ncaa follies

first year of the new playoff system by select committee and it is a clear failure... it is set up for easy failure since there are four spits in the playoffs and there are five power conferences so without a doubt one of the power conferences will be out of the playoffs... and this first year it is worse than that as the only conference without a conference championship has two viable teams deserving a shot and not having a conference championship means they can back their way in... tcu plays a 10 loss team in their final game and win big as expected, but their one loss comes to baylor who beats a 10 win team who is ranked ninth in the country... baylor beat tcu head to head... the conference rules state the winner of a head to head game represents the conference if two teams finish with the same record... yet the committee ignores the written rules and places tcu thirds... meanwhile, the current national champions are still undefeated, have a 20+ game winning streak, and they are ranked fourth... so an undefeated national champion is ranked 4th, a team who lost to #6 is ranked 3rd against the conference rules, and two one loss teams are ranked one and two... winning definitely isn't everything...

they need an eight team playoff... every conference needs a conference championship game... the conference champions get five of the eight spots... then the "special committee" can choose the three best teams from the rest... by the 8-9 spots the debated will not be nearly as harsh and the unfairness will not be nearly as clear...

Rankings as the "special committee" had it going into this week (and what each team did this week):

1. Alabama 12-1 beat #16 Missouri (10-3) 42-13 in SEC Championship game
2. Oregon 12-1 beat #7 Arizona (10-3) 51-13 in PAC 12 Championship game
3. TCU 11-1 beat unranked Iowa St (2-10 season record) 55-3 in last game
4. Florida St 13-0 Current National Champions, undefeated, beat #11 Georgia Tech 37-35 in ACC Championship game
5. Ohio State 12-1 beat #13 Wisconsin (10-3) 59-0 in Big 10 Championship game
6. Baylor 11-1 beat TCU during season, beat #9 Kansas St (10-3) 38-27 in last game

Rankings as I see it:

1. Florida St 13-0 respect the champions and the championship. Current National Champions, undefeated, beat #11 Georgia Tech (10-3) 37-35 in ACC Championship game
2. Oregon 12-1 beat #7 Arizona (10-3) 51-13 in PAC 12 Championship game
3. Alabama 12-1 beat #11 Missouri (10-3) 42-13 in SEC Championship game
4. Ohio State 12-1 beat #13 Wisconsin (10-3) 59-0 in Big 10 Championship game SOS 45
5. Baylor 11-1 beat TCU during season, beat #9 Kansas St (10-3) 38-27 in last game (tied TCUr for conference lead) SOS 54
6. TCU 11-1 beat unranked Iowa St (2-10 season record) in last game (tied Baylor for conference lead) SOS 59

deciding 4, 5, and 6 went like this... the SOS (strength of schedule) puts Ohio State ahead of Baylor and TCU even without the Championship week results... Baylor and TCU chose to play no challenging games in non-conference games... their conference chooses to avoid a championship game... for the record, the Big 12 conference rules state that when two teams finish with the same record, the conference representative as champion is the decided by a head to head game. live with that tcu fans, or change your conference rules...

best teams?... that is decided on the field, not in a conference room... in a conference room or any voting system, too much politics, favoritism, commercialism, money, and pressures unrelated to the game on the field influence decisions... unfortunately, one of the five big conferences must be left out of a four team playoff... it is a set up for failure... eight team playoff is the only option to decide who is best... otherwise, it's all too influenced by conference room opinion as it has been for many many years...

I say, short of an eight team playoff (my first preference) that would include all six and two others, Baylor should play TCU again to decide the conference championship, then with winner, Alabama, Oregon, and Ohio State play a four game playoff with the winner playing the current undefeated national chamionship... that way the national championship itself is respected and the best team is decided on the field...