NCAA college football 2017-18: Official thread

I see Jayhawker and I have both created dueling GWJ Bowl Mania groups.

LET THE BEST MEANINGLESS GUESSING GAME GROUP CREATOR WIN.

(Also, my group password for "GWJ Bowl Mania" is "stan" because I UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSISTENT BRANDING.)

Um, the password too mine is "stan" because that's what it was the last year!

But more importantly, mine only allows one entry per user, because non one ever cares what your picks are if you hedge your bets.

But seriously, If we do two of these, one should be confidence. I thought about doing that way last year.

Jayhawker wrote:

But seriously, If we do two of these, one should be confidence. I thought about doing that way last year.

Well great, now there's a THIRD one hanging around.

Yeah I agree. I'll bang the drum again and say if you can't win your conference you don't deserve to be the national champion UNTIL there is a 16 team playoff where all conf champs get in and there can be some at will spots.

Nerds.

I forget who said it, probably an ESPN guy, but there should be absolutely no discussion of teams that 'deserve' to be in the playoffs. They were designed for the 'best' 4 teams to compete... not the 'most deserving' teams. Does anyone think Bama wouldn't destroy Wisconsin if they had beat OSU? Would anyone consider Alabama being in the championship if they had lost by 31 points to an unranked opponent?

I do not think we are strong as we have been in previous years, but in general I think most would agree this season has been lackluster for a lot of the teams out there.

I saw somewhere that even Gus had ranked Alabama above Auburn after he beat us. That has to sting a lot of Auburn fans... but a lot of people who watch a lot more football than me do think this is the right choice.

They were designed for the 'best' 4 teams to compete

The problem is the word "best" is so subjective in college football. Ranking before the season starts, in conference schedule, etc etc.

That's why at the very least a "Conference Champion" is a very real qualifying aspect that most teams have the opportunity to achieve and involves records and a game played and why it should be a gateway until the playoffs get enlarged.

Yep. Until there are 8 or more teams, conference champion should be a minimum requirement to be in the playoff.

Unbalanced schedules or divisions? No excuse. NCAA will allow conferences to have top 2 teams in, not restricted to divisions. Conferences are scared to make the change. Their own fault if the "best" team isn't in conference championship game.

4 bowl games are Pac-12 v. Big 10, including marquee matchups like USC-tOSU and UW-Penn State and none are in Pasadena on New Years day. Oklahoma and Georgia marching down Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena in the Rose Parade is the one of the most Trumpian things that could possibly happen. What a travesty.

The system was not designed to find the four best teams. It was designed to crown one true champion. That is made difficult in college football because of the great disparity in scheduling.

Failin to win a conference championship, let alone qualify for the CCG after a full season is pretty good indication there is at least one team better than you. That should end any national championship discussion.

I’m hoping, and kind of expect, for Clemson to absolutely destroy Alabama now. They don’t belong, and I hope that a rout of the Tide will clue the committee in to just how biased the polls are, and how susceptible they are to being influenced by them.

Jayhawker wrote:

I’m hoping, and kind of expect, for Clemson to absolutely destroy Alabama now. They don’t belong, and I hope that a rout of the Tide will clue the committee in to just how biased the polls are, and how susceptible they are to being influenced by them.

Not gonna lie, I kind of hope the Clemson gives Bama the 31-0SU treatment too. Thing is, I sincerely doubt it happens. Bama has essentially a bye by virtue of not playing a CCG, they have a month to prepare for Clemson (rather than the week they have had the last two years) and four weeks to get healthy. Add to that the fact that Saban has never lost by more than 14 at Bama and my brain tells me it will be a lot closer than most think.

Also, the last time Bama backed into the championship they won the whole thing.

I'm very well aware that I'm in the minority here, but I've felt ever since 1998 (the first year of the BCS) that the best system is no playoff whatsoever.

College football has always felt special to me because every single loss matters -- or at least, used to matter. If you wanted to be National Champion, you'd better win every single game -- or maybe have 1 loss, and pull for any remaining undefeated teams to lose to someone, too.

A split national title happens every once in a while (like with my own Michigan in 1997, the final pre-BCS year)? Okay.

The lack of playoffs is better than the BCS and current set-up.

I still prefer a system in which every team in the country has a path to the championship on day one, as long as they keep winning. They need at least all 10 champions to be actually fair. Then champions and six at-large makes the best tournament.

But yeah, it was better when we knew were pretending that the eventual champion was mythical than systems designed to anoint a true champion. But I still want to see the top teams in the country play off against each other at the end, because the severe lack of balanced schedules means we don't really know who would beat who.

WolverineJon wrote:

I'm very well aware that I'm in the minority here, but I've felt ever since 1998 (the first year of the BCS) that the best system is no playoff whatsoever.

You have my vote as well, as I'm sure you know the correct answer to "would you rather play in the Rose Bowl against P12(B10) or playoffs?".

Er except all the other Divisions have a fully fleshed out playoff so what's the big deal about having one really?

karmajay wrote:

Er except all the other Divisions have a fully fleshed out playoff so what's the big deal about having one really?

Blame everyone that has an antiquated view of the bowl system. It’s ruined the ability to have a meaningful champion, and there is an old guard that has trouble letting go.

karmajay wrote:

Er except all the other Divisions have a fully fleshed out playoff so what's the big deal about having one really?

Those other divisions don't play in the Rose Bowl. We can all switch to a 4-, 8-, 16-, 32- team playoff after Cal makes the Rose Bowl... I'll be dead shortly thereafter so my vote will matter even less than it does today.

Carlbear95 wrote:

You have my vote as well, as I'm sure you know the correct answer to "would you rather play in the Rose Bowl against P12(B10) or playoffs?"

Heck yes! Bring back the Rose Bowl as the ultimate prize. It was amazing when I got to go in 1997.

karmajay wrote:

Er except all the other Divisions have a fully fleshed out playoff so what's the big deal about having one really?

Scenario: Midway through the season, a top-rated, undefeated team from some other conference across the county is trailing and at risk of taking a fluky loss to a lesser team.

Then: "WOAH! This would change everything for the national title picture!"

Now: *shrug* "Ehh, they'll probably make the playoffs anyway."

The existence of the "then" scenario used to make watching marquee out-of-conference games much more interesting.

It's been an interesting search to say the least, but TN finally has an official hire. And it's not spider 2 Y banana.

From what I've seen, if you're going to hire a coordinator, he sounds like a good choice. I think the political mess behind this whole thing might have poisoned the pool of potential hires. Hopefully Pruitt can stabilize things so that TN can get back to winning consistently.

bighoppa wrote:

Bearkats won today and advance to the next round. Yay! A college team I like is doing well!

Watched part of that game at a Bearkat's house!

You'll be shocked to learn that he now follows the Longhorns more closely.

MannishBoy wrote:

It's been an interesting search to say the least, but TN finally has an official hire. And it's not spider 2 Y banana.

From what I've seen, if you're going to hire a coordinator, he sounds like a good choice. I think the political mess behind this whole thing might have poisoned the pool of potential hires. Hopefully Pruitt can stabilize things so that TN can get back to winning consistently.

I would say Venables is the top coordinator right now, but he's up there. Pretty good hire considering the mess.

So which is the official bowl mania list? The Mrs. would like to skunk everyone.

I guess no one posted WIllie Taggert to FSU as coach

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/spo...

karmajay wrote:

I guess no one posted WIllie Taggert to FSU as coach

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/spo...

I noticed that as well; I assumed our FSU contingent had exhausted their post allowance insulting Texas A&M.

Stele wrote:

Well Auburn. Thanks for knocking Alabama out of the playoffs.

LTTP but, about that...

Fedaykin98 wrote:
karmajay wrote:

I guess no one posted WIllie Taggert to FSU as coach

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/spo...

I noticed that as well; I assumed our FSU contingent had exhausted their post allowance insulting Texas A&M.

Play the victim much? I didn't see that many straight up insults, and I was very civil in my posts.

As far as Coach Willie, I am reservedly excited. I really like seeing someone who genuinely wants
to be the coach at FSU, but CFB history is replete with guys who truly loved their school but could not get the wins. I am certainly excited to see what he can bring to the table though.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
karmajay wrote:

I guess no one posted WIllie Taggert to FSU as coach

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/spo...

I noticed that as well; I assumed our FSU contingent had exhausted their post allowance insulting Texas A&M.

Hey now, if you REALLY want to one day become a big time program you have to take the dislike for your team in stride

karmajay wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:
karmajay wrote:

I guess no one posted WIllie Taggert to FSU as coach

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/spo...

I noticed that as well; I assumed our FSU contingent had exhausted their post allowance insulting Texas A&M.

Hey now, if you REALLY want to one day become a big time program you have to take the dislike for your team in stride ;)

Hey, in a lot of ways, we'd like to be more like FSU. National Championships, an accommodating local police department...

On the other hand, nobody aspires to be poor, and we haven't had a football coach stolen since Bear Bryant. At least he left for his alma mater, not some upstart cow college with nothing to recommend it.

Tweet from @MikeSilver, writer and analyst for NFL Network and die hard cal alum/fan.

Message to @CalFootball fans: If you liked Justin Wilcox before, you should LOVE him now. That is all. Keep the faith. #GoBears

Wilcox reportedly turned down an opportunity to interview for the Oregon HC position (he's former Duck). So while the rest of you find ways to complain about and fire your bowl-bound coaches, at Cal we get excited when the coach of our 5-7 (2 conference wins) team decides to stick around for another year.

#Perspective

I was just listening to The Solid Verbal's special Oregon coaching change podcast and they mentioned Wilcox as a possible candidate. Congrats on keeping him!