Official 2011-2012 NCAA Football Thread

[Rex Hudler]

Rex,

 

Im not saying that the loser gets a bid. Im saying that the loser should be able to be considered for a bid.

 

If dont get taken so be it, but I really dont see the problem with making there 3-5 more eligible teams.

 

I don't really see a problem with that either. It just wouldn't change anything in the situation this year whether MSU was eligible or not. Michigan would have still been chosen.

 

Here is a scenario I thought about before last Saturday's games. Let's say Houston won and gets an auto bid. Let's then say Oklahoma beats OK St in a squeaker in a well played game. Say OK State drops to 7 or 8 in the BCS standings. Let's assume Michigan made it in at 13 or 14. Oklahoma would have received the auto bid to the Fiesta.

 

Would the Sugar Bowl still have chosen Michigan over OK State? Probably so. But maybe not. I think I would have a harder time swallowing that and seeing OK St left out of the BCS bowls, than what happened.

 

There are just so many scenarios and they change each year to account for them all.

[Soxbadger]

I dont really care if MSU or Michigan got selected, I just think MSU deserved the chance to be screwed.

 

I assume that OSU would have gotten into the BCS, even if it meant no Stanford.

[Rex Hudler]

Rex,

 

Im not saying that the loser gets a bid. Im saying that the loser should be able to be considered for a bid.

 

If dont get taken so be it, but I really dont see the problem with making there 3-5 more eligible teams.

 

The other way of thinking is with a non-AQ auto bid (had Houston won, TCU made it to 16 or Boise won their conference despite a loss) and Stanford being in the top 4, there was really only one at large spot to take. As it turned out there were two. With only one or two spots, is 14 not deep enough? Under the current rule, Michigan, VA Tech Baylor, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Boise State were all eligible for those two spots. Is that not enough teams to choose from?

[Rex Hudler]

I dont really care if MSU or Michigan got selected, I just think MSU deserved the chance to be screwed.

 

I assume that OSU would have gotten into the BCS, even if it meant no Stanford.

 

Stanford was automatic being in the top 4, one of the other stipulations.

[Soxbadger]

Ah okay didnt think about Stanford being 4 (doesnt make sense when Oregon beat them pretty easily, but this is the year of teams who dont win championships being in the top 4).

 

Id guess Michigan is staying at home, but then again Big10 has always had 2 BCS teams.

[Rex Hudler]

Ah okay didnt think about Stanford being 4 (doesnt make sense when Oregon beat them pretty easily, but this is the year of teams who dont win championships being in the top 4).

 

Id guess Michigan is staying at home, but then again Big10 has always had 2 BCS teams.

 

I would have been fine going to the Capital One if no Sugar Bowl. Like I said in a previous post. Circumstances this year made the Sugar Bowl bid a gift for Michigan. I don't have a problem admitting that. I just understand the landscape in which we play in. Instead of many others who want to find things they don't like and b**** about them every year. I have ZERO doubt that a playoff system would create just as much b****ing. The way I look at it is, this is what makes college football great. People care!

[Soxbadger]

I agree there will always be complaints, and no one is forcing people to watch the games.

 

I just think some of the rules are silly.

[IlliniKrush]

On a different note,

 

AT&T Park would be an AWESOME place to watch an illini bowl game. Too bad no one in their right mind is going to drop that dough on airfare to watch a horribly disappointing team play another bad team.

Why the f*** didn't you tell me this before I booked the plane tickets for us? Please still drop that check in the mail.

 

Has there ever been a bowl game where the two teams have a combined losing record?

Plus two coach-less teams on top of it.

 

 

Whatever. Get a new system and you and everyone else will find something else to b**** about. The system we have now is better than anything that has ever existed. The most fairly perceived system isn't always the best. Ask ss2k about class basketball in Indiana.

There has to be a better way than this. A plus one at the very least. Just because it's an upgrade over an older system doesn't mean you shouldn't keep striving to perfect it, or even change it entirely if it's causing too many problems. I went from the biggest BCS supporter ever years ago (and seemingly the only one of my friends) to someone that's just said f*** it, we at least need a plus one.

[whitesoxfan101]

The playoff system would be easy: 11 conference champions and 5 wild card teams. Shorten the regular season to 10 or 11 games if you have to, and do that. Very similar to what 1-AA did before expanding their playoffs last season. The system would make such an incredible amount of money, and in that sense, I'm amazed it hasn't happened yet.

 

I can tell you this much, if NIU were getting ready to play at Alabama in the 1st round of the tournament right now, I'd be incredibly excited. Even with the knowledge that we had absolutely no shot at winning the game.

 

In the meantime though, I'll just hope for a plus 1. Baby steps.

Edited December 6, 2011 by whitesoxfan101

[danman31]

Rex,

 

Im not saying that the loser gets a bid. Im saying that the loser should be able to be considered for a bid.

 

If dont get taken so be it, but I really dont see the problem with making there 3-5 more eligible teams.

The loser can be considered, but will rarely get picked anyway. I'll give you a scenario that actually happened.

 

In '07, Mizzou was #1 heading into the Big 12 title game and lost to OU for the 2nd time that year. Kansas at 11-1, and without having played conference champ OU, closed the regular season by losing to Mizzou and was ranked lower (8 vs. 6 for Mizzou) than the 11-2 Tigers. Yet, Kansas got the Orange Bowl bid and their rep goes on air flat out saying they picked Kansas because they had fewer losses. The logic to that made my head explode at the time. The fan bases are about the same in football so that wasn't the issue. They simply didn't want to pick the team fresh off a loss (even if Kansas lost their last game too whatever). Plus, they figure all these Mizzou fans just bought tickets to the Big 12 title game (which was in San Antonio, hardly regional) and felt they were less likely to shell out for a bigger $$ game soon after.

 

Bottom line is title game losers take a big blow to their bowl prospects and no rule making them automatically eligible for the BCS isn't going to make a difference.

[illinilaw08]

Why the f*** didn't you tell me this before I booked the plane tickets for us? Please still drop that check in the mail.

 

 

Plus two coach-less teams on top of it.

 

 

 

There has to be a better way than this. A plus one at the very least. Just because it's an upgrade over an older system doesn't mean you shouldn't keep striving to perfect it, or even change it entirely if it's causing too many problems. I went from the biggest BCS supporter ever years ago (and seemingly the only one of my friends) to someone that's just said f*** it, we at least need a plus one.

 

Hey now, I was defending the system back in the day as well.

 

The problem with the BCS is that there is no flexibility written into it. In a perfect world, there would be two teams ideally matched for the National Championship game each year. This year, LSU is the only team who is clearly deserving.

 

A plus one creates just as many problems. This year, Stanford would have gotten in ahead of Oregon. Really? That wouldn't have made as many people furious (especially in light of the fact that Oregon would have been penalized for scheduling LSU in week 1)?

 

I agree with Whitesox101 that the best playoff solution is 16 teams, 11 conference champs, 5 at larges. Keep the bowl system in tact for teams that don't make the playoff. That is the least subjective system I can think of in addition to keeping in tact the integrity of the regular season. The only possible issue is conference championship losses impact on at large bids (see Michigan vs. Michigan State this year).

[cabiness42]

I may be thinking on the negative side today but I can see the Big Ten getting swept or only winning 1 bowl game.

 

Five Big Ten teams are higher-rated than their opponents in Sagarin: Michigan, MSU, Illinois, OSU, and Wisconsin. Though Michigan is the only one with an edge > 3 points.

[cabiness42]

Yeah but VT got handed a pretty bad BCS team too. I'd lean towards Michigan but I wouldnt be shocked to see VT win.

 

Michigan is much, much better than VT, and that is coming from somebody who went to Notre Dame AND Michigan State.

[cabiness42]

My Heisman vote would be 1)Luck 2)Griffin 3)Ball, but I would not argue with anybody who wanted to put those three in a different order. Any of the three would be a deserving winner.

[southsider2k5]

If they were the best two teams would that be a bad thing?

 

That is entirely subjective, which is the whole problem. Give me the tourney any day, even if they screwed it up with class ball.

[cabiness42]

That is entirely subjective, which is the whole problem. Give me the tourney any day, even if they screwed it up with class ball.

 

* Move the season up one week so that the last week of the season is Thanksgiving weekend.

 

* Keep the BCS standings.

 

* 12-team playoff, consisting of the 8 highest ranked conference champions and the 4 highest ranked non-champions.

 

* Teams are seeded 1-12 based on final BCS standings, except that the top 4 seeds, who receive byes, must be conference champions OR the highest ranked independent

 

* First round is played 2 weeks after Thanksgiving Saturday. Second round is played the following Saturday. Semifinals are played on January 1. Finals are played on the second Monday in January. First two rounds played at home stadiums. Last two rounds at pre-determined sites.

 

Based on this season, teams and seeds would have been:

 

1 LSU

2 Oklahoma State

3 Oregon

4 Wisconsin

 

5 Alabama

6 Stanford

7 Arkansas

8 Boise State

 

9 Clemson

10 TCU

11 Southern Miss

12 West Virginia

 

Round 1: West Virginia at Alabama, Southern Miss at Stanford, TCU at Arkansas, Clemson at Boise State

Round 2: WVU/Ala winner at Wisconsin, USM/Stan winner at Oregon, TCU/Ark winner at Oklahoma State, BSU/Clem winner at LSU

 

[RockRaines]

Michigan is much, much better than VT, and that is coming from somebody who went to Notre Dame AND Michigan State.

I fully expect them to demolish VT by 20+, and thats from a buckeye.

Edited December 6, 2011 by RockRaines

[Rowand44]

Whatever. Get a new system and you and everyone else will find something else to b**** about. The system we have now is better than anything that has ever existed. The most fairly perceived system isn't always the best. Ask ss2k about class basketball in Indiana.

Oh ya, because I b**** about every other playoff(keyword there) system that we have in sports. And who gives a s*** if it's the best system we've had, those sucked and this one f***in sucks. There is not a thing worse in sports than the BCS, it's f***in garbage.

 

And it pains me that I'm so indifferent about the NC in a sport that I love. I'm one of the biggest college sports fans around but this stupid system is completely ruining the game for me.

[Rowand44]

The playoff system would be easy: 11 conference champions and 5 wild card teams. Shorten the regular season to 10 or 11 games if you have to, and do that. Very similar to what 1-AA did before expanding their playoffs last season. The system would make such an incredible amount of money, and in that sense, I'm amazed it hasn't happened yet.

 

I can tell you this much, if NIU were getting ready to play at Alabama in the 1st round of the tournament right now, I'd be incredibly excited. Even with the knowledge that we had absolutely no shot at winning the game.

 

In the meantime though, I'll just hope for a plus 1. Baby steps.

Seriously, how f***in cool would this be?

[ZoomSlowik]

The playoff system would be easy: 11 conference champions and 5 wild card teams. Shorten the regular season to 10 or 11 games if you have to, and do that. Very similar to what 1-AA did before expanding their playoffs last season. The system would make such an incredible amount of money, and in that sense, I'm amazed it hasn't happened yet.

 

I can tell you this much, if NIU were getting ready to play at Alabama in the 1st round of the tournament right now, I'd be incredibly excited. Even with the knowledge that we had absolutely no shot at winning the game.

 

In the meantime though, I'll just hope for a plus 1. Baby steps.

 

11 conference champs would mean that you're taking the Sun Belt and WAC winners too, not just decent leagues like the Mountain West and MAC. Could you imagine the s***-storm that would result from an 8-4 Louisiana Tech team making the playoffs instead of a 10-2 South Carolina team just because they "won their conference"? It's already bad enough with teams like Clemson and West Virginia get in ahead of them, it just gets a lot worse when the kind of team that the big boys schedule as a gift win gets in before them.

[LittleHurt05]

The playoff system would be easy: 11 conference champions and 5 wild card teams. Shorten the regular season to 10 or 11 games if you have to, and do that. Very similar to what 1-AA did before expanding their playoffs last season. The system would make such an incredible amount of money, and in that sense, I'm amazed it hasn't happened yet.

 

I can tell you this much, if NIU were getting ready to play at Alabama in the 1st round of the tournament right now, I'd be incredibly excited. Even with the knowledge that we had absolutely no shot at winning the game.

 

In the meantime though, I'll just hope for a plus 1. Baby steps.

 

You and about 10 other people in the country.

[RockRaines]

Seriously, how f***in cool would this be?

It would be ok, you would have to tweak that model a bit. And like with any other tournament you wouldnt always have the best team in the country be crowned the champion simply because of matchups or a great run. It would be incredibly exciting however.

[bmags]

That "wasn't really the best team" that year has never bothered me. Even having a run in those types of scenarios is plenty to hang your hat on.

[CrimsonWeltall]

11 conference champs would mean that you're taking the Sun Belt and WAC winners too, not just decent leagues like the Mountain West and MAC. Could you imagine the s***-storm that would result from an 8-4 Louisiana Tech team making the playoffs instead of a 10-2 South Carolina team just because they "won their conference"? It's already bad enough with teams like Clemson and West Virginia get in ahead of them, it just gets a lot worse when the kind of team that the big boys schedule as a gift win gets in before them.

 

If the minor conference teams are just going to be counted out before the season starts, then they shouldn't be considered Division I to begin with.

[whitesoxfan99]

Rumors out there that Illinois may land Kevin Sumlin as its next head coach. If Thomas is able to hire Sumlin and somehow keep Koenning on the staff as DC I will be elated.