B1G's Delany, Pac's Scott will try to weasel teams in CFB Playoff

[hogsanity]

Yeah, my comment was based on the assumption that some kind of system like they currently use, computers, polls, would be used to select those 8 teams.

Well, thats great except most of the pans I have seen impose some sort of restrictions based on winning your conf or at least your div to be eligible.

[bigdaddyhawg]

Well, thats great except most of the pans I have seen impose some sort of restrictions based on winning your conf or at least your div to be eligible.

First, there is no plan in place now for the agreed upon four team playoff, and the eight team playoff is only a plan on blogs and such, so you're jumping the gun on that I'd say.

[GoBucks]

I believe the favored B1G position (at least according to the ADs) is for the top three ranked conference champs and then one "at-large" position to account for situations like last year, where Bama clearly belonged. 

Delaney is not well liked, that's for sure, but he is a shrewd strategist.  He knew the top four, conference champ only idea would not fly...but he throws it out there and now the idea of X number of conference champs + 1 at large spot (as opposed to four) is now gaining traction - that's an idea he would gladly take im sure.  Smart move, in my opinion. 

I personally see no problem with the 3 champs + 1 at large format.  How often is one conference going to have more than 2 teams in the top 4?  And how often are less than 3 conference champs going to be ranked very high?  I could see maybe inserting a rule that it is top 3-ranked conference champs unless the the lowest ranked of them is outside the top X, in which case there are 2 at large spots open.     

[HG]

I personally see no problem with the 3 champs + 1 at large format.  How often is one conference going to have more than 2 teams in the top 4?  And how often are less than 3 conference champs going to be ranked very high?  I could see maybe inserting a rule that it is top 3-ranked conference champs unless the the lowest ranked of them is outside the top X, in which case there are 2 at large spots open.   

Not very often, but it could have happened quite easily last year.  Since they played neither Bama nor LSU during the regular season, there was no reason why Georgia couldn't have gone undefeated until the SEC-CG, leaving three SEC teams with 1 loss or less and at least one big OOC win apiece going into the bowl season.

[NaturalStateReb]

I think that things are setting up on this playoff talk to put Notre Dame and the weakling Big East in a position to call a few shots with regard to Delaney's position.

You can bet Delaney will get the Pac12 to vote with him on this deal.  You can equally bet that Slive will be opposed, since it'll hurt the SEC the most, which is the point.  The ACC and the SEC have been pretty consistent partners, so it's reasonable to assume that Slive will be able to lobby Swofford to his side on this one.

So, it's 2-2.

The Big 12 thinks whatever Texas and Oklahoma think.  As long as they're in the same division, or if the Big 12 doesn't have divisions, there's still a chance that Texas or OU could have 1-loss seasons but not win the division/conference and end up out of the running with Delaney's plan.  That's going to get a no vote from Austin and Norman.  So, let's put the Big 12 down for a no vote.

3-2 against.

Two more votes might mean getting this thing over the hump--maybe, depending on how these decisions get made.  Notre Dame and the Big East, which were formerly in a very weak negotiating position could now find themselves with something to offer.  I can see them striking a favorable deal together with the B1G and Pac12 in order to extract concessions for themselves. 

That'll be especially true of Notre Dame, who I think is the secondary target of Delaney's strategy.  You can't be a divison champion of a conference that you don't belong to.  His plan, unaltered, would corner the Irish into joining a league.  Making a deal with the B1G and Pac12 could preserve Notre Dame's independence while keeping the SEC in the crosshairs.

[bigdaddyhawg]

I think that things are setting up on this playoff talk to put Notre Dame and the weakling Big East in a position to call a few shots with regard to Delaney's position.

You can bet Delaney will get the Pac12 to vote with him on this deal.  You can equally bet that Slive will be opposed, since it'll hurt the SEC the most, which is the point.  The ACC and the SEC have been pretty consistent partners, so it's reasonable to assume that Slive will be able to lobby Swofford to his side on this one.

So, it's 2-2.

The Big 12 is thinks whatever Texas and Oklahoma think.  As long as they're in the same division, or if the Big 12 doesn't have divisions, there's still a chance that Texas or OU could have 1-loss seasons but not win the division/conference and end up out of the running with Delaney's plan.  That's going to get a no vote from Austin and Norman.  So, let's put the Big 12 down for a no vote.

3-2 against.

Two more votes might mean getting this thing over the hump--maybe, depending on how these decisions get made.  Notre Dame and the Big East, which were formerly in a very weak negotiating position could now find themselves with something to offer.  I can see them striking a favorable deal together with the B1G and Pac12 in order to extract concessions for themselves. 

That'll be especially true of Notre Dame, who I think is the secondary target of Delaney's strategy.  You can't be a divison champion of a conference that you don't belong to.  His plan, unaltered, would corner the Irish into joining a league.  Making a deal with the B1G and Pac12 could preserve Notre Dame's independence while keeping the SEC in the crosshairs.

Pretty good post, IMO.

But there's also the influence that popular public opinion is going to have in the deal.

If Delaney and his side try to manipulate the system too aggressively for what are obviously their own self-serving motivations, as opposed to serving the game and the fans, then there might be a backlash that would settle them down or back them off.

And I think that's actually already happened to an extent.

The most recent national championship scenario is also working against Delaney's angle.  Bama was clearly the best team, and 95+% of folks saw the truth of that, and they likely will reject ANY plan that would have left them out of a playoff.

Good timing for us.

[HG]

The most recent national championship scenario is also working against Delaney's angle.  Bama was clearly the best team, and 95+% of folks saw the truth of that, and they likely will reject ANY plan that would have left them out of a playoff.

95+% saw the truth...and I would hypothesize that maybe 20% would be able to look past their jealousy of the SEC and admit it.

[bigdaddyhawg]

95+% saw the truth...and I would hypothesize that maybe 20% would be able to look past their jealousy of the SEC and admit it.

Maybe more than 20%, but good point.

[jbcarol]

http://www.mrsec.com/2012/05/with-acc-going-to-9-game-schedule-only-the-sec-plans-to-lag-behind

[jbcarol]

SEC commissioner Mike Slive has just about everything he wants in his conference, but he hasn't had the Rose Bowl. Sure, all those national championship trophies are nice, but an annual game like the Rose Bowl commands respect. The game that the Big Ten and Pac-12 covet so much, and is watched by millions annually, will now get a major run for its money. While they'll be played in different time slots, there's no question that this will turn into the ultimate popularity contest. If you could sense that Big Ten-SEC tension before, just wait. Now, the SEC will be looking down on the Big Ten and picking at the game it holds so dear. Don't think that didn't cross the commissioner's mind when he was thinking about this deal.

[jbcarol]

Most games against "ESPN Way Too Early Top 10"

Arkansas   3
Auburn      3
Bama        3
LSU          3
Missouri    3
Ole Miss    3
Tennessee 3

[jbcarol]

http://csnbbs.com/showthread.php?tid=568167&page=4

Concern among ACC fans.

[jbcarol]

Scarblog: Don't get caught up in Larry Scott's plus-one hysteria

If I'm going to form an opinion based on an utter­ance from a major college commissioner, it's not going to be the new kid on the block from the Pac-12.

It's going to be the smart­est man in the room any­time the BCS commission­ers are in the same building.

Mike Slive made a com­ment about the coming postseason format just a week ago, and unlike Scott in his latest interview with the Wall Street Journal, the SEC commissioner and unofficial ruler of the col­lege football universe didn't breathe life into the plus­-one concept.

On the contrary. Slive did mention a specific post-BCS postseason plan. It wasn't the plus-one, the backward notion of playing the bowl games and then choosing two teams to play in a national championship game.

It was a four-team playoff.

Did you notice the words "new four-team model" in that statement? Did you notice that they were used as a statement and not as a suggestion? There's virtually no wiggle room there.

Scott's Wall Street Journal interview was all possibility and suggestion.

"I'd say before (last) Friday that idea of a plus-one didn't have much traction, but I think the announcement on Friday's a game-changer," Scott said.

[jbcarol]

Notre Dame AD confident conference champ playoff model will include Irish

"I remain confident about every team that makes the top four by whatever method of selection having access to that playoff format," Swarbrick said. "I feel good about that."

Swarbrick said Notre Dame has "great confidence" in the Big East and "there is not any reason not to be optimistic" about the Big East's future.

Swarbrick said he thought "a little more was made out of that than warranted" but added he frequently talks to DeLoss Dodds and other fellow athletic directors.

[jbcarol]

Feldman on last week's announcement of SEC/B12 bowl game,'I felt like there was a big over reaction to it.'

[jbcarol]

Feldman lists three SEC schools among toughest 10 football schedules for 2012

6. Ole Miss: ...Week Three visit from Texas... they have four road games at Alabama; Arkansas, Georgia and LSU, probably the four most talented teams in the country's toughest league. Throw in games against Texas A&M, Auburn and Miss. State and it makes you think it's going to be another dismal fall for the Rebels.

[jbcarol]

At SEC meetings, Slive reiterates his support of a four-team playoff featuring the best teams regardless of conference champion.

[bigdaddyhawg]

At SEC meetings, Slive reiterates his support of a four-team playoff featuring the best teams regardless of conference champion.

I suspect if Slive wasn't comfortable it will end up this way, he and his new buddies the Big 12 would be out there in the media campaigning for their position.

And IMO they have the winning position, especially considering the timing in relation to the last NC game.  It would be easy to back the Big 10/Pac 12 down with an accusation they are trying to do nothing more than manipulate the playoff to their selfish advantage, irrelevant of who the best teams were.

[jbcarol]

Scott's mouthpiece: Meanwhile, the best SEC teams are playing eight league games and three non-conference cupcakes, if not four?

[jbcarol]

Scott's mouthpiece: Meanwhile, the best SEC teams are playing eight league games and three non-conference cupcakes, if not four?

The reader's comments to this are precious.

I sent a comment which was not a troll but a condensed version of the OP of this thread.  It basically also challenged readers to name one Pac-12 team that would not trade schedules with any SEC team. They would not allow it to be posted.

[jbcarol]

Mike Slive anticipates more emphasis on strength of schedule for deciding national playoff qualifiers

Brett McMurphy, CBS

[jbcarol]

Soon-to-be Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby (ex-Stanford AD):  "We need to encourage people to play games like LSU and Oregon played last year without the risk of taking themselves out of the national championship hunt."

Bowlsby said. "I think all of us agree that some component on strength of schedule is really important. The regular season is so special, but having said that, the early regular season is not as good as it needs to be. We need to encourage people to play games like LSU and Oregon played last year without the risk of taking themselves out of the national championship hunt.

"I think there will be a component of strength of schedule that will be a part of the playoff. I'm quite comfortable in saying that. How we land beyond that will be a topic of debate and discussion."

[bigdaddyhawg]

Soon-to-be Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby (ex-Stanford AD):  "We need to encourage people to play games like LSU and Oregon played last year without the risk of taking themselves out of the national championship hunt."

I know the guy's not stupid, but that is a stupid statement.

How can you play intersectional games and NOT risk the implications of a loss?

In fact, they should have MORE implication, just as Oregon's loss to LSU did this year vs. Bama's loss.

They are going at it from the wrong angle.  If they want a lot of intersectional games, then force it on schools.  CFB could do what CBB does with conference vs. conference, Big East vs. SEC, ACC vs. Big Ten, etc..

Schools are going to schedule for their best interests.  The only way some other interest is going to be served is to remove the option for one of those non-conference games, and put in the hands of somebody else.

I understand that will not happen, and it's a suggestion that is kind of out there, but it makes more sense to what he's saying.

[jbcarol]

B1G open to compromise, favors committee

Unlike the SEC, the Big Ten likely won't emerge from its presidents' meeting drawing lines and making bold, rigid statements about a college football playoff.

Big Ten isn't completely wedded to the "three-and-one" concept.

This much is known: the Big Ten strongly favors a selection committee to determine the playoff participants. Eliminate bogus polls. Eliminate most if not all the computer rankings. Assemble a group of senior officials with strong representation throughout college football who meet and decide the four teams.

Bottom line: the human element should be paramount.

The league wants the committee to enter its deliberations with some instructions, much like a jury has during a trial. The Big Ten wants the committee to value league championships, head-to-head results and strength of schedule, much like the NCAA men's basketball tournament selection committee does. The committee wouldn't write off non-champions or non-division winners, but those shortcomings would impact a team's résumé or potential tiebreakers between two teams.

[bigdaddyhawg]

B1G open to compromise, favors committee

Unlike the SEC, the Big Ten likely won't emerge from its presidents' meeting drawing lines and making bold, rigid statements about a college football playoff.

Just reading this crapola makes me sick to my stomach.

This is just another way for them to manipulate the system, for this committee to meet in smoke filled rooms, selling playoff bids like whoares on Bourbon Street, each bought/compromised committee member screaming for their personal favorite.

Sickening.

At least the current method has some transparency to it.  The committee approach would have zero, zip, nada.

[jbcarol]

Just reading this crapola makes me sick to my stomach.

This is just another way for them to manipulate the system, for this committee to meet in smoke filled rooms, selling playoff bids like whoares on Bourbon Street, each bought/compromised committee member screaming for their personal favorite.

Sickening.

At least the current method has some transparency to it.  The committee approach would have zero, zip, nada.

You can see how this is going to go.

[jbcarol]

MrSEC outlines the football scheduling formats for ACC, B1G, Pac-12, Big 12, and SEC.

From an ACC perspective, a partnership with the SEC could bring in extra advertising revenue through an umbrella sponsorship and it might also help solidify the league as a major player moving forward, thus fending off possible school departures or even the total collapse of the conference.

[bigdaddyhawg]

You can see how this is going to go.

You gotta hope Slive and the media will exert enough pressure to get this crap killed at birth.

If it doesn't, CFB is going to go through another 3-4 years or so of continued injustice without a proper playoff system, before the public outcry will again overwhelm the fat white guys, and an 8 team playoff will be put in place.

I'm just about convinced this group of clowns couldn't get it right if they had the plan tattooed on their forehead.

[jbcarol]

You would find few folks more opposed to a four-team playoff system in college football than Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini.

"I think they should go back to the old system, but that will never happen," Pelini said.

In the "old system," teams played in bowl games, then the polls (media, coaches) decided national champions.

Pelini is "OK" with the current system...

[jbcarol]

Big Ten administrators would prefer a plus-one system over a four-team playoff to determine a national champion if the BCS can't be maintained in its current form.

"The Rose Bowl, I think, is one of the outstanding sports events, sports properties, sports brands in the world," he said.

"I don't think that's an overstatement."

Delany also said there would still be "reasonable access" to championship opportunities for the Big Ten in a plus-one format even if the odds would seem to be better with a playoff.

"When you're working with groups of people, sometimes, you can't have your cake and eat it, too," Delany said.

[Albert Einswine]

Big Ten administrators would prefer a plus-one system over a four-team playoff to determine a national champion if the BCS can't be maintained in its current form.

Is there a consensus, other than in the Big 10/Pac 12, that the Rose Bowl is so freaking great to everyone outside those conferences?

I've never considered the Rose Bowl to be any more prestigious than the Sugar or Orange Bowls and before the demise of the SWC, the Cotton Bowl.  Notwithstanding all the noise about it being the "Grandaddy of them all", it was no more important than the rest of the big 4 in any given year.

[jbcarol]

MrSEC: The landscape isn't quaking as much today as it has been for the past month, but don't think there aren't a quite few nasty aftershocks still to come.

[jbcarol]

Strange: SEC stumbled when it balked at adding a ninth conference game to the football schedule last week at the spring meetings.

Nothing wrong with an occasional frolic with the Sun Belt or Conference USA. You can't play Notre Dame ever (sic) week. [Actually when the SEC-West enters the conference schedule, it would be better said, "you don't get to play Notre Dame every week."]

[jbcarol]

The more Delany waffles as pivotal BCS meetings approach later this month, the better the chances that Slive and the SEC will get what they want.

[bigdaddyhawg]

The more Delany waffles as pivotal BCS meetings approach later this month, the better the chances that Slive and the SEC will get what they want.

That's a pretty good take on things.  Or at least I hope it is!

[jbcarol]

Larry Scott has stated he wants only division champs eligible for the CFB "Final Four". For example '11 Bama (12-1) would not be eligible in his plan. '11 UCLA (6-8) would be.

[jbcarol]

Beneath the stodgy posturing, Big Ten advocating for BCS change -- and it could lead to a selection committee

Nebraska chancellor Perlman ensured that the rest of the country will continue to view the conference of Legends and Leaders as a stodgy, out-of-touch band of cigar-smoking reactionaries.

This is an embarrassing development for Big Ten fans, the great majority of whom embrace change and couldn't view the college football world more differently than their leagues' overlords.

[jbcarol]

Meanwhile, former coaches are putting their names in consideration to be part of that selection committee...

Bobby Bowden, RC Slocum, John Cooper, Phil Fulmer, et al.

[bigdaddyhawg]

Meanwhile, former coaches are putting their names in consideration to be part of that selection committee...

Bobby Bowden, RC Slocum, John Cooper, Phil Fulmer, et al.

I'd be great with a committee made up of very knowledgeable football people, IF IF IF IF I knew they were be as subjective as they possibly could be, wouldn't be pushing an agenda or a conference, AND they had watched a LOT of football during the year.

The problem is, can you depend on any of that being the case.  Are Bowden and Fulmer going to watch 30 football games every single weekend?

That's a job in itself.

[jbcarol]

Back in 2008, when the Big 10 and then Pac 10 opposed the 4-team playoff they figured the SEC seasons would be more typical of 2007 than what has been experienced in the subsequent seasons.

LSU went 10-2 in the regular season and needed other teams to lose on the last weekend(s) to get the BCS-CG slot. LSU lost to UK at Lexington in triple overtime and to Arkansas at Baton Rouge in triple overtime. They slid by Tennessee with a one TD victory in the SEC-CG and then whooped Ohio State 38-24 in the BCS-NC at the Superdome.

The Rose Bowl combatants figured the SEC's top teams would beat each other up each season and not get to early December with one or fewer losses.  They could not foresee Florida in '08, Bama in '09 and '11 nor Auburn in '10. They began to whine for the SEC to also play road games in the B1G (like Bama in '11 over Penn State) or the Pac-12 (like LSU in '11 in Arlington v. Oregon). LSU really did the heavy lifting in '11 defeating Oregon and West Virginia in Morgantown as well as UGa in the SEC-CG. This elevated Bama's close loss and helped show they truly belonged in the BCS-CG. They showed it moreso by their performance on the field.

[jbcarol]

Rube from Iowa takes shots at SEC's stance on wanting best four teams in the playoff and Chik-fil-A

Also, congrats, SEC fans: In your reflexive need to react against carpetbagger Yankees with torches and pitchforks, you just inadvertently stuck up for the BCS and placed Jim Delany -- JIM DELANY, PEOPLE -- on the side of Dan Wetzel and the other BCS antagonists. He might be the defender of the Rose Bowl, but you have become the defenders of a status quo that everyone uniformly hates.

[bigdaddyhawg]

Rube from Iowa takes shots at SEC's stance on wanting best four teams in the playoff and Chik-fil-A

It's hard to take anyone seriously when they start talking about how much they don't like Chik-fil-A

[jbcarol]

KC Star: A bracket suggests a system of equal access and fairness, and that's not what regular-season college football is about.
Not when teams get to directly choose one-quarter to one-third of its opponents.

NFL playoff results are accepted because of the belief in fairness of the regular season. Based on many factors, including scheduling, the perception is every team had an equal shot of reaching the postseason.

That simply won't be the case in a college football playoff...

[jbcarol]

Barry Switzer: You say they want to avoid the LSU-Alabama situation, but I'm gonna tell you: Alabama deserved to be the national champion. When they played again, Alabama proved it. A lot of times, a team with one loss is better than some undefeated teams. I think what Bobby Bowden was talking about is as good as anything, bringing in a group of experts to do it. I think you need people that have coached the game, have spent 30 or 40 years in the game, and know the game to be a part of it.

It's a difficult formula to work out, but we ought to look at every available opportunity to bring about the best format. Obviously, that's a difficult one to figure out right now. You brought something to light I hadn't even thought about: avoiding rematches. I don't even know how you keep from doing that -- because sometimes the best team doesn't always win.

I've been in rematches. I fumbled nine times and lost six as an undefeated against Nebraska that day in 1978. I had the best team in the country, No. 1, undefeated, leading in every category offensively and defensively. I get a rematch against Nebraska, I don't lose a fumble, I got 'em 31-10 in the fourth quarter. I should have done that the day I played them in the regular season, and I would have won a national championship. I don't get to do that, but we did get to play them again and prove we were the better football team.

You gotta make it happen the day you play. That's why a playoff allows a team that may have missed something a chance to come back and win a national championship. Alabama did that, and that's why they were the best team in the country.

[bigdaddyhawg]

KC Star: A bracket suggests a system of equal access and fairness, and that's not what regular-season college football is about.
Not when teams get to directly choose one-quarter to one-third of its opponents.

I am constantly amazed these clowns have jobs that pay them money to write the crap they write.

Just because the regular season is not "fair and balanced" (neither is the NFL, btw) does not mean the post-season and NC should also be unfair and illogical, too.

[jbcarol]

Wojo: The answer, the only answer, is a BCS selection committee. A playoff selection committee, constructed along the same, successful lines as the NCAA men's basketball selection committee, solves so many of the BCS' credibility problems. It doesn't have to depend on the silliness of the polls. It doesn't have to be held hostage by the incomprehensible computer programs.

Each year the NCAA invites a handful or two of sports writers to its Indianapolis headquarters and conducts a mock basketball selection process. It's educational. It's transparent.

The BCS standings formula is as transparent as beef stew. A selection committee would create order, logic and, at last, accountability.

[jbcarol]

Low: As much as I respect some of the former coaches who've thrown their hats into the ring, I can see it now:

Bobby Bowden is sitting there and trying to decide between Florida and Florida State, or maybe even South Carolina, where his old pal, Steve Spurrier, is now coaching. Of course, given the way Bowden was unceremoniously pushed out at Florida State after dedicating his life to that university, who knows what might be going through his mind come selection time?

Think the Alabama fans would be giddy about Phillip Fulmer holding the Crimson Tide's playoff fate in his hands? Back in the day, Fulmer did a little investigative work that didn't exactly endear him to Tide Nation.

And hasn't John Cooper already gone on record as saying that some of the teams in the SEC, namely Alabama, Auburn and LSU, are essentially cheating their way to national championships and should be investigated by the NCAA? I'm sure Cooper's 2-14 record against SEC teams during his career at Ohio State had nothing to do with his using such a broad brush to paint the SEC as a pack of cheaters.

Plus, the last time I checked, it's the Buckeyes who won't be going to a bowl game in 2012 thanks to NCAA sanctions.

[jbcarol]

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith remembers watching multiple NCAA basketball games on his iPad in his car last year while his wife, Sheila, was driving. He watched games at home with her, on the road with her, and he remains grateful she is a former basketball player and loves the sport, too. The hours of basketball Smith had to watch while chairing the NCAA selection committee last year were immeasurable.

"No one truly understands it," he said.

It's a thankless task that BCS officials are considering for a college football playoff.

[bigdaddyhawg]

It doesn't have to be held hostage by the incomprehensible computer programs.

Each year the NCAA invites a handful or two of sports writers to its Indianapolis headquarters and conducts a mock basketball selection process. It's educational. It's transparent.

These two thoughts are absolutely hilarious.

First, the computer programs are as transparent as anything going.  Each of those guys publishes exactly what goes into their programs.

The fact that Wojo can't grasp those concepts doesn't make his point more valid, it detracts from it.

And, secondly, he calls the NCAA basketball committee's selections transparent?

What has he been smoking?  Every single year there are a half a dozen schools where no one in the world can figure out how they got included, or how they got left out.  And when asked about those schools, the chair of the selection committee always stays vague and rarely is willing to address specific situations.

[jbcarol]

Low: Selection committee not ideal for SEC

Polls and computer rankings were typically going to favor the SEC when everything else was close. The coaches and players on that 2004 Auburn team might not agree. But, again, we're talking about four spots now and not just two.

We still don't know who's going to be on the committee, how many people are going to be on the committee and how much weight the committee will give to certain factors.

For instance, will winning your conference championship trump making it through a killer schedule and posting key victories away from home along the way?

Every year, the teams are going to be dissected, and from the sound of it, the committee will place a large degree of importance on winning your conference title.

More than ever, SEC teams will need to have an impressive nonconference win on their resumes. Winning away from home will be important, too.

Those of us who've been around this league for years swear by how grueling the grind is of making it through eight SEC contests. Will the commissioner from the Mountain West Conference properly respect that grind when he's serving his term on the committee and making his selections? Likewise, will the athletic director from Pittsburgh take that grind into account when he's pondering his selections?