CougarCorner
Sign in
Archived Topic

Playoff developments

by Yndian · 4/25/2012

Advertisement
Y
Yndian
I like this idea, reported by Mark Schlabach


If Football Bowl Subdivision conference commissioners and the sport's other power brokers approve a four-team playoff to determine college football's national champion, the semifinals and the national championship game will be played at neutral sites and the BCS bowl games will be played closer to New Year's Day, a source familiar with the negotiations told ESPN.com on Tuesday.


It's seeming like at least a four-team playoff is becoming more inevitable, if not this go round, then the next.
E
EM_Puma
What I didn't like as I heard about this meeting is that BYU has absolutely no representation. At least ND, as a fellow independent, was invited. We have no one looking out for BYU. No one else will.
Y
YNot
EM_Puma wrote:
What I didn't like as I heard about this meeting is that BYU has absolutely no representation. At least ND, as a fellow independent, was invited. We have no one looking out for BYU. No one else will.


Unfortunately, that is a pretty staunch reality check for us BYU fans. Although BYU has a decent fan base that stretches throughout the country, we don't yet really move the needle when it comes to the power brokers.



According to a 2011 survey (see http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/19/the-geography-of-college-football-fans-and-realignment-chaos/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), BYU has the 43rd largest fan base in the nation, with an estimated 700,000 or so supporters. Notre Dame came in at #4, with approximately 2.2 million. The Big Ten boasts the top three programs: Ohio State with 3.1 million; Michigan with 2.9 million, and Penn St. with 2.6 million.



Compared to Big Ten and SEC programs, BYU falls well short (behind Minnesota, 9th place in the Big Ten, and Kentucky, #9 in the SEC). BYU is on par or just behind the average ACC and Big XII fan bases, but no where near the likes of Texas (2.2 million), Clemson (1.7 million), or Georgia Tech (1.6 million). BYU would be in the top 4 in the PAC 12 and in the top tier of (current) Big East teams. BYU dwarfs every team from the non-BCS conferences, with the closest contenders Boise St. and Central Florida more than 30% behind.



For some encouragement and interesting analysis, check out the interactive map at the following link to find and analyze some cool information on college football fan base estimates (based on informal polling statistics):



http://www.commoncensus.org/sports_hotspot.php?radioDiameter=100&map.x=68&map.y=201&sport=5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Some of the fun details I found show that BYU obviously leads in Utah and is a close second in Nevada (to UNLV). In the Northwest, Idaho, and Arizona, BYU is #3 (behind the respective in-state schools). Interestingly, in SoCal, BYU is #5, #8 in Denver, #9 in the Bay Area, and in the top 10 in most Texas markets.



Amazingly, you can find BYU fans in almost every corner of the country. For example, in Kansas, there are as many BYU fans as Oklahoma fans. In parts of Alabama, there are as many BYU supporters as Florida fans.
C
CrimsonCoug
The good news is that there will no longer be AQ/non-AQ. The bad news is that they'll use some other mechanism to divvy out the BC$ money, and BYU has a very real chance of having no representation at that discussion. I wonder, though, if that will make BSU (and SDSU) reconsider the move to the Big Least.
S
SpiffCoug
YNot wrote:
According to a 2011 survey (see http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/19/the-geography-of-college-football-fans-and-realignment-chaos/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), BYU has the 43rd largest fan base in the nation, with an estimated 700,000 or so supporters. Notre Dame came in at #4, with approximately 2.2 million. The Big Ten boasts the top three programs: Ohio State with 3.1 million; Michigan with 2.9 million, and Penn St. with 2.6 million.



Compared to Big Ten and SEC programs, BYU falls well short (behind Minnesota, 9th place in the Big Ten, and Kentucky, #9 in the SEC). BYU is on par or just behind the average ACC and Big XII fan bases, but no where near the likes of Texas (2.2 million), Clemson (1.7 million), or Georgia Tech (1.6 million). BYU would be in the top 4 in the PAC 12 and in the top tier of (current) Big East teams. BYU dwarfs every team from the non-BCS conferences, with the closest contenders Boise St. and Central Florida more than 30%

behind.

They're using bad data in their calculations, they are using a map from The Common Consensus. This source cannot be believed or used to validate any point. From the map itself: "This map is highly inaccurate".



Any further extrapolation using a data set that is "highly inaccurate" is asking for even more trouble.
Advertisement
S
SpiffCoug
But it's unreliable fanbase info. The Common Consesus even says it's data is "highly inaccurate." It's a poor basis for any opinion.
J
jvquarterback
I was actually hoping the AQ conferences would continue. If there were 5 or 6 of them there would have been a huge push toward an 8-team playoff. With conference championships there would have be a de facto 16 team playoff. Oh well.



As it is the conference championships will hopefully com to be viewed as quarterfinals. I still think there should be a play-in game on conference championship weekend in Hawaii with #4 and #5 playing that weekend.
S
scott715
I think the top conferences are trying to arrange it so that they keep all of the money to themselves. Keep the BSUs out of the games.
S
SpiffCoug
scott715 wrote:
I think the top conferences are trying to arrange it so that they keep all of the money to themselves. Keep the BSUs out of the games.

And they're even going to find ways to keep other "big" conferences out of it as well. I wouldn't be surprised if the "new BCS" is just the B1G, PAC12, SEC & BigXII squeezing out the ACC and Big East.
Advertisement
C
CAFB_04-12
The only reason BYU (or ND) would need representation in negotiations is if conferences have some sort of sway with who gets to go to the games. If the BCS simply says #1 plays #4, #2 plays #3 and the winners of those two games play each other then nothing matters besides being #1, 2, 3, or 4.



Now, if they decide that only 4 conference champs get to play (regardless of rank) then there would be a problem for everyone.
C
Cougarfan87
CAFB_04-12 wrote:
The only reason BYU (or ND) would need representation in negotiations is if conferences have some sort of sway with who gets to go to the games. If the BCS simply says #1 plays #4, #2 plays #3 and the winners of those two games play each other then nothing matters besides being #1, 2, 3, or 4.



Now, if they decide that only 4 conference champs get to play (regardless of rank) then there would be a problem for everyone.


I think the SEC would veto that. Since last year they claimed two have the two best teams in the same Division, I doubt they would sign up for anything other then playoffs based on rank--and rightly so. Conference champs don't require a high ranking, especially in a season where parody rears its head in a conference and everyone has multiple losses.
M
Mars
Cougarfan87 wrote:
I think the SEC would veto that. Since last year they claimed two have the two best teams in the same Division, I doubt they would sign up for anything other then playoffs based on rank--and rightly so. Conference champs don't require a high ranking, especially in a season where parody rears its head in a conference and everyone has multiple losses.

*Parity.
B
byucougar1
I have a problem with the four team play off. Selected teams will most always originate from B12, SEC, B10 and PAC10. It is a very narrow field to select from and leaves out any opportunity for teams like TCU, BSU, etc. to have a legitimate opportunity to play for NCG.



IMO it should be opened up to top 8 teams. Look at last year's final rankings and convince me that there couldn't have been some upsets within the pool of 8 that might have challenged for the two top teams in the final.



1 Alabama 12-1

2 LSU 13-1

3 Oklahoma State 12-1

4 Oregon 12-2

5 Arkansas 11-2

6 USC 10-2

7 Stanford 11-2

8 Boise State 12-1



Allowing 8 teams to participate would also provide a better chance for BYU to enter into the fray - with four it would be very unlikely that they would ever get a chance.
C
Cougarfan87
Mars wrote:
I think the SEC would veto that. Since last year they claimed two have the two best teams in the same Division, I doubt they would sign up for anything other then playoffs based on rank--and rightly so. Conference champs don't require a high ranking, especially in a season where parody rears its head in a conference and everyone has multiple losses.

*Parity.


Oops. :blush: I mean, no. What I meant to say was that in seasons where teams were making fun of each other through parody due to their multiple losses...Oh, I give up.
Advertisement
C
Cougarfan87
byucougar1 wrote:
I have a problem with the four team play off. Selected teams will most always originate from B12, SEC, B10 and PAC10. It is a very narrow field to select from and leaves out any opportunity for teams like TCU, BSU, etc. to have a legitimate opportunity to play for NCG.



IMO it should be opened up to top 8 teams. Look at last year's final rankings and convince me that there couldn't have been some upsets within the pool of 8 that might have challenged for the two top teams in the final.



1 Alabama 12-1

2 LSU 13-1

3 Oklahoma State 12-1

4 Oregon 12-2

5 Arkansas 11-2

6 USC 10-2

7 Stanford 11-2

8 Boise State 12-1



Allowing 8 teams to participate would also provide a better chance for BYU to enter into the fray - with four it would be very unlikely that they would ever get a chance.


Like the NCAA basketball tournament has grown, I imagine it will start at 4 and eventually grow to 8 when some of the power conferences realize that four is not quite good enough to include their best teams year in and year out. Really, that is only one more game and heaven knows there will be plenty of controversy about who team four is--especially if there is more than one SEC team in the top four like last year.
M
Mars


I love how we've gone from discussing PLAYOFF developments to PLAYER development in the course of a couple days... #MattReynolds
Y
YNot
byucougar1 wrote:
I have a problem with the four team play off. Selected teams will most always originate from B12, SEC, B10 and PAC10. It is a very narrow field to select from and leaves out any opportunity for teams like TCU, BSU, etc. to have a legitimate opportunity to play for NCG.



IMO it should be opened up to top 8 teams. Look at last year's final rankings and convince me that there couldn't have been some upsets within the pool of 8 that might have challenged for the two top teams in the final.



1 Alabama 12-1

2 LSU 13-1

3 Oklahoma State 12-1

4 Oregon 12-2

5 Arkansas 11-2

6 USC 10-2

7 Stanford 11-2

8 Boise State 12-1



Allowing 8 teams to participate would also provide a better chance for BYU to enter into the fray - with four it would be very unlikely that they would ever get a chance.


A 6-8 team playoff would be better, as long as there are STRICT limitations on the number of teams from a particular conference and strong preferential treatment for conference champions. This helps to ensure, and would actually enhance, the quality and importance of the regular season.



But the new 4-team playoff system is a great step in the right direction. Even if it remains at 4 teams, it is decent post-season format. If you were to use the final BCS rankings for a 4-team playoff in recent years, TCU was #3 in 2010 and #4 in 2009 and would have been included in the Playoff in consecutive years. Cincinnati was #3 in 2009 and would have been included. That would have provided significant opportunity for the "little guys" to compete on the big stage.



Boise State was 13-0 and #6 in 2009, so they would have been left out, with a legitimate complaint. But, there were 4 other undefeated teams in 2009. (TCU, Cincinnati, Texas, and Alabama) At least 3 undefeated teams wouldn't have been left out.
This is an archived topic from the original CougarCorner forum. New replies are not accepted.