AP Poll

[93Coog00]

Why would a 3rd or 4th best team in any conference deserve a chance at a national championship in a postseason playoff?

[uhredcat96 (G.W.)]

Let’s see Vandy do it,or Mississippi State, or Kentucky,for a long whileTennesse couldn’t win a few conference games. There are a lot of teams like that…and they get $50MM a year to be fodder to Bama and UGA. There was a time pre-Saban that Bama was the fodder.
Right now, they may not take down an SEC third place team, but given enough years of being allowed to compete and they might.

Clemson didn’t do anything until Dabo arrived. Washington State and Oregon State and Stanford played in their CCGs. Now they are hot garbage?
Win and you are in.

[uhlaw97 (Ryon Adams)]

As I’ve said before, that’s the ONE thing that I like about the D3 playoffs.

EVERY conference champion, regardless of conference strength, gets an auto bid to the playoffs.

[Retired_Consultant (F_Fletch)]

@93Coog00

Why would a 3rd or 4th best team in any conference deserve a chance at a national championship in a postseason playoff?

Why does the best team in a weak conference deserve a spot? The 3rd or 4th best team in a P4 would likely have played a much tougher schedule.

[Retired_Consultant (F_Fletch)]

@uhredcat96

Let’s see Vandy do it,or Mississippi State, or Kentucky,for a long whileTennesse couldn’t win a few conference games. There are a lot of teams like that…and they get $50MM a year to be fodder to Bama and UGA. There was a time pre-Saban that Bama was the fodder.
Right now, they may not take down an SEC third place team, but given enough years of being allowed to compete and they might.

Clemson didn’t do anything until Dabo arrived. Washington State and Oregon State and Stanford played in their CCGs. Now they are hot garbage?
Win and you are in.

Your point being?

As best as I can see, Vandy, Miss State, Kentucky have never made the playoffs.

The teams you mentioned that made it in won P4 championships, not weakass G5 championships. Giving a spot to the highest ranked G5 even if it isn’t in the top 12 is fair.

[GeezerMike]

Rankings and strength of schedule doen’t mean anything until December and then there will be 3 or 4 schools feeling robbed. I’m not certain if any of that will concern us this year so I am to just looking forward to tne next game.

[red80 (Mike Higdon)]

I’m pretty sure the networks want UT to go all the way to the championship game. With UT having a big following and about everyone of the fans of the other teams hating UT, it would draw a big TV audience.

I had my teeth cleaned this morning and the hygienist graduated from Nebraska and hates UT, who she blames (correctly) that UT ruined the B12 and caused Nebraska, Colorado, Mizzou, and aTm to leave the conference.

[uhredcat96 (G.W.)]

Win your conference or at least make the CCG and your are likely in.

[uhredcat96 (G.W.)]

@Retired_Consultant

Why does the best team in a weak conference deserve a spot? The 3rd or 4th best team in a P4 would likely have played a much tougher schedule.

Because they won their conference…the third and fourth place teams did not.

[uhredcat96 (G.W.)]

You must not understand what the meaning of “fair” is.

[cougarrick (RICK LAIRD)]

Win it on the field!

[Retired_Consultant (F_Fletch)]

@uhredcat96

Because they won their conference…the third and fourth place teams did not.

Wining a weak conference does not make a team more deserving than a team that’s 3rd or 4th in a tough conference. The 3rd or 4th team in the SEC has played a much tougher schedule and hence is more deserving.

The G5 get a guaranteed sport regardless of where their highest ranked champion is ranked. NIU could be ranked 23 and still make it!

[Retired_Consultant (F_Fletch)]

@uhredcat96

You must not understand what the meaning of “fair” is.

To me fair means taking into account strength is schedule. Not just rewarding a weak conference champ wimpy because they won a weak conference.

Personally, I’d do away with guaranteed spots for any conference champ, and just let in the top 12 teams.

[TAMU91]

@Retired_Consultant

And a 3 or 4 loss SEC/B10/B12 team is without a doubt superior to a G5 team, even a conference champ.

I would love to have the time to compare/contrast this statement to similar threads on CoogFans just 3-4 years ago. To be fair, there have been a number of responses in this thread that basically say a G5 Conference Champion has run the gauntlet placed before it, and that is worth something.

[93Coog00]

I still like the old pre-BCS system. After the New Years Day bowls, the poll would post its rankings and that was that. One team would be “ranked” number one, which is a somewhat different notion than a “national champion”.

[Travelingcoog (Mark Shapiro)]

I liked it too. It was much more fun debating on who should be #1.

[red80 (Mike Higdon)]

The current system has truly diminished the importance of bowl game. Winning the Cotton, Sugar, Orange, and Rose bowls used to be very important, today not so much. The search for the almighty dollar has let the TV networks dictate how college football is played in the post season.

Getting to a bowl today is not a reward for a good season when a team only has to win 6 games, and sometimes five. Before ESPN had to fill air time, bowls actually meant something.

[Thundercoog]

[uhredcat96 (G.W.)]

Yes, it does. They won a conference championship at the FBS level. The third or fourth loser in the conference does not deserve a spot.

If you can’t even win your half of the conference, you are out. Winners advance.

[H-Town (Cary)]

In regards to this, the importance of minor bowls is diminished even more with star players sitting out of bowl games unless it is of a certain prestige. We as fans, if we are expected to spend money to travel and buy tickets to a bowl game, want to see our best on the field. It just isn’t happening anymore.