So, this got me thinking, went back and did a little math.
2019: 8
2018: 5
2017: 6
2016: 9
2015: 10
That's the number of P5 teams without a loss at the halfway point. So basically, halfway through the season, most of these games are not that kind of important. Which really does make the idea that every game counts ring hollow.
What I think it's really saying is there's a certain kind of wistful love for a particular brand of standings watching.
There's nothing wrong with it. We all see sports through different lenses. ELA really liked the mechanics of standings tied to bowl assignments. I tend to look at final records and the weight that comes with them. And a lot of people liked the sort of grinding, speculative viewing of wondering who makes it to seasons end with that "-0," in some ways the highest honor in the sport.
If anything, that makes most of the games beside the point. I watch my team do whatever, I keep an eye on 8 or so games to see, will someone biff this? Hell, 1-3 of those undefeateds listed above you usually don't pay much mind anyway (think that Nebraska team started 7-0).
So we're not really losing the idea that "EVERY GAME MATTERS" or even that the first two conference games were extra important (since you put three bodybags and Bill Doba Washington State on eh slate). It's that this particular brand of standings watching was a certain kind of fun, and maybe we'll lose something without it.
Counting off undefeateds has always been part of my CFB experience, and maybe it’ll mean less if it decides byes or whatever. But looking back, so much time was spent on handwringing over speculation (part of the fun, I suppose), and little respect for the weird quirks around all of it, I imagine we’ll adapt and continue to enjoy in about as natural a way as we would.
As
@OrangeAfroMan pointed out above, this is not correct because historically after your team lost one game they were not completely eliminated. Instead, they just needed help.
I vaguely remember, pre-internet, keeping pre-season magazines because they contained schedules for every team. Then, when my team needed teams above them to lose I would refer back to the pre-season magazines to review the schedules of the teams ahead of the Buckeyes to figure out the possible paths to the NC for my team.
Pre-BCS example, 1993:
Ohio State got all the way up to #3 behind FSU and ND prior to their tie with #15 Wisconsin. After tying Wisconsin they dropped to #5 (incidentally UW only rose to #14 because they already had a loss to a bad MN team).
After the tie, in the Nov 9 poll the 8-0-1 Buckeyes were #5 behind:
- 9-0 FSU
- 9-0 Notre Dame
- 7-1 Miami
- 9-0 Nebraska
So then, as a fan, I looked at all the schedules to determine each of those teams' most likely loss:
- FSU had #2 Notre Dame in South Bend on 11/13 and #8 Florida in Gainesville on 11/27
- ND had #1 FSU in South Bend on 11/13
- Miami had #9 WVU in Morgantown on 11/20
- Nebraska had #17 Oklahoma in Lincoln on 11/26
Plus each would obviously have a bowl game. Thus my rooting interests were clear. I needed to root for:
- FSU over ND on 11/13 (this game was the first of what became ESPN Gameday).
- UF over FSU on 11/27
- WVU over Miami on 11/20
- OU over UNL on 11/26
A decent amount of that actually did happen. ND beat FSU but it didn't matter because they lost a hangover game the next week to Boston College. WVU beat Miami on 11/20.
Games still mattered after a loss (or tie) but you needed lots of help.
This is where I think that expanding the playoff will kill the goose that lays the golden eggs:
When you need other teams to lose, it gives you a rooting interest in other games. Thus, a fan of Ohio State suddenly finds themselves as a fan of FSU in an FSU/ND game then as a fan of UF in a UF/FSU game, then as a fan of WVU in a WVU/Miami game, then as a fan of OU in an OU/UNL game, etc. Fans of all the contenders find themselves with an interest in all the other contenders' games. Thus, I watched FSU/ND because it mattered to my team. Back in the 1990's when NC Contender tOSU teams were losing to Michigan seemingly every year, fans of EVERY other contender in the nation were cheering Michigan on because they needed tOSU to lose to make room for their team to move up.
Now consider the exact same situation today:
My tOSU fandom doesn't create ANY rooting interest in FSU/ND, UF/FSU, WVU/Miami, or OU/UNL because my team can make the playoff regardless of the outcome of those games.
This is why I disagree with
@ELA 's contention that the MAC Championship matters. I get where he is coming from in that it matters whether the Falcons or Eagles get into the playoff but that doesn't have any impact on the ability of any other team to get in. The rest of us would simply know that either the Falcons or Eagles will get a spot but which one has no bearing on our own teams' ability to get in. Those two will decide their ONE spot between themselves and that is it.
With a 12-team playoff basically all of those teams are getting in so the only thing on the table is the order and why do I care whether ND or FSU is #1? Either way it isn't my team.
