I agree with the Original Poster,
@BuckeyeAvenger , on byes. I just don't like them. Besides, if we are determined to accept that some CFP participants could play four playoff games (the 5-8 vs 9-12 games, the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the Championship) then why shouldn't all CFP participants face that possibility? Ie, once you go to 12 there really is no reason at all not to go to 16.
I agree with
@847badgerfan that there is no right answer for everyone and also that I really would prefer to go back to the old way. I really don't like that the CFP has effectively sucked all of the oxygen out of the room such that all of the other bowls seem meaningless now which is why we see a lot of guys sitting out non-CFP bowl games. I feel that even in the BCS era the bowls existed in something of a continuum of importance/interest from BCSNCG to other BCS games to other "major" bowls to minor bowls. Now I feel like we basically have a dichotomy where your team is either in the CFP or they aren't but that sucks for a team that has a not-quite CFP season and goes to the Rose Bowl. Years ago that was a great accomplishment and now I feel like nobody cares it is just "not CFP" which lumps the Rose Bowl in with the Motor City Bowl.
Note for
@OrangeAfroMan , the above isn't simply about the Rose Bowl, it is about the perception of seasons in general. It used to be in our league you had:
- The best season was a NC
- A Rose Bowl Season was really good
- A Citrus Bowl Season was good
- etc
- etc
Now it has become sorta "CFP or bust" and I don't like that.
I agree with
@longhorn320 in that I'm an eight team guy although I would change it up slightly by making it the five P5 Champs, the highest ranked G5 Champ, and two at-large. That way the G5 couldn't argue that they were excluded and the two at-large spots would take care of situations where a great team picked the wrong week to lose and ended up missing their CG on a tiebreaker due to a close loss often on the road but finished 11-1.
One thing that I actually like about the current, 4-team model is that not all P5 Champs will get in. This prevents OOC and cross-over games from being devalued. My example is Northwestern in 2018:
In 2018 the Wildcats lost ALL THREE of their OOC games including at home by two TD's to a mediocre DOOK team and at home to a sub .500 MAC team. Then they also lost a cross-over game (Michigan) at home and yet they ended up in the B1GCG at 8-4. Although I favor auto-bids IF we go to 8+, I don't like the idea of a mediocre (to put it nicely) 8-4 team playing for a CFP berth let alone the idea of a mediocre 9-4 team actually going to the CFP.
In the current, 4-team model the OOC and cross-over games still matter because simply winning your CG does not guarantee a CFP berth.
I do enjoy the CBB Tournament but I also acknowledge that it's existence diminishes the sport's regular season. In football even with the 4-team playoff one game can be the difference between appearing in the CFP or missing it even for a legitimate NC Contender. See for example, Ohio State's one loss (to Purdue) in 2018, their one loss (to MSU) in 2015, or either of their two losses (to OU and IA) in 2017. I believe that the Buckeye teams in 2015, 2017, and 2018 were good enough to potentially win the NC had they gotten to the CFP but all three missed effectively because of one game. Winning any one of those four games would have put the Buckeyes in the CFP that year.
That sucks when your team loses of course, but it also adds a lot of excitement to even to run-of-the-mill regular season CFB games that just doesn't exist for even the biggest regular season CBB games.
