Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

And now I can’t really remember what point I was trying to make or what we’re arguing about.  😀

I guess, really I do think the old ways were better, and that’s a change because I was all about the playoff and the new systems. 

But just because it’s all about the playoffs instead of some bowl is that such a bad deal?  Once upon a time we only had a handful of bowls in the first place. I remember in the late 90’s a lot of people were already complaining about too many meaningless bowls and the list just kept growing and growing. I’m actually shocked that opt outs didn’t start until the 2010s. What makes bowl games special is that they were rare and unique. 

One last note about the difficult non-conference schedules, the answer has been staring you in the face the whole time but you looked right past it. A&M played and beat ND earlier this season. ND played exactly two teams with a pulse. A&M and Miami. The rest of their schedule is garbage. 

At this point it appears ND is in the playoffs with two losses and zero quality wins, while if A&M had played Sam Houston instead and went 11-1 losing to Texas the chances are high we would not be in or seeded very low. 

if Texas would have won vs Ohio St.  There's no discussion needed.

1-loss Buckeyes are in.  not a #1 or #2 seed but...........probably a #2 if they beat the Hoosiers, maybe #1
2-loss Horns are in.  with a great seed because of their win over the Buckeyes, but, the coveted #5???

Indiana's improvement started long before Cignetti, it just didn't show up on their record because of the juggernaut of the B1G East schedule. It all started with Terry Hoepner. OSU hired Kevin Wilson for a reason. That reason was that his Indiana teams were taking Urban's OSU teams to the wire.

 Hoeppner died in'07,Wilson left Oklahoma as OC and became HC at Indiana before the '11 season

Now look up the total number of teams that PLAYED for the SB, and lost. Sure, you’ll have your NE that lost several and won several but you’ll also have the Bears and SF and all the other teams. I’m betting you’ll have at least 20-25 teams out of 32 and reached the SB. Hell, 30 years ago I think the Cowboys are in the W column. And then if you look at all the teams that reached their conference championship or at least had a good season and were in contention I think you’ll capture everyone except the Browns. Texans may have even reached the CCG,I really don’t follow them very much.

Now look at CFB, a team like Ole Miss has never played in the SEC CCG in 30+ years, hasn’t won a conference title since the 1960’s. Same for Kentucky.  The system never works for these teams, even in the pre-BCS era, the 4 team playoff, the BCS era. Arkansas has been lucky to reach the CCG 3 times, but hasn’t won the conference since the SWC in maybe 1990.

You're still missing my point, but I don't know how to make it any clearer.  

Yes, a bunch of NFL teams win their divisions, make it to the AFC/NFC championship, Superbowls, have good records.....whatever.  Nobody remembers them.  Their fans I know aren't excited about them.  Nobody cares that the Bengals made it to the Superbowl a few years ago.  They lost.  They came close, but failed, and nobody cares.  Only Rams fans are feeling good about that season.  

You mentioned Ole Miss, and they are a good example of what I'm talking about.  They didn't need to win the SEC or a NC in the old system to feel good and celebrate their year.  In 2003 they were western division co-champs and didn't even get to represent the West in the SECCG.  That part was a bummer, but I know plenty of their fans who celebrated the best season they'd had in a while and a Cotton Bowl berth.  Same as I celebrated a good season and a SECCG appearance (without a win) in 2005, with a subsequent Peach Bowl game vs. Miami, in which both teams were ranked in the top 10.  It was exciting as hell, even though we didn't win the conference or a NC. 

My point is nobody cares about that stuff anymore.  Winning the conference is still something, but it's fading fast.  It's playoffs or bust now, and frankly, NC or bust.  @betarhoalphadelta said it correctly, all of the air has been sucked out of everything else except the NC winner.....our new version of Superbowl champs.  There's no media attention and no fan excitement for a good bowl anymore.  And I might be getting this wrong because I'm not keeping up with it, but I think most or all of the old "good" bowls have been folded into the playoffs.  So they're just means to a new almighty end.....no longer a desirable end unto themselves. 

To reiterate:  Teams used to be able to go 10-2 and play a good bowl which got a lot of attention, players were excited for it, fans were excited for it, and talking heads hashed everything out before, during, and after.  It felt like a good season had something tangible attached to it, even without an NC.  The NFL is full of fans who are bummed that their team hasn't won a Superbowl in X amount of years, because that's all there is in that sport.  And it's basically what we have now in cfb.  Your insistence that things are bleak and hopeless for most teams now is something I agree with, and it's exactly my point.  I'm saying it wasn't always this way, and the old way provided more excitement and fulfillment for a greater number of teams each year.  

The Bengals fans most definitely remember their Super Bowl appearances. It's not like they've ever won the thing. Those are the three best seasons they've had.