That didn't take long

[T-Bone Burdell]

Biggest reason I'm for 8 is that I think it's way more likely that tech makes it in at 8 as opposed to 4.
Then we start facing teams that had 1 week to prepare for us, and watch out.

 

[covingtonjacket]

Biggest reason I'm for 8 is that I think it's way more likely that tech makes it in at 8 as opposed to 4.
Then we start facing teams that had 1 week to prepare for us, and watch out.

This. I like 4 teams from a college football point of view, but 8 from a GT point of view. We would be hell to deal with in a 16-team format too.

 

[wreckem1990]

This. I like 4 teams from a college football point of view, but 8 from a GT point of view. We would be hell to deal with in a 16-team format too.

 

[Flywheel]

So if VT beat Clemson, you ppl think they would have deserved a playoff birth more than the Tigers? No ööööin way

Actually, the Sooners would be in, with a 10-2 record and the Big 12 title. Their two losses were to great teams, Ohio State and Houston, and they also have strong wins over a pair of top 15 teams.

Thats the beauty of a 4-champion format with one P5 left out. Conference championship games matter, and so do out-of-conference games.

 

[gtrower]

So if VT beat Clemson, you ppl think they would have deserved a playoff birth more than the Tigers? No ööööin way

They'd be ACC champions and by definition the best team in the ACC. If conferences don't want that to happen then they should change the way they determine conference champions. And if we're going to start choosing who the best team in the conference is regardless of the results on the field then we might as well skip the games all together.

 

[BioJacket06]

So if VT beat Clemson, you ppl think they would have deserved a playoff birth more than the Tigers? No ööööin way

You are telling me that if a a 10-6 New York Giants team beats a 16-0 Patriots team they are world champions? No fuckin way

 

[olgoldandwhite]

So if VT beat Clemson, you ppl think they would have deserved a playoff birth more than the Tigers? No ööööin way

Yep. Play it on the field. If you know going in you have to win your conference,and don't, oh well!

 

[olgoldandwhite]

You are telling me that if a a 10-6 New York Giants team beats a 16-0 Patriots team they are world champions? No ööööin way

Happens every year. Ask Carolina last year!

 

[Ish]

CFB is different than other sports, because it is essentially one season culminating in one or two bowl games. If you screw up once (twice, now) along the way you're out of the championship running. If we extend the playoffs to 8 teams, it won't be long before we go to 16 teams... and at that point it will be just like the NFL....a 3 or 4 loss team could be in the running for the championship, and I think that's lame

 

[BioJacket06]

CFB is different than other sports, because it is essentially one season culminating in one or two bowl games. If you screw up once (twice, now) along the way you're out of the championship running. If we extend the playoffs to 8 teams, it won't be long before we go to 16 teams... and at that point it will be just like the NFL....a 3 or 4 loss team could be in the running for the championship, and I think that's lame

Not lame. Totally awesome.

 

[ibeattetris]

You are telling me that if a a 10-6 New York Giants team beats a 16-0 Patriots team they are world champions? No ööööin way

This is what I don't understand. Championships are about determining a champion. They are not about determining the best team.

 

[ElCidBUZZingFAN]

CFB is different than other sports, because it is essentially one season culminating in one or two bowl games. If you screw up once (twice, now) along the way you're out of the championship running. If we extend the playoffs to 8 teams, you know it will be 16 teams and then it will be just like the NFL, and I don't want that.

Eh, it's only cute and entertaining when it's not your team. If it happens to your team (screwed out of being selected), it's an annual kick in the nuts for eternity.

We'd still be salty to this day if Tom Osborne doesn't grow a sack and vote us over CU, for example. That was a totally different system of course, but the spirit of it still applies.

 

[Flywheel]

You are telling me that if a a 10-6 New York Giants team beats a 16-0 Patriots team they are world champions? No ööööin way

Preach

 

[ScionOfSouthland]

I like the idea of an 8 team playoff and have supported it, along with most of the country, since a 4 team playoff was announced. I don't like restrictions on G5 conferences, though. Seems a little intrusive to place those teams in specific slots. Let them go toe-to-toe based on their performance.

 

[gtleviathan]

CFB is different than other sports, because it is essentially one season culminating in one or two bowl games. If you screw up once (twice, now) along the way you're out of the championship running. If we extend the playoffs to 8 teams, it won't be long before we go to 16 teams... and at that point it will be just like the NFL....a 3 or 4 loss team could be in the running for the championship, and I think that's lame

While this may be true, once you get to 8 teams, the argument for expanding is no longer a "fairness" argument. Once you have the P5 conference champions plus an at large or three, it's no longer "how can you leave the Big XII out???" or "Ohio State??? The team who won their conference isn't even in!!!" You'd be down to debating the quality loses of the #6 team vs. the #8 team or something like that, which is nowhere near as visceral. At that point, it's more a revenue/fan enjoyment argument.

 

[THWG247]

Thats the beauty of a 4-champion format with one P5 left out. Conference championship games matter, and so do out-of-conference games.

Unless your PSU

 

[ee8384]

It's a valid point you bring up. With 14, 15, 16 team conferences, I'm not sure how to alleviate this issue. VPI gets BC every year while GT gets Clemson -just one example to support your rebuttal.

Even basketball has unbalanced scheduling now.

That's why I advocate 12 team conferences that play round-robin without a separate conference championship game.

 

[77GTFan]

I like the 8 team concept. Seeds 1-5 would be the P5 champions - this year 1. Bama 2. Clemson 3. Washington 4. Penn State 5. Oklahoma
My at large teams would be seeded 6 and 7 and the non-P5 champion would be the 8 seed, unless their ranking was higher than either or both of the at-large teams. Ohio State at 6 and Michigan at 7 with Western Michigan at 8 this year. This would be a great tournament - Western Michigan at Alabama and Oklahoma at Penn State - winners to Chick-Fil-A Peach, Michigan at Clemson and Ohio State at Washington, winners to Fiesta.

That's why I advocate 12 team conferences that play round-robin without a separate conference championship game.

 

[Nixon_Corral]

That's why I advocate 12 team conferences that play round-robin without a separate conference championship game.

That leaves room for one OOC game. Which honestly is fine with me if we keep Georgia. 11 ACC games + UGA would be entertaining, for sure. But I don't see any way that happens anytime soon. Would require booting members from the ACC, SEC, etc. No clean way to do that.

 

[JOJATK]

Because it'll ding revenue from early-season games, especially out-of-conference games, which will now mean precisely squat to the season. College football is unique in that every single week matters. Go to 8 teams in a playoff, and I think that'll no longer be true. We could even see teams who clinch their divisions rest starters like in the NFL. That would be a bad thing for college football, IMO.

4 teams was a good way to get out of the BCS quagmire without going so far as to render the regular season inert. Being left out at #5 is a lot more palatable than being left out at #3. The only real problem with the 4-team format is that it needs a rule stipulating conference champions only.

Back when the playoff was first being discussed there was this huge fear that it would diminish the importance of individual games during the year. The rationale was also thrown out there that no longer would every single week matter. But I don't think that fear has come true. In fact I think the opposite has happened. Right now every single week matters for MORE teams later in the season. How important was the Michigan loss at Iowa? Or Penn State's loss to Pitt? Those were HUGE games. I feel like every week still mattered and the number of teams for whom it mattered expanded. For sure later in the season the number dwindled but going into the conference championships there were still 7 or 8 teams that thought they had a reason to think they might have a shot. That's instead of somewhere between 2 to 4 teams as we had before the playoff.

I don't think teams resting their starters would be a problem, either. I think few teams would do that unless they could afford the loss and rarely can a team afford it. Could it happen? Of course. But I don't think you'd ever see a team rest a bunch of starters.

I have no problem staying with 4 teams or moving to 8 teams. If we stay with 4 teams I don't know how you solve the problem of Ohio State sitting at home risking nothing while Clemson, 'Bama, and UW had to play a game. On the other hand I think OSU is one of the 4 best teams in the country. So I'm conflicted. I would like to see every conference either be forced to have a championship game or NO championship game. I will say that the one thing that makes me NOT want an 8 team playoff is because Emmert wants it. I can't stand agreeing with him in any way ;)