header pic

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

The 'Old' CFN/Scout Crowd- Enjoy Civil discussion, game analytics, in depth player and coaching 'takes' and discussing topics surrounding the game. You can even have your own free board, all you have to do is ask!!!

Anyone is welcomed and encouraged to join our FREE site and to take part in our community- a community with you- the user, the fan, -and the person- will be protected from intrusive actions and with a clean place to interact.


Author

Topic: What should the committee do with Michigan and Texas

 (Read 2587 times)

Gigem

  • All Star
  • ******
  • Posts: 4591
  • Liked:
Re: What should the committee do with Michigan and Texas
« Reply #294 on: December 03, 2025, 10:48:20 AM »
Simple question:  Why can't a playoff appearance, and chance to win it all, be > than some bowl game that is essentially meaningless.  How many bowl games do you remember outside of the Big 6 or whatever they were called.  Does anybody remember when A&M won the Galleryfurniture.com bowl from 2001?  Probably not even our own fans.  

If we win our 1st round PO game, and make it to the 2nd round, even if we lose the season will be considered a rousing success.  And technically I think it is a bowl game.  We've never played in the Rose Bowl or Fiesta Bowl.  We've played in the Sugar (1998 and 1940), Orange (2020).  Cotton bowl many times, but it's importance has waned over the last 30-40 years.  

FearlessF

  • Hall of Fame
  • *****
  • Posts: 51261
  • Liked:
Re: What should the committee do with Michigan and Texas
« Reply #295 on: December 03, 2025, 10:49:29 AM »
Ed Zachery

especially if yer lucky enuff to host a playoff game
"Courage; Generosity; Fairness; Honor; In these are the true awards of manly sport."

Cincydawg

  • Oracle of Piedmont Park
  • Global Moderator
  • Hall of Fame
  • *****
  • Default Avatar
  • Posts: 88109
  • Oracle of Piedmont Park
  • Liked:
Re: What should the committee do with Michigan and Texas
« Reply #296 on: December 03, 2025, 10:53:12 AM »
I think, over time, fans will refer to lesser seasons (short of an NC) with some notice, as "My team won more than ten games every year between ...".

But, an individual season where an NC was the target may get bemoaned shortly thereafter.  And for half a dozen programs, every year is meant to be an NC year.

Ole Miss this year will be in the CFP, I think its fans will view that as a big positive, colored by some, um, coaching news.  A&M fans the same.  For Dawg fans, if they lose (or win) the SEC but get bounced out AGAIN of the CFP in the first game, it will be viewed mostly as a catastrophe of epic propostions.

medinabuckeye1

  • Hall of Fame
  • *****
  • Default Avatar
  • Posts: 11580
  • Liked:
Re: What should the committee do with Michigan and Texas
« Reply #297 on: December 03, 2025, 10:58:49 AM »
Yup, Texas and Michigan positioned outside the "danger zone" of potentially being included.

Next up, we'll see whether or not they stick to the "CCG losers won't be punished" statements they've put forth in the past.  If Alabama loses they'll have a 3rd loss and the loss to FSU is even uglier than Texas' loss to Florida. 

The B12 CCG is interesting too because whoever loses will be taking a second loss and then could start getting compared on SOS and SOR to all the other 2-loss teams.
I don't usually watch Cowherd but a YouTube suggestion popped up last night of him talking to Urban Meyer.  They were talking about Texas getting punished for playing a challenging game and Urban said almost exactly what we've been saying in this thread.  His example was Old Dominion instead of Georgia Southern or Incarnate Word but he said that Old Dominion was going to get really popular as a team to schedule and suggested that Ohio State and Texas might even cancel their game next year.  I don't know if it will be that fast but I do anticipate a general shift as it sinks in for AD's and coaches that the committee may claim that they value SoS but not enough to make it worthwhile.  

It is effectively only a tiebreaker.  Texas is 9-3 and ranked #13 which IS the highest for any 3-loss team but the only 2-loss teams they are ahead of are:
  • #14, 10-2 Vandy, #22 SoS per espn
  • #15, 10-2 Utah, #57 
  • #17, 10-2 Virginia, #82 
  • #20, 10-2 Tulane, #78
  • #24, North Texas, #125
  • #25, James Madison, #118


For comparison, according to espn, Texas has the #8 SoS which is easily the highest among contenders as the seven teams that espn says had tougher schedules are:
  • 4-8 Wisconsin
  • 4-8 Florida 
  • 2-10 Purdue
  • 3-9 UCLA 
  • 2-10 Arkansas
  • 7-5 LSU 
  • 4-8 USCe


Florida has the win over Texas, of course, but that is their ONLY quality win.  They lost to all of the other teams that made their schedule so tough plus they also lost BADLY to Kentucky.  

LSU is the only team to have achieved bowl eligibility with a schedule tougher than Texas' but, they lost to all of the teams that made their schedule so tough.  They opened with a win over Clemson which seemed great at the time but Clemson finished as a .500 team in the ACC so meh.  All the rest of their wins were over crappy OOC opponents (LaTech, SELA, WKY) and sub .500 SEC teams (UF, USCe, Ark).  

Texas is a completely different situation.  They played a tough schedule and actually beat a majority of even the very good teams.  Here is Texas' record against the current CFP top-25:
  • #1 Ohio State, lost 14-7 on the road
  • #3 Georgia, lost 35-10 on the road
  • #7 aTm, won 27-17 at home
  • #8 Oklahoma, won 23-6 neutral site
  • #14 Vanderbilt, won 34-31 at home

The committee is setting a very bad precedent here.  

To give the other side, the Florida loss is bad and the committee talks about game control a lot so close calls with bad Kentucky and MissSt teams are also troubling but the problem is that if Texas was 10-2 with a home win over GASO/ODU/Incarnate Word instead of 9-3 with a road loss to #1 Ohio State, the Longhorns would be in and those issues would only impact seeding.  

MikeDeTiger

  • Team Captain
  • *******
  • Posts: 5591
  • Liked:
Re: What should the committee do with Michigan and Texas
« Reply #298 on: December 03, 2025, 11:01:20 AM »
Simple question:  Why can't a playoff appearance, and chance to win it all, be > than some bowl game that is essentially meaningless.  How many bowl games do you remember outside of the Big 6 or whatever they were called.  Does anybody remember when A&M won the Galleryfurniture.com bowl from 2001?  Probably not even our own fans. 

If we win our 1st round PO game, and make it to the 2nd round, even if we lose the season will be considered a rousing success.  And technically I think it is a bowl game.  We've never played in the Rose Bowl or Fiesta Bowl.  We've played in the Sugar (1998 and 1940), Orange (2020).  Cotton bowl many times, but it's importance has waned over the last 30-40 years. 

Guess we see things differently.  

I remember virtually all the four BCS bowls each year, and a lot of the non-BCS ones too.  They felt like a big deal.  

I don't remember many of the first-round games of the 4-team playoff era.  They were just stepping stones to the finale, we kind of all sense it's not what actually mattered, it was just the last mile to the real destination.  

In the old system, lot of those bowl games were destinations in and of themselves.  The media certainly treated/treats this way, which reinforces perception as to the meaningfulness of the games.

I know a lot of Texas fans who view their last two seasons as good seasons, making the semi-finals.  But are they "successful?"  Well, they don't tend to feel like Texas achieved something, which is different than having a good season, and it seems to be because there's only one thing to achieve now.  That, of course, is anecdotal.  

Gigem

  • All Star
  • ******
  • Posts: 4591
  • Liked:
Re: What should the committee do with Michigan and Texas
« Reply #299 on: December 03, 2025, 11:04:30 AM »
Guess we see things differently. 

I remember virtually all the four BCS bowls each year, and a lot of the non-BCS ones too.  They felt like a big deal. 

I don't remember many of the first-round games of the 4-team playoff era.  They were just stepping stones to the finale, we kind of all sense it's not what actually mattered, it was just the last mile to the real destination. 

In the old system, lot of those bowl games were destinations in and of themselves.  The media certainly treated/treats this way, which reinforces perception as to the meaningfulness of the games.

I know a lot of Texas fans who view their last two seasons as good seasons, making the semi-finals.  But are they "successful?"  Well, they don't tend to feel like Texas achieved something, which is different than having a good season, and it seems to be because there's only one thing to achieve now.  That, of course, is anecdotal. 
Who was in the Orange Bowl in 2006?  Don't cheat.  

FearlessF

  • Hall of Fame
  • *****
  • Posts: 51261
  • Liked:
Re: What should the committee do with Michigan and Texas
« Reply #300 on: December 03, 2025, 11:08:21 AM »
Kansas?
"Courage; Generosity; Fairness; Honor; In these are the true awards of manly sport."

betarhoalphadelta

  • Global Moderator
  • Hall of Fame
  • *****
  • Posts: 15939
  • Liked:
Re: What should the committee do with Michigan and Texas
« Reply #301 on: December 03, 2025, 11:10:25 AM »
Simple question:  Why can't a playoff appearance, and chance to win it all, be > than some bowl game that is essentially meaningless.  How many bowl games do you remember outside of the Big 6 or whatever they were called.  Does anybody remember when A&M won the Galleryfurniture.com bowl from 2001?  Probably not even our own fans. 

If we win our 1st round PO game, and make it to the 2nd round, even if we lose the season will be considered a rousing success.  And technically I think it is a bowl game.  We've never played in the Rose Bowl or Fiesta Bowl.  We've played in the Sugar (1998 and 1940), Orange (2020).  Cotton bowl many times, but it's importance has waned over the last 30-40 years. 
Remember, we all come at this from very different viewpoints. A team like your Aggies (or Mike's Tigers, or various posters' Buckeyes) actually have a legitimate chance to make playoffs and win it all.

A team like mine... Does not. It would be magic to even make the playoff. But with the structural imbalances of the sport, there's no way we'd have a roster capable of winning 3-4 games in a row once we got there. 

Look at Indiana, for example. They are in the middle of pretty much the most magical two years of their entire program. Does anyone truly believe they can win 3 in a row? Their talent level isn't nearly on par with the rest of the real contenders. Heck, they're lucky that the first round byes are changed to the top 4 teams... In last year's system, they'd have to win 4 in a row after they lose to OSU on Saturday. 

So from the standpoint of that "other 80% of the sport", we think it's nice that y'all get your nice big shiny playoff and the CFP is all we're ever going to hear about for the rest of time. And we wonder... What are the rest of us even doing this for?

MrNubbz

  • Hall of Fame
  • *****
  • Default Avatar
  • Posts: 22292
  • Liked:
Re: What should the committee do with Michigan and Texas
« Reply #302 on: December 03, 2025, 11:14:10 AM »
You're still missing my point, but I don't know how to make it any clearer. 

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. 
I dunno IMHO it's still the thrill of the chase - the season itself.Look at just the last month and all the crazy-close games and teams involved. Sometimes it seems like even the N.C.G.s are anti-climatic. There are many contests that don't amount to a hill of beans that are still hotly contested all thru Sept/Oct/Nov.
"It is better to have died a young boy than to fumble the football" - John Heisman

MikeDeTiger

  • Team Captain
  • *******
  • Posts: 5591
  • Liked:
Re: What should the committee do with Michigan and Texas
« Reply #303 on: December 03, 2025, 11:16:59 AM »
Who was in the Orange Bowl in 2006?  Don't cheat. 

Do you mean for the 2006 season or the game actually played in January 2006? 

The game for the 2006 season was, I think, between Louisville and Wake Forest.  I remember being interested in that one because Wake Forest hadn't done much lately.  I even remember Dwayne Wade did the coin toss for some reason.  I watched that in my recliner at home.  Check the details, because I am pulling that from memory.

For the game played in 1/26, I actually did check that one because I thought I knew which game that was, but wasn't sure.  That was one I was very excited for and remember very well, PSU vs. FSU.  The Old Fart Bowl, JoePa vs. Bobby Bowden.  Penn State had a linebacker named Tamba something and fans had posters that said "Tamba is hungry."  I watched that game in a hotel room in College Station, where I was working at the time.  Though I had to verify the team, I remember the game very well, and even I, an LSU guy, was very excited to watch it.  I remember JoePa and Bowden walking off the field together at the end of the game, arms around each other.....I thought that was cool.  

As I've previously mentioned, some of this almost certainly has to do with the fact I recall almost everything about football games back in those days better than recent games, because my interest has been waning for a decade now.  However, I stand by my point that those games were genuinely more memorable to me, because those bowls were a bigger deal to make, and win.  I don't remember semi-final games of the 4-team playoff era, and I sure don't remember first round games of the 12-team monstrosity last year.  Couldn't even tell you who was in them, even though I watched all of them.  Fact is, they didn't feel like they mattered.  

Brutus Buckeye

  • Hall of Fame
  • *****
  • Posts: 13301
  • Liked:
Re: What should the committee do with Michigan and Texas
« Reply #304 on: December 03, 2025, 11:22:37 AM »
Remember, we all come at this from very different viewpoints. A team like your Aggies (or Mike's Tigers, or various posters' Buckeyes) actually have a legitimate chance to make playoffs and win it all.

A team like mine... Does not. It would be magic to even make the playoff. But with the structural imbalances of the sport, there's no way we'd have a roster capable of winning 3-4 games in a row once we got there.

Look at Indiana, for example. They are in the middle of pretty much the most magical two years of their entire program. Does anyone truly believe they can win 3 in a row? Their talent level isn't nearly on par with the rest of the real contenders. Heck, they're lucky that the first round byes are changed to the top 4 teams... In last year's system, they'd have to win 4 in a row after they lose to OSU on Saturday.

So from the standpoint of that "other 80% of the sport", we think it's nice that y'all get your nice big shiny playoff and the CFP is all we're ever going to hear about for the rest of time. And we wonder... What are the rest of us even doing this for?

Do you really think that Indiana fans aren't going to look back fondly on these playoff runs? 

If Purdue had a similar run to Indiana the last two years, it would be held up next to the Drew Brees years as some of the best in school history. 


jgvol

  • Team Captain
  • *******
  • Posts: 6503
  • Liked:
Re: What should the committee do with Michigan and Texas
« Reply #305 on: December 03, 2025, 11:22:57 AM »
Currently 22 pages of chatter on what should be done with Mich/Tex.

This playoff has created a lot of chatter, and that's probably the point.  The powers that be consider this a win, and reinforces their shitty decisions --- as Right.

Gigem

  • All Star
  • ******
  • Posts: 4591
  • Liked:
Re: What should the committee do with Michigan and Texas
« Reply #306 on: December 03, 2025, 11:35:04 AM »
Do you mean for the 2006 season or the game actually played in January 2006?

The game for the 2006 season was, I think, between Louisville and Wake Forest.  I remember being interested in that one because Wake Forest hadn't done much lately.  I even remember Dwayne Wade did the coin toss for some reason.  I watched that in my recliner at home.  Check the details, because I am pulling that from memory.

For the game played in 1/26, I actually did check that one because I thought I knew which game that was, but wasn't sure.  That was one I was very excited for and remember very well, PSU vs. FSU.  The Old Fart Bowl, JoePa vs. Bobby Bowden.  Penn State had a linebacker named Tamba something and fans had posters that said "Tamba is hungry."  I watched that game in a hotel room in College Station, where I was working at the time.  Though I had to verify the team, I remember the game very well, and even I, an LSU guy, was very excited to watch it.  I remember JoePa and Bowden walking off the field together at the end of the game, arms around each other.....I thought that was cool. 

As I've previously mentioned, some of this almost certainly has to do with the fact I recall almost everything about football games back in those days better than recent games, because my interest has been waning for a decade now.  However, I stand by my point that those games were genuinely more memorable to me, because those bowls were a bigger deal to make, and win.  I don't remember semi-final games of the 4-team playoff era, and I sure don't remember first round games of the 12-team monstrosity last year.  Couldn't even tell you who was in them, even though I watched all of them.  Fact is, they didn't feel like they mattered. 
Impressive.  I have no memory of either game, not even vaguely.  So you can see how different our experiences are.  

betarhoalphadelta

  • Global Moderator
  • Hall of Fame
  • *****
  • Posts: 15939
  • Liked:
Re: What should the committee do with Michigan and Texas
« Reply #307 on: December 03, 2025, 11:40:03 AM »
Do you really think that Indiana fans aren't going to look back fondly on these playoff runs?

If Purdue had a similar run to Indiana the last two years, it would be held up next to the Drew Brees years as some of the best in school history
Of course they will. But only the most delusional among them believe that they have a chance to win it all. 

Do you think they'd look back any less fondly if they lose on Saturday, Ohio State (rightly) would be in the BCS #1 vs #2 matchup, and they were shipped of to the "lowly" Rose Bowl for the first time in ~60 years? Or even if it was pre-BCS and OSU went to the Rose, and they were in the Citrus bowl? I think they'd hold it up right there with the way Purdue fans hold up 2000. It'd still be a 12-1 season counting the CCG, and a chance to make it 13-1. 

The CFP still ultimately doesn't improve anything over that for Indiana, because I believe they can't win it. So it'll be a great--historic even--season for them. But not IMHO any better than if it ended in a marquee bowl. And they'd have a MUCH bigger chance of winning that marquee bowl game than winning the whole CFP tournament. Because facing one team, even as an underdog, is a lot less daunting than facing 3 straight legit teams. 

 

Support the Site!
Purchase of every item listed here DIRECTLY supports the site.