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FWST: An elite eight in college football? The case for and against expanding the playoffs.

TopFrog

Lifelong Frog
An elite eight in college football? The case for and against expanding the playoffs.

By Drew Davison

If the College Football Playoff included eight teams, instead of four, maybe TCU wins the national championship in 2014 instead of being left out and settling for a dominant Peach Bowl victory.

Maybe TCU’s Josh Doctson, not Ohio State’s Ezekiel Elliott, is leaving as the star of the championship game at AT&T Stadium. Maybe TCU gets back in the playoff mix in 2015 when it overcame a 31-point deficit to defeat Oregon and finish as the No. 7-ranked team.

Those are questions TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati asks himself. And those are just a couple reasons he’s a full proponent of expanding the CFP format to eight-team field.

Read more here: https://www.star-telegram.com/sport...niversity/article239275078.html#storylink=cpy
 

Limp Lizard

Full Member
By carrying it to the extreme we should have no playoff some years, because we know who the best team is. There should not have been a playoff this year because LSU was clearly the best team. Of course that is baloney, as is a 4-team playoff. How booring, and how predictable would a basketball championship be if only 4 teams were in the playoffs. The same teams every damn year, just like in football. The big difference, of course is that football is only once a week and puts a beating on the bodies of the players that basketball does not.

But TCU and Baylor being left out in 2014 was criminal.
 

Wexahu

Full Member
By carrying it to the extreme we should have no playoff some years, because we know who the best team is. There should not have been a playoff this year because LSU was clearly the best team. Of course that is baloney, as is a 4-team playoff. How booring, and how predictable would a basketball championship be if only 4 teams were in the playoffs. The same teams every damn year, just like in football. The big difference, of course is that football is only once a week and puts a beating on the bodies of the players that basketball does not.

But TCU and Baylor being left out in 2014 was criminal.

The 4-team basketball playoff would be great IMO. Why wouldn't it be? How booooring and predictable is the college basketball season? How many people really care about that sport until March?

Besides, two completely different sports. Big upsets in basketball are entirely possible. Big upsets in football, not so much. We don't need to add a bunch of teams so the #1 team can destroy #8 or god forbid #16 in the first round. Heck, in some years it's hard to find more than 2-3 teams that can make the semifinal games compelling.
 

satis1103

DAOTONPYH EHT LIAH LLA
I'm one of those people who watches the 1 vs 16 in Match Madness. I like the 2 v 15, the 3 v 14. I go into those games knowing good and well that the higher seed is likely to tan the hide of the lower. But America loves the underdog so it's compelling no matter what the result. The occasional upset payoff is so worth it.

So I see zero problem with having a 1 v 8 in football, even one in which the 1 wins in 7 out of 8 years.
 

Wexahu

Full Member
I'm one of those people who watches the 1 vs 16 in Match Madness. I like the 2 v 15, the 3 v 14. I go into those games knowing good and well that the higher seed is likely to tan the hide of the lower. But America loves the underdog so it's compelling no matter what the result. The occasional upset payoff is so worth it.

So I see zero problem with having a 1 v 8 in football, even one in which the 1 wins in 7 out of 8 years.

Adding an extra round to a basketball playoff is about 100x easier than adding an extra round for football. And the game carries too much toll on the players to be playing extra games just for the very rare circumstance where an upset would happen. And because of travel considerationsquarterfinal games would almost have to be played on college campuses in the higher ranked teams home stadium so I'd feel pretty good saying it'd more likely be 8 out of 8 times that #1 would beat #8.

It's far from as simple as saying let's just add another round to the playoffs because everyone wants more teams and more games.
 

satis1103

DAOTONPYH EHT LIAH LLA
Adding an extra round to a basketball playoff is about 100x easier than adding an extra round for football. And the game carries too much toll on the players to be playing extra games just for the very rare circumstance where an upset would happen. And because of travel considerationsquarterfinal games would almost have to be played on college campuses in the higher ranked teams home stadium so I'd feel pretty good saying it'd more likely be 8 out of 8 times that #1 would beat #8.

It's far from as simple as saying let's just add another round to the playoffs because everyone wants more teams and more games.
Maybe but it ain't as impossible as you're making it out to be. It would take some adjustments. So does any improvement. This is simply an excuse.
 

CountryFrog

Active Member
Please no. The quality of play from 4-8 is markedly inferior to 1-3 on an annual basis. I could see a case for a play-in game for #4 or maybe 1-6 with 1 and 2 getting a bye like the NFL does but 8 is too much, IMO.
So going to 6 would be good but taking it all the way out to 8 would just be ridiculous?

It's very strange to me how dedicated some college football fans are to this idea that the playoff needs to remain this holy ground where the great teams shouldn't be put in a position to win an extra game or two. No, having to actually win games is for the lesser teams. The top teams just need to be put into the championship game without having to subject themselves to playing people.
 
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flyfishingfrog

Active Member
The reality every non-expansion supporter ignores is that for every sport - making that playoffs because another benchmark of success and the more teams that make the playoff- the more teams that are deemed to be successful that year, which is good for college sports.

In basketball, the benchmark for a good season is making the tournament

in baseball, it is making the CWS

same thing in professional sports really - did you make the post season is the first measurement of a good season

winning the NC is a great achievement - but only one school does it

so if we have an 8 team playoff, not only will more schools each year feel they reached at least 1 goal for the year but more will feel they have a shot at achieving that goal
 
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TooColdU

Active Member
The reality every non-expansion ignores is that for every sport - making that playoffs because another benchmark of success and the more teams that make the playoff- the more teams that are deemed to be successful that year, which is good for college sports.

In basketball, the benchmark for a good season is making the tournament

in baseball, it is making the CWS

same thing in professional sports really - did you make the post season is the first measurement of a good season

winning the NC is a great achievement - but only one school does it

so if we have an 8 team playoff, not only will more schools each year feel they reached at least 1 goal for the year but more will feel they have a shot at achieving that goal

This is the exact same argument I have against people that think expanding the playoff will dilute the regular season. That’s nonsense. The regular season is hindered more with only 4 spots because once you lose 2 games it’s almost impossible to get in.
 

NewFrogFan

Full Member
I'm one of those people who watches the 1 vs 16 in Match Madness. I like the 2 v 15, the 3 v 14. I go into those games knowing good and well that the higher seed is likely to tan the hide of the lower. But America loves the underdog so it's compelling no matter what the result. The occasional upset payoff is so worth it.

So I see zero problem with having a 1 v 8 in football, even one in which the 1 wins in 7 out of 8 years.

I can remember when BB expanded, they never looked back and continue to cash big checks. America loves the possibility of #16 seed making the run.
 

flyfishingfrog

Active Member
I can remember when BB expanded, they never looked back and continue to cash big checks. America loves the possibility of #16 seed making the run.
$1 billion - isn’t that how much the NCAA makes off of March madness alone

not sure how anyone can say it wasn’t a good thing to expand college basketball and the argue it would be bad for football to try and grow

even the CWS playoff expansion has helped grow baseball
 
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