Top 4?

[WildBillPicks7]

#1.Clemson, I agree - They will not go undefeated
#2. Alabama, disagree - decent shot to get beat 1 more time before Bowl game
#3. Iowa, disagree - will get beat this wk and/or next week
#4. Oklahoma, disagree - TCU almost beat them if not for the 2 pt fail, Okla St will beat them this weekend.

This will be a mess.

ND getting no respect, best win, yeah, Navy? Navy is a slouch all of a sudden? ok. They lost by 4 to Clemson on the rd w/backup QB? Ok. So they aren't in a conference, they should be, screw the money and NBC contract and all that political BS.

Michigan St #5? Hmm..They beat Ohio St at Ohio St, got a gift from Michigan @ Michigan, barely beat two Mac teams and beat the Flyboys by less than 14 pts so they get all this love? Ok.

Teams that win their Conference titles in next couple weeks should get more looks than what these 4 teams are getting now, granted 2 are undefeated, but that ain't gonna last long.

 

[boomer1]

hey WB.. interesting topic... anyone can see my avatar to the left here , but ill ask anyway .. Surly you don't think there're 4 teams better than Alabama at this point ? they beat wis,lsu,ark,tam,and ga all by more than 2 tds.. and at the time all these teams were considered competitive ..

what does your final 4 look like ?

I think youre dead on about it being a mess..stan over nd, then losing the pac 12 championship game ,ok st over ou , clem losing as you predict ..glad im not on the committee ...lol

good luck this weekend my friend!!

 

[BobbyBlueChip]

Notre dame is gonna get crushed this weekend. They're too beat up right now but they'll have two real lines come January so I'm excited to see them in the bowl. I'm not upset about them being out of the the top 4, but Iowa? 1 point road favorite to a team with a losing record this week. They don't belong on any level and in any serious conversation. They've scheduled and played nobody and if they were to get in we would see less and less inter conference match ups of any substance.

 

[capping-guru]

Why are losses to garbage teams written off as flukes, but winning on an off day is proof of inferiority?

Michigan St. also struggled w/ Purdue and Rutgers, who are dumpster fires. Lost to a 5-6 Nebraska team.

Clemson beat WF by 20, but when ND beats WF by 21 its considered a bleamish on their resume.

Oklahoma gave up 600yds to Tulsa, needed some help from the officials to beat an overrated Tenn, and has 2 "quality" wins against backup QBs. Not to mention a loss to 4-6 Texas, while ND blew out Texas.

 

[capping-guru]

FEI has Iowa ranked 24th overall...24th! Sagarin has them 17th and only Baylor and UNC ahead of them have easier schedules per Sagarin. Their FEI SOS is not even in the top 100. (Read that last sentence out loud.)

Iowa had an easy schedule. Let's list their non-conference opponents:

- Illinois State - an FCS school
- Iowa State - so bad their coach just got fired
- Pittsburgh - beat Pitt by 3 - ND won by 12 after giving up two late TDs (familiar theme?)
- North Texas so bad their coach got fired in October.

They did not have to play Michigan, MSU, or Ohio State in the regular season. I dare you to watch the Wisconsin game and not fall asleep.

The committee seems to be saying, "Yes, line up a bunch of chumps for your non-conference schedule and we'll roll over for you like a dog who wants its tummy scratched!"

 

[ejthree]

There is not one great team out there...Clemson will be exposed if they make the final four because of one reason...I believe they will be out coached...JMO

 

[capping-guru]

Notre dame is gonna get crushed this weekend. They're too beat up right now but they'll have two real lines come January so I'm excited to see them in the bowl. I'm not upset about them being out of the the top 4, but Iowa? 1 point road favorite to a team with a losing record this week. They don't belong on any level and in any serious conversation. They've scheduled and played nobody and if they were to get in we would see less and less inter conference match ups of any substance.

When you say beat up, you are beyond correct! I dont know of any team in the top 10 or even top 25 that could have endured what ND did and still be 10-1!!!

Great article about it here on Yahoo.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/notre-dame-fights-off-bad-044839531.html

 

[BobbyBlueChip]

FEI has Iowa ranked 24th overall...24th! Sagarin has them 17th and only Baylor and UNC ahead of them have easier schedules per Sagarin. Their FEI SOS is not even in the top 100. (Read that last sentence out loud.)

Iowa had an easy schedule. Let's list their non-conference opponents:

- Illinois State - an FCS school
- Iowa State - so bad their coach just got fired
- Pittsburgh - beat Pitt by 3 - ND won by 12 after giving up two late TDs (familiar theme?)
- North Texas so bad their coach got fired in October.

They did not have to play Michigan, MSU, or Ohio State in the regular season. I dare you to watch the Wisconsin game and not fall asleep.

The committee seems to be saying, "Yes, line up a bunch of chumps for your non-conference schedule and we'll roll over for you like a dog who wants its tummy scratched!"

At least three of their wins whose teams have already fired their coaches.

 

[capping-guru]

There is not one great team out there...Clemson will be exposed if they make the final four because of one reason...I believe they will be out coached...JMO

I am a Clemson Alum and I agree on the coaching! SC and UNC are going to give them all they can handle. Records out the window in the SC rivalry......plus they get homefield adv. Clemson struggled badly earlier in the year at UL too.

 

[capping-guru]

At least three of their wins whose teams have already fired their coaches.

Scary, but true!

 

[WildBillPicks7]

hey WB.. interesting topic... anyone can see my avatar to the left here , but ill ask anyway .. Surly you don't think there're 4 teams better than Alabama at this point ? they beat wis,lsu,ark,tam,and ga all by more than 2 tds.. and at the time all these teams were considered competitive ..

what does your final 4 look like ?

I think youre dead on about it being a mess..stan over nd, then losing the pac 12 championship game ,ok st over ou , clem losing as you predict ..glad im not on the committee ...lol

good luck this weekend my friend!!

Thanks Boom and everyone for input and your POV, great stuff, CG, BBC, Ejthree.

To answer your question Boom, I can't go to far into the future but hypothetically, it will all come down to the ACC, SEC and Big 10 Championships for the Final 4. My team from the outside looking in is going to be Ohio St still unless ND beats Stanford. In the ND/Stanford Series, the home team has won SU the L4 in this series.

S Carolina possibly could give Clemson a tough time on Saturday, but highly doubtful considering how banged up at QB the Gamecocks are and their "D" is a wet paper bag trying to hold a bowling ball.

Florida St is probably going to upset Florida, however, Mac is a good motivator and his lil "fish on ice in a grocery store" statement might make sense to his team. LOL

I think Michigan St beats Iowa, based on Sparty's "D" and special teams play. Cook is a decent QB but he's not going to be that good of a pro. Nebraska will give Iowa all it can handle in Lincoln, we all know Nebraska's resume for this year, how many games decided by 3 pts?

I think TCU will beat Baylor to knock Baylor out of the talk and I think Oklahoma St is going to beat Oklahoma as well and since their is no BIG12 Championship, Big12 will be on the outside of the top 4.

For arguments sake, Clemson, Michigan State, Alabama and Oklahoma win out, that's my final 4. If Bama & Oklahoma lose, Ohio State must beat Michigan to get to #4, if ND wins vs Stanford, they get #4 over Ohio State.

If North Carolina beats Clemson, Bama loses vs Auburn, Iowa loses to Nebraska, the whole scenario will have ND, Ohio State and Michigan St in the top 4, with Clemson, Bama and Iowa looking at a spot in the top 4, but not all 3.

It will be by far the best weekend of college football this season for certain!

Happy Thanksgiving folks!!

:toast:

 

[TouchdownJesus]

Hey guys. Don't post much anymore but I still come here every so often. I took some much needed time off gambling and came back this football season.

I love the topic and everyone's input. I will say something we all know. The system is still very much flawed.

I really wish UNC had beaten South Carolina. If they can beat NC State and Clemson, I think they deserve to be in the conversation. Obviously I'm biased but they would have a very similar resume as Ohio State had last year. Only difference is that they had to start the season unranked.

I'd really like to see them expand to 8 and give automatic bids to the Power 5 Conference Champions and have 3 at-large. I could see even expanding to 12 and give the top 4 teams a bye, but I'd be happy with an 8-team playoff.

I think with that, at least you start the season knowing you control your own destiny. We're still at a point where Iowa can win all their games, win the Big Ten title and still not sure if they get to play for the title. Why are they any different from Ohio State, who we all know just had to not lose.

Anyway, just my yearly rant. I like to discuss it to an extent, but at the end of the day...end of the season, there are going to be several deserving teams that don't get a chance. You can't have 120 teams and only 4 make a playoff. I could go on and on but its just a flawed system. The committee has Notre Dame....Notre Dame wins....and they drop Notre Dame out. I guess they didn't cover the spread (which they didn't b/c I lost them on a 10-point teaser lol)

 

[TouchdownJesus]

All that said, it should be a fun couple of weeks.

I think Alabama, Michigan State, Clemson, and Notre Dame will end up in the playoff.

 

[hawkeye]

It will all work out in the wash with last games and conf championship games. I think there are only 2 unbeaten teams left. Navy is in a conference. Iowa did not make up their B10 conference schedule. I think Iowa could lose this week and win next? They get no respect and I want it to stay that way..Have you checked lately and seen where Illinios State is ranked in FCS?

gl

 

[TouchdownJesus]

I agree that a lot will "work out" b/c there are still big games to be played. Its still a horrible system. You shouldn't have to go unbeaten and it shouldn't be easier for certain teams to have a loss just b/c they are ranked way higher at the beginning of the season.

I've seen several people argue in Ohio State's favor b/c they are the defending champions. What does last year have to do with this year?

I've heard announcers say that Florida is undeserving b/c their offense isn't very good. They win games but offense isn't good so can't get into the playoff....isn't that what the NFL told the Ravens back in 2000?

I absolutely love college football, but the postseason has always been a joke and it still is a joke. Its 2015. You've got billions of dollars and all the technology in the world....and its been proven that they don't care about the athletes....meaning, it was always "too many games to be played"...well, until they added a 12th game to the regular season and conference championships.

So now some teams will play 14 games....but the lie back in the day was that playing more than 12 games wouldn't be safe for the...ahem...student athlete. Give me a break.

 

[igglez]

FEI has Iowa ranked 24th overall...24th! Sagarin has them 17th and only Baylor and UNC ahead of them have easier schedules per Sagarin. Their FEI SOS is not even in the top 100. (Read that last sentence out loud.)

Iowa had an easy schedule. Let's list their non-conference opponents:

- Illinois State - an FCS school
- Iowa State - so bad their coach just got fired
- Pittsburgh - beat Pitt by 3 - ND won by 12 after giving up two late TDs (familiar theme?)
- North Texas so bad their coach got fired in October.

They did not have to play Michigan, MSU, or Ohio State in the regular season. I dare you to watch the Wisconsin game and not fall asleep.

The committee seems to be saying, "Yes, line up a bunch of chumps for your non-conference schedule and we'll roll over for you like a dog who wants its tummy scratched!"

I've got Iowa without a doubt out of the top 10, and I'd lay atleast 4pts on any team in the top10, outside of mich st. Clemson, bama, Okla, bay, stanf, unc, nd, okst, mich St, ore.... My top 10

 

[capping-guru]

Great article on Notre Dame by Dan Wetzel......worth the read!

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/if-not...t-blame-its-independent-status-002901114.html

 

[TouchdownJesus]

I just don't like all the arguments of "the better team" rather than earning your way into the playoff.

Alabama came very close to losing to Tennessee. If they lose that game, they have 2 losses.....so who gets in the playoff? A 2-loss Alabama team or an unbeaten Iowa team? Alabama clearly looks like a better team, even with that loss. I'd love to bet on that 2-loss Alabama team vs. Iowa.

It just seems like people want to use "are a better team" when its convenient and "earned their way" when its convenient.

All I can do is have fun betting and hope that my Heels and/or my Irish bullshit their way into having a shot at what is still pretty much a mythical national championship.

 

[Nolesfan74]

Clemson is not the best team in the country. There are 3 Big 12 teams that could beat them 4 days out of the work week. ND had better "game control" against them and really should've won that game despite the conditions and injuries. For 2/3 of the game, they were losing to an FSU team that is in full rebuild mode--that shouldn't happen if you're the #1 team in the country!

 

[Old School]

:0002