If we had an 8 team play-off last year...

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Without going into a lot of ranking and analysis and just as a subject for discussion (yes, I am an 8 team play-off advocate), what if there were an 8 team play-off last season and it included the following match-ups?

How might this have played out and would it have changed who won the National Championship?

1st Round
Clemson Vs. Wisconsin
Oklahoma Vs. UCF
Ohio State Vs. USC
Georgia Vs. Alabama

What would you see the 2nd Round match-ups as being and who would eventually wind up in the NCG?

[HogBreath]

Wouldn't it be seeded and Georgia and Bama wouldn't be a first round matchup.?

[870rzrback]

How might this have played out and would it have changed who won the National Championship?

1st Round
Clemson Vs. Wisconsin
Oklahoma Vs. UCF
Ohio State Vs. USC
Georgia Vs. Alabama

It wouldn't have played out.  UCF wouldn't have been there.  A team with 3 losses would have been in the playoffs in that spot if there were 8 teams.

[Sweet Feet]

You seeded it wrong. If it was an 8 team playoff that took the top 8 teams, it would be:

Clemson vs USC
Alabama vs Ohio St
Oklahoma vs Auburn
Georgia vs Wisconsin

If you are taking the 5 P5 champs, best G5, and 2 atlarges, it would be

Clemson vs UCF
Alabama vs Ohio St
Oklahoma vs USC
Georgia vs Wisconsin

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Wouldn't it be seeded and Georgia and Bama wouldn't be a first round matchup.?

It wouldn't have played out.  UCF wouldn't have been there.  A team with 3 losses would have been in the playoffs in that spot if there were 8 teams.

You seeded it wrong. If it was an 8 team playoff that took the top 8 teams, it would be:

Again, I wasn't going by the way the Play-off committee had teams ranked after CCG's last season. That's why I said, "what if there were an 8 team play-off last season and it included the following match-ups?"

How might that have played out and would that have changed who won the NC last season?

[jgphillips3]

Easy.  Alabama wins.  There's a 50/50 chance of that every year it seems.

[HogBreath]

You seeded it wrong. If it was an 8 team playoff that took the top 8 teams, it would be:

Clemson vs USC
Alabama vs Ohio St
Oklahoma vs Auburn
Georgia vs Wisconsin

If you are taking the 5 P5 champs, best G5, and 2 atlarges, it would be

Clemson vs UCF
Alabama vs Ohio St
Oklahoma vs USC
Georgia vs Wisconsin

Yeah, this looks like a much better set of games, and could have changed who the eventual national champ was.  We could have very well had UCF, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Georgia advancing. 

And what about Auburn, beating two of those squads, and losing to three of them?  They were kinda in the playoffs, pretty much all season.

[GoHogs1091]

Easy.  Alabama wins.  There's a 50/50 chance of that every year it seems.

Saban has his work cut out for him this season.

He lost 6 Secondary players, 4 due to expired eligibility, and 2 early departures to the NFL Draft.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/sports/college/story/2018/apr/14/alabamsecondary-remains-work-progress/468327/

[LRRandy]

Saban has his work cut out for him this season.

He lost 6 Secondary players, 4 due to expired eligibility, and 2 early departures to the NFL Draft.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/sports/college/story/2018/apr/14/alabamsecondary-remains-work-progress/468327/

yeah, I used to think like that. Got tired of continually having to eat my words. I'll believe it when I see a 3 loss Bama team. C'mon sec, give them some competition.

[GoHogs1091]

yeah, I used to think like that. Got tired of continually having to eat my words. I'll believe it when I see a 3 loss Bama team. C'mon sec, give them some competition.

Also, I am not convinced that Alabama will have an elite Defensive Line this season.  Their defensive recruiting seems to have taken a step backwards since they lost Kirby Smart.

They will have good Linebackers though.

To sum up, this is what their defense is looking like for this upcoming season.

Defensive Line   Not elite
Linebackers   Good
Secondary   Very inexperienced

That could get them beat against Auburn, and LSU will play them tough. 

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Also, I am not convinced that Alabama will have an elite Defensive Line this season.  Their defensive recruiting seems to have taken a step backwards since they lost Kirby Smart.

They will have good Linebackers though.

To sum up, this is what their defense is looking like for this upcoming season.

Defensive Line   Not elite
Linebackers   Good
Secondary   Very inexperienced

That could get them beat against Auburn, and LSU will play them tough. 

Heading into the 2016 season Alabama found themselves returning just 45% of their offensive production and 55.5% of their defensive production from 2015 and they proceeded to go 14-1 in 2016.

Heading into the 2017 season Alabama found themselves returning just 64% of their offensive production and 59% of their defensive production from 2016 and they proceeded to go 13-1 in 2017.

Heading into the 2018 season Alabama finds themselves returning just 62% of their offensive production and 53% of their defensive production from 2017.

I suspect that whatever their problems may be, that Saban (with boatloads of talent on the roster) will find an answer. Yeah, in what looks to be a "down year" for Alabama due to less returning production, they may actually lose 2, instead of 1.

[Cinco de Hogo]

Without going into a lot of ranking and analysis and just as a subject for discussion (yes, I am an 8 team play-off advocate), what if there were an 8 team play-off last season and it included the following match-ups?

How might this have played out and would it have changed who won the National Championship?

1st Round
Clemson Vs. Wisconsin
Oklahoma Vs. UCF
Ohio State Vs. USC
Georgia Vs. Alabama

What would you see the 2nd Round match-ups as being and who would eventually wind up in the NCG?

I'm an advocate of the eight team playoff also,

1st Round winners, Clemson, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Alabama

2nd round, Clemson vs Oklahoma, Clemson(defense)/Ohio State vs Alabama, Alabama(defense)

Championship game: Clemson vs Alabama, we already know the answer.

I think a longer series still just favors Alabama's depth so for them to lose it would have to be in the first game and against Georgia that is possible.  If I remember right Bama had some injury problems that cleared up in time for the playoffs, maybe that would have mattered in an earlier game against Georgia maybe not.

I also agree with others, in reality that wouldn't have been the exact teams in the playoffs...for one we didn't know UCF was going to beat Auburn and they probably wouldn't in regular season or a playoff with something on the line.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

I'm an advocate of the eight team playoff also,

1st Round winners, Clemson, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Alabama

2nd round, Clemson vs Oklahoma, Clemson(defense)/Ohio State vs Alabama, Alabama(defense)

Championship game: Clemson vs Alabama, we already know the answer.

I think a longer series still just favors Alabama's depth so for them to lose it would have to be in the first game and against Georgia that is possible.  If I remember right Bama had some injury problems that cleared up in time for the playoffs, maybe that would have mattered in an earlier game against Georgia maybe not.

I also agree with others, in reality that wouldn't have been the exact teams in the playoffs...for one we didn't know UCF was going to beat Auburn and they probably wouldn't in regular season or a playoff with something on the line.

It's all about match-ups and though I realize that UCF played an AAC schedule, I think that their inclusion and the resulting match-up of playing Oklahoma, might have been a very interesting game and with that "any given day" thingy, we might have seen an upset of Oklahoma with a UCF-Clemson match-up in the second round. Now I think that certainly would have been it for UCF if they made it that far, but I would have liked to have seen that first round match-up so we didn't have all of this silly talk of UCF claiming their own personal NC.

And keep in mind that in the OP I mentioned that I wasn't going by the play-off committee rankings, so that is why UCF was included and why the first round match-ups in my post didn't correlate with the polls. It was just for fun and discussion of a "what if" in the off season. A point that seems to have been lost on many.

[Cinco de Hogo]

It's all about match-ups and though I realize that UCF played an AAC schedule, I think that their inclusion and the resulting match-up of playing Oklahoma, might have been a very interesting game and with that "any given day" thingy, we might have seen an upset of Oklahoma with a UCF-Clemson match-up in the second round. Now I think that certainly would have been it for UCF if they made it that far, but I would have liked to have seen that first round match-up so we didn't have all of this silly talk of UCF claiming their own personal NC.

And keep in mind that in the OP I mentioned that I wasn't going by the play-off committee rankings, so that is why UCF was included and why the first round match-ups in my post didn't correlate with the polls. It was just for fun and discussion of a "what if" in the off season. A point that seems to have been lost on many.

I know and that's why I played the game.   Agree UCF/Oklahoma would have been interesting.

[Sed76]

8 team playoff would just mean Alabama could lose 2-3 games and still get in. 

[Cinco de Hogo]

8 team playoff would just mean Alabama could lose 2-3 games and still get in. 

Well you got to beat them to get in, or them lose 2-3 games while you only lose 1.  Then you can meet them again in the NCG.

[Sed76]

Well you got to beat them to get in, or them lose 2-3 games while you only lose 1.  Then you can meet them again in the NCG.

That's the thing. You would have to beat them twice more than likely. Would end up like LSU who won a late season game at Alabama and was rewarded with having to fave them again. The deck is stacked in their favor because of who they are.

[RT1941]

That's the thing. You would have to beat them twice more than likely. Would end up like LSU who won a late season game at Alabama and was rewarded with having to fave them again. The deck is stacked in their favor because of who they are.

Who they are and what Saban has made them.  He has made them a perennial championship contender ~ the Committee's "eye test" will favor them until they prove they aren't one of the top teams in the country. 

[MuskogeeHogFan]

8 team playoff would just mean Alabama could lose 2-3 games and still get in. 

Not really true. If you weighted cumulative wins more than anything else a 3 game loser would never get in. Now if you gave an automatic invitation to a Conference Champion, that certainly could be possible, but that is why I am against an automatic "in" simply because you are a conference champion. A team could certainly earn extra points for becoming a conference champion, but it would be no guarantee of a play-off berth. My scenario for last year would have had no one with less than 11 wins being involved in an 8 team play-off.

[Cinco de Hogo]

The BCS was better than the popularity contest we had before with each poll naming a champion.

The 4 team playoff is better than the BCS because it's another step away from subjectivity but I do feel that the best team in the country will be in that field of four 100% of the time.  So that takes BOTH popularity and subjectivity out of play.

The ONLY reason I favor an eight team playoff is because that favors Arkansas's chances of getting a spot at the table and what Razorback fans doesn't want that.  The best team may be Arkansas(undefeated) but if we are not, getting a spot in the 4-team is harder that getting a spot in the 8-team.

I guess in the end I do fear popularity and subjectivity!!! Still,

sub·jec·tiv·i·ty
ˌsəbˌjekˈtivədē/
noun
the quality of being based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.

pop·u·lar·i·ty
ˌpäpyəˈlerədē/Submit
noun
the state or condition of being liked, admired, or supported by many people

[Pig in the Pokey]

Without going into a lot of ranking and analysis and just as a subject for discussion (yes, I am an 8 team play-off advocate), what if there were an 8 team play-off last season and it included the following match-ups?

How might this have played out and would it have changed who won the National Championship?

1st Round
Clemson Vs. Wisconsin
Oklahoma Vs. UCF
Ohio State Vs. USC
Georgia Vs. Alabama

What would you see the 2nd Round match-ups as being and who would eventually wind up in the NCG?

UCF would have won

[Pork Twain]

Without going into a lot of ranking and analysis and just as a subject for discussion (yes, I am an 8 team play-off advocate), what if there were an 8 team play-off last season and it included the following match-ups?

How might this have played out and would it have changed who won the National Championship?

1st Round
Clemson Vs. Wisconsin
Oklahoma Vs. UCF
Ohio State Vs. USC
Georgia Vs. Alabama

What would you see the 2nd Round match-ups as being and who would eventually wind up in the NCG?

I have always believed that 8 would be the perfect number

[LZH]

Saban has his work cut out for him this season.

He lost 6 Secondary players, 4 due to expired eligibility, and 2 early departures to the NFL Draft.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/sports/college/story/2018/apr/14/alabamsecondary-remains-work-progress/468327/

He will replace them with better players.

[TNRazorbacker]

I like an 8 too. Would make the post season so much more interesting. Conference champions plus 3 at large bids decided by committee who would also seed bracket.

[HogBreath]

I like an 8 too. Would make the post season so much more interesting. Conference champions plus 3 at large bids decided by committee who would also seed bracket.

Yeah, eight teams does seem like an obvious choice.  No jiffy pop Long on that committee though.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

I like an 8 too. Would make the post season so much more interesting. Conference champions plus 3 at large bids decided by committee who would also seed bracket.

I think the whole thing should be based on a points system that awards all wins but more points for ranked wins, penalizes losses ( and more so if they are unranked losses) and penalizes playing FCS teams. Being conference champs is great, but what if you have two or even three regular season losses and you still manage to be a conference champion? Do you really deserve to play for the NC? Using the points system should put the best teams in the country in an 8 team play-off.