CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Four => Big Ten => Topic started by: medinabuckeye1 on December 09, 2025, 10:29:12 PM
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After thinking on it for a bit I'm actually less bothered by the result than I was initially.
My biggest concern was that Texas getting left out would send a message to coaches/ADs NOT to schedule difficult OOC games but there are some offsets:
- Miami would absolutely NOT be in without their H2H over Notre Dame.
- I honestly don't think Oklahoma would be in without their win over Michigan.
- There would be a strong case to exclude aTm if they didn't have that win over ND. They somehow managed to only play one of the SECs ranked teams and they lost that game by two scores. Without the ND win they would have ZERO wins over ranked teams just like Vanderbilt, Utah, you and I. You know what Vanderbilt, Utah, you, and I have in common? We aren't going to the playoffs.
- Ohio State would still be in without their win over Texas but they certainly wouldn't be #2 and they likely wouldn't be getting a first round bye.
Texas is a difficult team to judge. They have five games against ranked teams which is more than any of the other contenders and a LOT more than some of them. They also have a bad loss to unranked Florida, they won a couple of very close games against bad teams, and they got beaten badly by UGA (it is fair to point out that the game was close heading into the fourth quarter).
I'm going to vote that Texas should be in over Miami because, IMHO, Miami's overall resume simply isn't playoff worthy. Personally, I wouldn't even have Miami over ND despite the H2H. That game was a 3 point win by the home team which doesn't prove much and it was Miami's ONLY win over a ranked team. That would be fine if they were 12-0 and it would probably be ok if they were 11-1 but they lost not one but two games to unranked teams. Think of it this way: The at-large teams have a grand combined total of three losses to unranked teams and two of them were by the Hurricanes.
(https://i.imgur.com/C2EZaco.png)
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There is a vote for ND over Bama, really?
I'd like to hear the justification for that because I don't see it.
Notre Dame has a 10 point win over #16. Alabama has a 16 point win over #14 AND a 3 point win over #3.
Notre Dame has two close losses to ranked teams. Alabama has one and a not-so-close loss (21) to the same #3 that they beat. Notre Dame didn't lose that badly to anyone but they also didn't play anyone that good so I see that as a bit of a wash.
Alabama's big weakness is their 14 point loss to nr FSU but they offset that with having an extra win over a ranked team. In terms of overall resume I just don't see the case for ND and the precedent of punishing Bama for a relatively tough schedule and rewarding ND for a relatively easy schedule would be bad for the sport.
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Real quick, before I make my real point: you can't just lump UR 8-4 Louisville with UR 4-8 Florida. Those are not one and the same.
My main point is that a lot of this debate has to do with initial expectations vs early results.
ND was preseason #5 and promptly lost their first 2 games. Dismissed in people's minds. Underachievers. They're done.
Texas was preseason #1 and lost their only 2 games vs P4 teams, and famously fall out of the rankings. Dismissed. Underachievers. They're done.
Alabama is preseason #8. They go 10-2. That's about right. Aligned with preseason expectations. Looked great in the 2nd quarter of the season. Fell off late.
Miami is preseason #10. They go 10-2. That's about right. Aligned with preseason expectations. Both losses to good/not great UR teams. Left out of their CCG by some kind of stupid tie-breaker. CFP ranking should be 2nd behind H2H.
If you take all this into consideration, while it maybe shouldn't matter...it obviously does matter.