Because they both can fly?
They share a common feature, they also both have wings. That's about it I think.
Right, I'm not concerned if my wanting the 2 best teams to play for the NC happens to coincide with what TV networks want. He's acting like I'm their toady or something. I don't give a shit about TV networks, I care about the best regular season in sports and deserving teams playing to see who's best.
There is a bullshit narrative that if you possess any nuance beyond W/L record, that you want 4-5*-packed teams to play for the NC, regardless of record. NO ONE HAS EVER SUGGESTED THAT, EVER.
It's not W/L record only. That's childish. Schedule matters. Margin of victory matters. Good wins AND bad losses matter. Talent matters.
Why do I have to apologize for that last one? TCU can upset a Michigan. Boise can upset an OU. Upsets can be fun. Their rarity makes them special.
Upsets aren't a great idea to determine a champion.
I understand that sports are entertainment for we the fans, but for the players and coaches, it's competition. That needs to remain balanced. Expanded playoffs and Cinderella stories skew it towards entertainment and away from competition.
Now on TCU, here's where the problem lies. Ignore all of the above, if you want. Having them in the playoff is inclusive, right? But it's a lie.
Here, TCU, beat 2 of UGA, OSU, and UM. Welcome to the playoff! You're in! Celebrate!
I admit, I have no idea how many times a team that is a 7.5 pt underdog in one game and then a 13.5 pt dog in their next game and has won both. Mathematically, it's .21 x .26 = 5% or so. Great, right? TCU had a 5% chance at winning the NC, that's a non-zero number and hugs all around!!
Sorry, no.
I don't want a NCG to be a 95/5 split. That seems insane to me. Who wants that?
Maybe if TCU had beaten K-State, maybe. The numbers would have been a little better, but still reeeeally bad.
Don't we want NC games to be as close to 50/50 as possible? Don't we want to avoid foregone conclusions?
It was statistically over before halftime.
This was predictable.
This was the consensus.
Sam likes to pretend that suggesting a more talented team with 1 more loss would be an outrageous crime against the baby Jesus if you included it in the playoff over TCU.
All I'm honestly pining for is choosing the playoff teams based on the most amount of data and evidence possible.
I don't want conference championships games to be literally meaningless.
I don't want teams seeded to avoid rematches.
I want the best, most qualified teams playing to determine a champion.
This isn't the space for inclusive feel-good stories. It's for competition. You know, being competitive.
I know, I know, TCU's game vs Michigan was great fun. It was close in the end. It got the people going!
It was a big upset. Big upsets rarely (if ever) happen 2 games in a row. Every eyeball watching that game saw UM playing poorly. Performing like dogshit. Especially the UM eyeballs. TCU, despite having played close games vs lesser teams, played extremely well. They showed up. They did great. They had to. If TCU had played like dogshit, would they have only lost by score like UM did? No. They'd lose badly. Something like 65-7. That's the "played with their hair on fire" phrasing comes from. TCU played better than they had shown and UM played worse. Kudos to TCU for that. The won. I'm not trying to take that away from them.
But to pretend like it wasn't a big upset is dishonest. Why is that a naughty thing to say? I simply don't understand it.
Teams don't/can't perform so much better than they've shown 2 games in a row. I am 100% sure there are exceptions, but frankly, I'm too busy focusing on the 99.7% of the time the exceptions don't happen. Sue me.
Yes, Alabama should have been in over TCU. Or Tennessee. Or USC. Hell, USC had a better argument, as they only lost to 1 team. Clemson would have been a better playoff participant than TCU.
No, all of them wouldn't have beaten UM. Maybe none of them would. But all of them would have a better (much better) than 5% chance at winning the NC. Not because I jerk off to helmet teams. Not because I have a secret shrine to TV networks complete w/ a hair doll.
But simply because they'd be a more accurate champion. A more likely to be the actual best team, even though we can never truly know that.
