduced and the chances of a team outside the top-10 or less in NIL actually winning four straight CFP games, yeah good luck with that.  

*Minute shot:
I know from previous discussion that he disagrees and thinks that Purdue never had a shot but I'd put up GaTech/Colorado in 1990 and BYU in 1984 as examples to say that there WAS a chance.  It was slim to be sure.  You needed everything to go your way but it *COULD* happen for a relatively small-dollar team.  

 

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