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College Football Playoff Rankings & CFP Scenarios for UCF Foootball

Nov 21, 2018
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College Football Rankings 2018

College Football Today College Football Rankings for the 2018 NCAA Football season can be found below for NCAAF weeks 2,4,6,10,11,12 and you will find our College Football Today 8 team College Football Playoff format. Learn the economic motivations behind all NCAA Football rankings by clicking HERE.


College Football Playoff Rankings

Below are the College Football Playoff Rankings for week 13 of the 2018 College Football next to the College Football Today FBS Top 25, which was started this NCAA Football season



College Football Playoff Scenarios - Over 8 Scenarios can play out in UCF's favor for the CFP.

With many big games still left on the college football schedule, there are many different College Football Playoff Scenarios that could play out. We are going to highlight them below and read about how our 8 Team CFP College Football Today brackets would look in 2018 and the selection process.

UCF Football


All playoff teams used to declare UCF Knight's Football CFP scenario, click any picture or link to read.



 
The only shot UCF would have is to expand the playoff to 8. They aren't ever going to garner enough respect playing the schedule they do.

There are 8 teams with a realistic shot at the CFP, UCF has less than a 2 percent shot of making the playoff according to ESPN (for whatever that's worth) Ohio State is behind UCF and has a 22 percent shot.

Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Michigan, Oklahoma, Georgia, Washington State, and Ohio State are the only true remaining canidates. Alabama or Georgia is going to take one spot, Clemson will steamroll South Carolina and Pittsburgh yo take the second, Notre Dame will beat a turmoil riddled USC to take number 3, and Michigan or Ohio State will beat Northwestern and sweat out the final ranking to see if they get in over Oklahoma or Washington State.
 
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Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Michigan, Oklahoma, Georgia, Washington State, and Ohio State are the only true remaining canidates. Alabama or Georgia is going to take one spot

What if Georgia beats Bama? I'd say there's at least a 50/50 chance Bama still makes the playoffs.

If that happens, Bama will probably go on and win the NC. Which would mark the 2nd year in a row that the team that won the NC didn't win their conference.

Which will start the debate about why do we even play damn conference championship games anyway?

Playoffs are going to end up completely destroying college football. We're eventually going to end up playing an 8-game season, no conference champ game, and then go to a 64-team playoff.
 
What if Georgia beats Bama? I'd say there's at least a 50/50 chance Bama still makes the playoffs.

If that happens, Bama will probably go on and win the NC. Which would mark the 2nd year in a row that the team that won the NC didn't win their conference.

Which will start the debate about why do we even play damn conference championship games anyway?

Playoffs are going to end up completely destroying college football. We're eventually going to end up playing an 8-game season, no conference champ game, and then go to a 64-team playoff.


I actually think 8 is the number it should have been all along, no more , no less.

I mean you have 6 New Year big bowls, you can have 4 be the quarterfinals, the last two being the semifinals and then have your championship. 5 conference champions get automatic bids, 3 wild cards.

I know many hate the idea of a playoff, but I think it helps prove who is the legitimate best. I wouldn't mind seeing the conference title games go away as a consolation for the extra game the teams may have to play. Most of the revenue today is brought in on tv dollars so you could even eliminate a pointless regular season game if you wanted to keep the conference title games.


Regarding this year, I would say it would be universally jeered if Alabama got in if they lost to Georgia. I wouldn't be opposed because I think they are the best team, but that would leave three P5 champions out. Last year it made sense to leave out the B1G and Pac 12 because USC and Ohio State both had multiple losses. This year it would mean leaving a Michigan/Ohio State, and a Washington State ,and Oklahoma out in the cold with only 1 loss and a conference title. Ohio State has a terrible loss to Purdue, they would be easier to dismiss than Michigan.

In a scenario where Alabama loses a close game to Georgia and everybody else wins out you would have:
#1 Clemson
#2 Notre Dame
#3 Georgia
#4 Alabama/Michigan/Oklahoma/Washington State/Ohio State
Alabama would have 1 loss, the others would have 1 loss as well, but also a conference title.

If that scenario plays out I don't think Michigan would be frozen out. The others I could see.


All that being said, Alabama isn't losing to Georgia imo. You guys will most likely get Michigan in the Semis. It's going to be a very predictable outcome, Saban and crew holding the golden trophy.
 
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Yeah that's the common argument for 8 teams, make it be Power 5 champs and 3 at large. But many years, there will be at least 1 Power 5 conference champ that clearly isn't in the Top 8 teams. Right now Washington State is #8 so if they lose against Washington(?) or the champ game, they will be out of the Top 10.

Which of course opens the door for the 16-team playoff.

I would rather see them stay at 4 teams and add a few rules to make it so the regular season and conference games are more meaningful.

For instance, what if they added a rule that in order to make it from a Power 5 conference, you have to win your conference championship game. It doesn't mean you are guaranteed a spot if you do, but it means you are eliminated if you don't win the conference game.

Think of how that would add drama to the regular season. Look at the Michigan - Ohio State game on Sat, that effectively becomes a play-in game for a chance at the playoffs. Since the loser can't win the conf championship game, and will be out. It could mean that a September game against 1-loss LSU and 1-loss aubarn suddenly becomes far more important since the loser is probably already out of the playoffs.

Expanding the playoffs will simply make the playoffs more important, and make the regular season and conference champ games less meaningful. You want to do the opposite, you want to find a way to make every game life or death for that team.
 
The only shot UCF would have is to expand the playoff to 8. They aren't ever going to garner enough respect playing the schedule they do.

There are 8 teams with a realistic shot at the CFP, UCF has less than a 2 percent shot of making the playoff according to ESPN (for whatever that's worth) Ohio State is behind UCF and has a 22 percent shot.

Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Michigan, Oklahoma, Georgia, Washington State, and Ohio State are the only true remaining canidates. Alabama or Georgia is going to take one spot, Clemson will steamroll South Carolina and Pittsburgh yo take the second, Notre Dame will beat a turmoil riddled USC to take number 3, and Michigan or Ohio State will beat Northwestern and sweat out the final ranking to see if they get in over Oklahoma or Washington State.

I highly doubt it happens due to the youth of Georgia but imagine the mess if OSU beat Michigan and Bama was upset by Georgia. Michigan would go over Bama but you would have some argument with OSU over who should go. I say the conference champ should always get the benefit of the doubt unless the rest of the stuff favors the other team big time.

The have shown they will take a 1 loss team over the 2 loss conference champ a couple of times but haven't been faced with a possible scenario like this I think.
 
I highly doubt it happens due to the youth of Georgia but imagine the mess if OSU beat Michigan and Bama was upset by Georgia. Michigan would go over Bama but you would have some argument with OSU over who should go. I say the conference champ should always get the benefit of the doubt unless the rest of the stuff favors the other team big time.

The have shown they will take a 1 loss team over the 2 loss conference champ a couple of times but haven't been faced with a possible scenario like this I think.


I just don't believe Georgia or anybody for that matter can beat Alabama with Tua playing. The defense is stifling as ever, and now they have a Heisman candidate at QB.

If I were to pick the 4 best teams right now, it would be Alabama vs Michigan, and Clemson vs Notre Dame.

Ohio State, Oklahoma and Washington State all have elite offenses and below average defenses. That being said I believe Ohio State has a good shot of beating Michigan. I believe West Virginia could beat Oklahoma and Washington could beat Washington State.

Would the committee have the balls to put an undefeated UCF into the playoff? Would they dare put a 2 loss LSU in there? Imagine a 2 loss SEC team getting in at #4 over Ohio State or UCF, just to get a rematch with a team they got demolished at home to.

That's the sheer stupidity of the rankings right now, LSU will be passed without losing a game. There is going to be controversy one way or the other, this is why the playoff needed to be 8 from the start.

No more than 8 ever, I just don't care if the ninth team feels they are being slighted.. It is much less likely we will ever have 9 undefeated teams than 5. All major conference champions should get in, this scenario would let a UCF get in as well.

Oh well..... I will still enjoy the games regardless, well maybe not this year because Alabama has lapped everyone.
 
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Yeah that's the common argument for 8 teams, make it be Power 5 champs and 3 at large. But many years, there will be at least 1 Power 5 conference champ that clearly isn't in the Top 8 teams. Right now Washington State is #8 so if they lose against Washington(?) or the champ game, they will be out of the Top 10.

Which of course opens the door for the 16-team playoff.

I would rather see them stay at 4 teams and add a few rules to make it so the regular season and conference games are more meaningful.

For instance, what if they added a rule that in order to make it from a Power 5 conference, you have to win your conference championship game. It doesn't mean you are guaranteed a spot if you do, but it means you are eliminated if you don't win the conference game.

Think of how that would add drama to the regular season. Look at the Michigan - Ohio State game on Sat, that effectively becomes a play-in game for a chance at the playoffs. Since the loser can't win the conf championship game, and will be out. It could mean that a September game against 1-loss LSU and 1-loss aubarn suddenly becomes far more important since the loser is probably already out of the playoffs.

Expanding the playoffs will simply make the playoffs more important, and make the regular season and conference champ games less meaningful. You want to do the opposite, you want to find a way to make every game life or death for that team.


I agree that the bowl games are now devalued to Cadillac programs, but that is the world we live in. I like the fact we get to see a definitive champion crowned. The old days were littered with reporters and associations naming different champions. Under that stipulation UCF would have a legitimate claim to a National champion. No other NCAA sport has disputed championships. Baseball, Hockey, Basketball all have postseasons.

To your point of eight team playoffs destroying the intrigue of regular season rivalries I disagree.

If there was an 8 team playoff this year you would have Alabama in regardless of a loss or win to Georgia only if they beat Auburn. Ohio State and Michigan would also be battling for a spot because there is no guarantee with two losses they are safe. We would all be watching the West Virginia and Oklahoma game because it would be even bigger than a spoiler game for West Virginia. They would not only just be playing for a spot in the Big 12 title game, they would still have a shot at the playoff. UCF would get it's shot only if they won their last two games, they have no such shot this year.

8 teams may seem like a big number that devalues the regular season, but I believe you would possibly have even more intrigue because even more teams have a shot.

Deciding who is truly the best is worth it, heck we would all be questioning if Clemson or Notre Dame deserve a shot in the old system. With a playoff that drama gives way to both getting a shot. With 8 teams we wouldn't have to question if the Big 12, Pac 12 or B1G are getting shafted. We would get to see if UCF could beat Notre Dame.

No more questions, all major conference champions get a chance to prove their worth. If Alabama got beat by Georgia they would still get another crack to prove their 1 loss was better than Michigan's.

People who claim the 9th ranked team would gripe are missing the point ,that it would be far less likely to see merits to their 2 loss resumes. It's like complaining about Ralph Nader getting shafted in the presidential elections.
 
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I just don't believe Georgia or anybody for that matter can beat Alabama with Tua playing. The defense is stifling as ever, and now they have a Heisman candidate at QB.

If I were to pick the 4 best teams right now, it would be Alabama vs Michigan, and Clemson vs Notre Dame.

Ohio State, Oklahoma and Washington State all have elite offenses and below average defenses. That being said I believe Ohio State has a good shot of beating Michigan. I believe West Virginia could beat Oklahoma and Washington could beat Washington State.

Would the committee have the balls to put an undefeated UCF into the playoff? Would they dare put a 2 loss LSU in there? Imagine a 2 loss SEC team getting in at #4 over Ohio State or UCF, just to get a rematch with a team they got demolished at home to.

That's the sheer stupidity of the rankings right now, LSU will be passed without losing a game. There is going to be controversy one way or the other, this is why the playoff needed to be 8 from the start.

No more than 8 ever, I just don't care if the ninth team feels they are being slighted.. It is much less likely we will ever have 9 undefeated teams than 5. All major conference champions should get in, this scenario would let a UCF get in as well.

Oh well..... I will still enjoy the games regardless, well maybe not this year because Alabama has lapped everyone.

If a crazy scenario played out with some upsets I do think they might take UCF over LSU as you would have the public pressure about not rematching that Bama game and LSU having 2 losses also. They have UCF over OSU who has one loss now so that tells you they at least would consider it.

A sure path scenario might be LSU losing to A&M and the Michigan/OSU winner losing to Northwestern while Washington State loses a game. Oklahoma would have to lose also.
 
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The conference championship games are uneccessary. They are strictly a money grab and an excuse to enlarge conferences. Before the Big12 went full retard and implemented their current dumb championship game scenario they had the most legitimate conference champion. Each team played one another. In weird years they can determine their conference champ.

You can’t continue to talk in Puritan vernacular about champions in a system built solely around money. All other sports constantly crown champions with multiple losses and/or underdog statuses going into the post season. There currently is no requirement/litmus to make the “playoff.” Theoretically a 7-6 team can get in based on opinion. Obviously that won’t happen but in a system with 120 eligible teams no schedule or conference is created equally. Standards need to be put in place.

I don’t believe for a minute that the regular season takes a hit at 8 teams. It doesn’t at the lower levels and won’t for this level. If you’ve ever played in the 1aa or D2 level you know what I’m talking about. The satisfaction of knocking a rival out of contention is just as strong as is the bragging rights. Regular seasons get watered down with adding more games to the regular season not more teams in the post season. 10-12 games with 8 post season spots for 65+ teams won’t kill the regular season at all. It makes November more meaningful and September just as important.
 
The conference championship games are uneccessary. They are strictly a money grab and an excuse to enlarge conferences. Before the Big12 went full retard and implemented their current dumb championship game scenario they had the most legitimate conference champion. Each team played one another. In weird years they can determine their conference champ.

You can’t continue to talk in Puritan vernacular about champions in a system built solely around money. All other sports constantly crown champions with multiple losses and/or underdog statuses going into the post season. There currently is no requirement/litmus to make the “playoff.” Theoretically a 7-6 team can get in based on opinion. Obviously that won’t happen but in a system with 120 eligible teams no schedule or conference is created equally. Standards need to be put in place.

I don’t believe for a minute that the regular season takes a hit at 8 teams. It doesn’t at the lower levels and won’t for this level. If you’ve ever played in the 1aa or D2 level you know what I’m talking about. The satisfaction of knocking a rival out of contention is just as strong as is the bragging rights. Regular seasons get watered down with adding more games to the regular season not more teams in the post season. 10-12 games with 8 post season spots for 65+ teams won’t kill the regular season at all. It makes November more meaningful and September just as important.
I think the conference championship games are a good thing and they have reduced the arguments for the 4 playoff teams some years. If you go to 8 teams you make the Power 5 ones automatic qualifiers with 3 at large spots. If a Northwestern gets in with an upset so be it. No 1 loss power 5 team will be left out with a system like that.
 
I think the conference championship games are a good thing and they have reduced the arguments for the 4 playoff teams some years. If you go to 8 teams you make the Power 5 ones automatic qualifiers with 3 at large spots. If a Northwestern gets in with an upset so be it. No 1 loss power 5 team will be left out with a system like that.
It would be nirvana...
 
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The conference championship games are uneccessary.

Which is a byproduct of expanding the playoffs. In the BCS, they were vital because everyone needed one more big game to make a better case for being in the final 2. Now, you can go into the champ game undefeated, and lose the champ game, and you still have a 50/50 shot of making the playoffs.

Droid you mentioned 8 teams would make more games important cause more teams would be eligible for the playoffs. I think it works the opposite way, early games are less meaningful because it is almost like everyone has a mulligan if there are 8 teams going to the playoffs. Almost any Power 5 team can still make an 8-team playoff with a loss, so the first loss is your mulligan.

In 2015 when Ole Miss beat Bama early on, that suddenly meant that Bama had to run the table to make the 4-team playoffs. We lost to Ole Miss and the next week we had to play highly ranked Georgia in Athens. That loss to Ole Miss took the Georgia game the following week from being a big game, to being the biggest game in the country. But if we had had an 8-team playoff, Bama could have probably made it in with another loss. But with 4 teams? No way. Every game from that Ole Miss loss on, was life or death for Bama.

And to your point about definitely deciding the NC, watch in the coming years, you'll start to see more polls naming different champs and more teams claiming NCs that didn't make the playoffs.
 
Football is the only sport without a NCAA championship , although baseball, hockey, and of course basketball have large tournaments to crown their champions, there is still a human element of deciding certain at large teams.

To fix the NCAA football championship, we need to adapt what the lower divisions do. They have multiple round championship postseasons with the NCAA name to it. Like another poster commented, it already works in the lower leagues of football. It works in the NFL.

You telling me the regular season doesn't matter in any of those leagues?

Ditch the name BCS, Bowl division or whatever you want to call it and call it the NCAA football championship. I know that would destroy the bowl system to a lot of classic fans, but it's a different era. The premiere programs and fans only care about making it to the playoffs now. To me that makes the Big bowls that are designated hosts still important, maybe moreso to a certain degree.

Expanding to 8 would give programs like UCF a hope. That is what makes the NCAA tournament so exciting. You get programs like Gonzaga , who would have never risen to a power if not for their underdog players busting their butt and beating programs with prestige.

It's a beautiful thing to have a shot, under the old system the old money controlled the game. Even in this system it is still the same. Programs like UCF or Boise State will never get in because they are in lower leagues, all are not created equally. Alabama and Ohio State start out with a get out of jail free card and two hundred dollars. In a playoff ,UCF and Boise State would have to go undefeated still and then beat three great teams in a row to claim the prize. They would have proven themselves at that point, thus making it possible for them to get tougher opponents to schedule them as it wouldn't be like playing the sisters of the poor.
 
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Expanding to 8 would give programs like UCF a hope. That is what makes the NCAA tournament so exciting. You get programs like Gonzaga , who would have never risen to a power if not for their underdog players busting their butt and beating programs with prestige.

I think the difference is, basketball only has 5 players on the court at any time. Take 4 average players and add an NBA lottery pick, and they can easily make the NCAA tournament. Take an average football team and give them a 1st round QB, and they still aren't going to be a Top 25 program.

It's just a different game with different dynamics. I don;t really follow playoffs in lower levels of college football. How often does an unranked team win the playoffs? I bet it isn't very often, if it's ever happened.
 
You guys realize the conference title games already serve as one round of the playoffs essentially right? So if you go to 8 teams and keep the conference title games what you’re basically asking for is a 16-team playoff. There’s no need for 8 teams as long as you keep the conference title games.
 
Ironically, expanding to 8 teams would just keep MORE deserving teams out, especially in a world where conference champs are automatically in. There have been years where teams won their conference with 3 or 4 losses, why are they more deserving than a 1-loss team who didn’t win their conference just because they have the benefit of playing in a shitty league? In y’alls scenario USC gets in over Alabama last year. Ohio St. with their two losses included a blowout to Iowa gets in over Bama last year, because hey they won their shitty conference. And if Texas wins the Big 12 this year with 3 losses? They get in to while better teams watch from home. It solves nothing.

Beyond that it’s going to make for less competitive football. Not having any guarantees is what keeps teams pushing to go undefeated or not have more than 1 loss. Once they’re guaranteed a spot just by winning their conference though that goes out the window. If I’m Bama right now knowing Tua’s not healthy and I get in as long as I win my conference? I’m testing him until Atlanta. Him or any other banged up starter, because it’s the smart thing to do. Losses don’t matter as long as I can win my conference so that’s my priority. Suddenly one of the greatest rivalries in college football doesn’t mean anything. That’s exactly what happens in the NFL once teams clinch their division and know they’re in the playoffs...they rest starters and the last 3-4 weeks of the season don’t mean a damn thing. Y’all will slowly but surely turn college football into that and ruin the game.
 
Also gonna make for shittier matchups for the fans too. A lot of those marquee kickoff games are scheduled so teams can get a quality win and position themselves for a playoff spot. If I’m in just by winning my conference regardless of strength of schedule or anything else, why on earth would I schedule one of those games? It’s not worth it. I’ll just schedule as many cupcakes as possible, keep my team healthy, and focus on winning my conference. People are overlooking a lot of the unintended consequences of guaranteeing every conference winner gets in.
 
The 12th game hasn’t lessened the shitty matchups. FSU, Bama, Tennessee etc were already scheduling games against UCLA Oregon Notre Dames of the world when the seasons were at 11 games. Now they have those games plus towson or Bethune Cookman. College football is not hurting its regular season with a better post season. A few years ago the four team playoff was argued to kill the regular season and it’s done anything but that.

And don’t get me wrong I’m not against a committee deciding who is in based on calling balls and strikes on a criteria. I also would not have been opposed to keeping the BCS and using whoever graded out in the top four of the algorithm to get in. In fact it may have been proven a better system because it helped to eliminate human bias and valued games in sept as much as games in November equally. As I type this I’m talking myself more into using the BCS system with the current four team playoff which is what I thought was going to happen when they originally announced we were going to four teams. Right now there are no metrics teams are measured against. It’s “well they look awesome...” which is fine but we are playing loose by using the word playoff right now. This is an invitation based on appearance.

Still a better product than the old system but ultimately I agree with Malone. More teams that go undefeated will proclaim themselves champions. And who is going to stop them and what argument will anyone have when the current system is based on a beauty contest? Also very ironic that an Alabama fan is complaining about made up championships.

Last point, I’d hardly call Clemson Pitt a round of playoffs. Pitt is terrible and there is no way they win and advance towards a national title. The ACC is just hurting itself with this game if Clemson loses or wins but loses a key player or two to injury.
 
That's the funny thing about arguments, we are never going to change the other persons mind. I enjoy listening to people's opinion though.

Supporters of the 8 team playoff will see the added points of entry to teams like UCF and Boise State, deserving is a very flexible term when it comes to picking from a large group of teams with similar records. If you are the best, you will prove it. Bad matchups happen regardless of your system, blowouts occur.

I take everything in a vacuum and think limiting the field of over 60 P5 teams and over 120 division 1 schools to 4 spots is bad. It would be like telling a graduating class of 1,000 engineering students that no matter what you do or how hard you work there are only 20 jobs and 95 percent of them have already been fazed out. The group of 1,000 is already shrunk down to about 50. So let's just usher 950 of you out right now...go on get out. Kind of goes against the mantra that it doesn't matter where you start because if you are talented enough and outwork your more privelaged peers you can break through that roof.

Essentially you are telling kids like McKenzie Milton that it doesn't matter how hard he or his group of upstarts work, or how much you were overlooked that you are not good enough. You can beat an overranked Auburn, you can win all your games, but you will never get a shot at the prize.

It doesn't matter because there is a select group of 20 programs that will always get the prize, they are just better than you because they started earlier and established themselves as powers. It doesn't matter, they are establishment...
 
You’re missing the key reason why the 4-team playoff hasn’t ruined the regular season....there are no auto bids. So every game still matters. Resume matters. That goes away the moment you have auto bids because again nothing really matters as long as you win your conference. So strength of schedule doesn’t matter just schedule as many cupcakes as you need to keep your team healthy. Number of losses doesn’t matter either, so rest key players that are banged up as long as you’ve secured your spot in the conference title game.

The only way 8 works is if you remove the auto qualifier for winning the conference, but then that deafeats the whole purpose of going to 8 to begin with, which was to get every conference champion in.
 
No what they’re telling McKenzie Milton is play a schedule comparable to other top teams and earn your way like they have. Their strength of schedule is north of 100, plenty of teams would be undefeated with that schedule. And that’s just where we disagree, nobody in this life in any field DESERVES anything, that’s participation trophy bullshit. You want in the tournament? Schedule the big boys and beat them, just like everybody else has to. Don’t schedule a bunch of cupcakes then whine you’re not getting enough credit for beating them 70-0. It’s a glaring double standard. The big boys get mocked for even scheduling the type of teams UCF beats weekly. Look at how our owns fans bitched about playing Idaho. They play Idaho equivalents 9 out of 12 games.
 
,UCF and Boise State would have to go undefeated still and then beat three great teams in a row to claim the prize. They would have proven themselves at that point, thus making it possible for them to get tougher opponents to schedule them as it wouldn't be like playing the sisters of the poor.

So Boise State in the last 11 years has beaten Oregon, Oregon St, Virginia, VT, Georgia, Arizona, Arizona St, Washington, Washington St, and Oklahoma, and you think that means Florida is more likely to schedule them than Idaho?

I don't think that's how it works.
 
So Boise State in the last 11 years has beaten Oregon, Oregon St, Virginia, VT, Georgia, Arizona, Arizona St, Washington, Washington St, and Oklahoma, and you think that means Florida is more likely to schedule them than Idaho?

I don't think that's how it works.


Did you not read my entire post?

If Boise State won a National Title they would be able to command better schedules. Their prestige level would go up. Florida doesn't play out of conference road games against anybody though. Isn't that one of the things you guys knock us for?
 
Boise State is not like UCF in any way. Boise State made a conceited effort to play and beat higher ranked teams. They played UGA in Atlanta in what was basically a home game for UGA. They played VT in DC in what was a home game for VT. They played Oregon at Oregon and beat them. They beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. They weren’t left out of any championships because of being in a non- Power 5 conference. They got as high as #3 one year before being upset. Had there a playoffs back then they’d have make a couple. They earned their rep over multiple years by scheduling big boys and beating them.

UCF is the complete opposite of that. They’ve schedule nobody and instead have just sat on the sidelines and whined about what they deserve. Bunch of entitled dipshits. As pointed out before this isn’t a group of 5 issue either. Houston got all the way up to #6 two years ago in the initial playoff rankings and would have gotten in had they won out. How? They scheduled and beat Oklahoma and Louisville with Lamar Jackson. They went out and earned their chance to be in the conversation. UCF doesn’t deserve shit until they play better teams.
 
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You still need marquee wins if you’re going to get an at large bid. The networks are where the money is now a days and will continue pushing for them. Those matchups don’t stop selling air time and fattening the schools bank accounts. Teams have been scheduling those matchups for decades and as long as the money is there they will continue to do so.
 
You still need marquee wins if you’re going to get an at large bid. The networks are where the money is now a days and will continue pushing for them. Those matchups don’t stop selling air time and fattening the schools bank accounts. Teams have been scheduling those matchups for decades and as long as the money is there they will continue to do so.

They scheduled those games because they HAD to. As already talked about over and over college football has always been a beauty pageant, those big matchups helped get you extra points in siad beauty pageant. In a world where multiple publications awarded championships, you needed as many quality wins as you could get to be in the conversation. That incentive goes away with auto qualifiers. You don’t need to impress anybody with a quality win when you get in the tournament regardless as long as you win your conference. It absolutely would not continue. Those types of games are already on the decline. Just this offseason Saban was petitioning for an extra bye week, more coaches will follow suit. They’ll get that ‘bye’ by scheduling more cupcakes. And they should, it’s the smart thing to do in a world with auto qualifiers. It’s pointless to risk a loss and injury to your team by playing the best opponents out of conference.
 
8 teams would make the regular season more meaningful because good teams wouldn’t have their seasons totally trashed with a loss in September....

It would be both epic and equitable...

Anybody who argues against it is stupid...or over 80...

This is an oxymoron. If a loss matters less with the expansion of the playoffs, then the regular season is less important by virtue of that fact. Your two points don’t coexist at all. That’s literally the definition of the regular season becoming less important.
 
Boise State is not like UCF in any way. Boise State made a conceited effort to play and beat higher ranked teams. They played UGA in Atlanta in what was basically a home game for UGA. They played VT in DC in what was a home game for VT. They played Oregon at Oregon and beat them. They beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. They weren’t left out of any championships because of being in a non- Power 5 conference. They got as high as #3 one year before being upset. Had there a playoffs back then they’d have make a couple. They earned their rep over multiple years by scheduling big boys and beating them.

UCF is the complete opposite of that. They’ve schedule nobody and instead have just sat on the sidelines and whined about what they deserve. Bunch of entitled dipshits. As pointed out before this isn’t a group of 5 issue either. Houston got all the way up to #6 two years ago in the initial playoff rankings and would have gotten in had they won out. How? They scheduled and beat Oklahoma and Louisville with Lamar Jackson. They went out and earned their chance to be in the conversation. UCF doesn’t deserve shit until they play better teams.


You sound like somebody who would like to see UCF back up their claims. If there was an 8 team playoff UCF would have to play a gauntlet of Alabama, Clemson, and Michigan to grab the title. In your and most people's eyes they would get smashed, but if they did pull off the miracle I guarantee you the game would be changed forever.

You are most likely a fan of the classical bowl system, that's fine and I understand why you love it.

I am a fan of seeing the best play each other, I want to see history happen. Alabama playing Michigan is a nice classic matchup. I want to see UCF play them, it would either shut them up or provide an historic moment.
 
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They scheduled those games because they HAD to. As already talked about over and over college football has always been a beauty pageant, those big matchups helped get you extra points in siad beauty pageant. In a world where multiple publications awarded championships, you needed as many quality wins as you could get to be in the conversation. That incentive goes away with auto qualifiers. You don’t need to impress anybody with a quality win when you get in the tournament regardless as long as you win your conference. It absolutely would not continue. Those types of games are already on the decline. Just this offseason Saban was petitioning for an extra bye week, more coaches will follow suit. They’ll get that ‘bye’ by scheduling more cupcakes. And they should, it’s the smart thing to do in a world with auto qualifiers. It’s pointless to risk a loss and injury to your team by playing the best opponents out of conference.
Multiple publications became irrelevant in the late 80s and 90s and the games were still played. 5 guaranteed spots and three beauty pageant spots means the matchups happen. It’s the best of both worlds. Championships matter as well as who you play. 6-8 teams can get you that. Saban is a pussy. He also wanted to ban hurry up offenses. SEC teams have every right to schedule weaker outside opponents. It’s a league that has proven a cut above the rest save an off year here or there. Other conferences will and should continue to schedule marquee games in order to make a better argument against a one or two loss LSU, UGA, UF, or A&M for an at large bid.
 
Essentially you are telling kids like McKenzie Milton that it doesn't matter how hard he or his group of upstarts work, or how much you were overlooked that you are not good enough. You can beat an overranked Auburn, you can win all your games, but you will never get a shot at the prize.

I don't think any team is getting a shot at the prize if their resume is that thin. Nor should they.
 
You sound like somebody who would like to see UCF back up their claims. If there was an 8 team playoff UCF would have to play a gauntlet of Alabama, Clemson, and Michigan to grab the title. In your and most people's eyes they would get smashed, but if they did pull off the miracle I guarantee you the game would be changed forever.

You are most likely a fan of the classical bowl system, that's fine and I understand why you love it.

I am a fan of seeing the best play each other, I want to see history happen. Alabama playing Michigan is a nice classic matchup. I want to see UCF play them, it would either shut them up or provide an historic moment.

We want the same thing. The only difference is I want to see UCF earn their chance to play those teams...like every other power 5 team has to. You want to just give them that chance as an “oh well let’s see what happens” despite them not earning it, they haven’t played anybody. Follow the Boise model or even the Houston model from two years ago and they’d get that chance. Schedule the big boys in the regular season and beat them. Nobody would be able to diminish their accomplishments if they did that. Don’t schedule cupcakes while everyone else is playing a gauntlet then whine about not being given a fair shot. No one is picking on them because they’re in a group of 5 conference. They’re dismissing them because as of last week their schedule was 117th in the country, even behind other group of 5 teams. Again, it’s a double standard. People want to give them a shot at the playoffs for playing and beating teams that Power 5 teams routinely get mocked for playing. How does that make any sense?
 
8 teams would make the regular season more meaningful because good teams wouldn’t have their seasons totally trashed with a loss in September....

No good team has their season trashed by a Sept loss now. Again, see Bama losing to Ole Miss in Sept in 2015 and winning the NC that same year. In fact that's part of the reason why we are seeing big games to start the season, because every knows if you lose in September, you can overcome it by winning out.
 
People who argue against an 8 team playoff prefer horses and buggies to automobiles....


They are never going to see the positives, they see it as butchering the sport and watering down an already watered down bowl system. I see their point, but to me the positives outweigh the negatives by a mile.

My only fear is not of them ever expanding it to 8, but rather expanding it past that point. Sooner or later the executives will see the money in expanding to 8, I feel it would be justified to do so as it stands for on field results. However I don't want it to go past that point, it should stay at 8. Never should have been lower, nor should it ever be higher.
 
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We want the same thing. The only difference is I want to see UCF earn their chance to play those teams...like every other power 5 team has to. You want to just give them that chance despite them not earning it, they haven’t played anybody. Follow the Boise model or even the Houston model from two years ago and they’d get that chance. Schedule the big boys in the regular season and beat them. Don’t schedule cupcakes while everyone else is playing a gauntlet then whine about not being given a fair shot. No one is picking on them because they’re in a group of 5 conference. They’re dismissing them because as of last week their schedule was 117th in the country, even behind other group of 5 teams.
We have some common ground here. I don’t think UCF should be an automatic qualifier in an 8 team playoff. If a math formula or committee sees them as worthy of an at large bid so be it but the AAC and Sun Belt champs don’t deserve to be automatically in regardless of an undefeated record.

Full disclosure I don’t think FSU was worthy of our ‘14 bid either based on who we played and how poorly we played. Oregon proved we were not a real contender. Every year should be treated on its own merit but we were the defending champs with a Heisman winner at a brand name school. But that was all on paper. We sucked on the field.
 
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