2024-25 CFP Quarterfinals Discussion

[Huckleberry 34739]

(using Covers.com BetMGM info for spreads and totals)

Quarterfinal One - Fiesta Bowl

6 seed (#4 ranking) Penn St. (12-2, Big Ten) vs. 3 seed (#9) Boise St. (12-1, Mountain West)
Opening Line: Penn St. -9.5/52.0
Current Line: Penn St. -10.5/52.5
My Ratings: Penn St. -13/56.5

Quarterfinal Two - Peach Bowl

5 seed (#3) Texas (12-2, SEC) vs. 4 seed (#12) Arizona St. (11-2, Big 12)
Opening Line: Texas -13.5/52.0
Current Line: Texas -13.5/52.5
My Ratings: Texas -13/48.0

Quarterfinal Three - Rose Bowl

8 seed (#6) Ohio St. (11-2, Big Ten) vs. 1 seed (#1) Oregon (13-0, Big Ten)
Opening Line: Ohio St. -1/53.0
Current Line: Ohio St. -2.5/53.5
My Ratings: Ohio St. -6/53.0

Quarterfinal Four - Sugar Bowl

6 seed (#5) Notre Dame (12-1, Independent) vs. 2 seed (#2) Georgia (11-2, SEC)
Opening Line: Georgia -1.5/44.0
Current Line: Georgia -1.5/44.5
My Ratings: Notre Dame -5/57.5

Current National Championship Odds:

Texas +300
Ohio St. +375
Oregon +400
Penn St. +500
Georgia +550
Notre Dame +600
Arizona St. +6000
Boise St. +6000

My NC Odds (no vig):

Ohio St.:  +310
Texas:  +330
Notre Dame:  +375
Penn St.:  +700
Georgia:  +950
Oregon:  +1200
Arizona St.:  +6500
Boise St.:  +31000

Edited Sunday at 05:37 PM by Huckleberry

[satyanash 15656]

(Ralph D. Russo) College Football Playoff quarterfinals first look: Oregon-Ohio State has national title vibes

Quote

The second round of the first 12-team College Football Playoff will be a combination of turn-back-the-clock traditional bowl games and odd matchups in strange sites. Hopefully, the games will be more competitive after the first round produced four home team victories by a combined 77 points.

No. 3 Boise State vs. No. 6 Penn State

The Nittany Lions and Broncos have never played, but they both have history in Arizona. A case could be made that each program’s greatest victory occurred at the Fiesta Bowl. For Boise State, it was on Jan. 1, 2007, when Chris Petersen’s trickster Broncos pulled out all the stops to beat Adrian Peterson and Oklahoma 43-42 in overtime. A Statue of Liberty 2-point conversion ended it and Boise State star Ian Johnson proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend on the field after the game in one of the most memorable bowl games ever played.

The Fiesta Bowl was played in Tempe, Ariz., (instead of Glendale) when Penn State won its second and most recent national title on Jan. 2, 1987. Joe Paterno’s Nittany Lions intercepted Miami’s Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Vinny Testaverde five times to win a No. 1 vs. 2 matchup back when both programs were independents. (That used to be a thing, folks.)

First look

With Boise State, everything starts with running back Ashton Jeanty. The Heisman runner-up and the nation’s leading rusher has 2,497 yards (131 behind Barry Sanders’ official NCAA record) and 30 total touchdowns. Penn State’s defense tormented SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings (three sacks, three interceptions), putting the Mustangs into a deep hole that forced them to abandon the run.

But the best offenses Penn State faced this season — USC, Ohio State, Oregon — all ran for at least 170 yards and 4.2 yards per carry against the Nittany Lions, who are active up front (led by edge rusher Abdul Carter, who has 21.5 tackles for loss) but don’t have the biggest bodies. Of course, those offenses have a level of balance that Boise State doesn’t consistently. Jeanty went for 192 and three touchdowns on 25 carries against Big Ten champion Oregon, a 3-point loss for the Broncos. He’ll need a similar performance for the Mountain West champions to have another memorable night in Glendale.

Line: Penn State -9.5.

Why we should be excited: It’s the next Playoff game. Listen, I get it. The first-round games of the 12-team Playoff went very much like the semifinals of the four-team Playoff. That is to say, lots of lopsided games. But don’t give up on the Playoff. Besides, going out on New Year’s Eve is overpriced and overrated.

No. 4 Arizona State vs. No. 5 Texas

Unfamiliar foes in a strange setting. The Longhorns and Sun Devils have played just once. Texas won the 2007 Holiday Bowl 52-34 in a Big 12 vs. Pac-12 matchup behind Jamaal Charles and Colt McCoy. That Texas victory launched a run at a national title next season for Mack Brown’s Longhorns. The Peach Bowl is unfamiliar territory for both teams.

Only Arizona State has ever played in the Atlanta-based bowl; that was back in 1970 when Frank Kush’s Sun Devils out of the WAC completed an unbeaten season 11-0 with a 48-26 victory against North Carolina at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium. As a new member of the SEC, Texas is growing more familiar with Atlanta. The Longhorns lost the conference title game to Georgia in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium two weeks ago. Oh, and they could make it a hat trick if they can reach the national championship, also being played at the home of the Falcons on Jan. 20.

First look

The Sun Devils roll into the Playoff on a six-game winning streak, winning the Big 12 title in their first season in the conference. You could argue second-year coach Kenny Dillingham’s turnaround was every bit as impressive as what Curt Cignetti did at Indiana. The Sun Devils don’t do any one thing great, but they’re pretty good everywhere. Cam Skattebo is the heart and soul, a bowling ball of a running back who is second only to Jeanty in yards from scrimmage (1,568).

Texas counters with the best defense in the country, led by Thorpe Award winner Jahdae Barron at cornerback. Clemson’s Cade Klubnik had himself a day against that Longhorns’ defense, but the Tigers were in chase mode most of the time. To replicate that, Arizona State will need a healthy Jordyn Tyson. The star receiver missed the Big 12 Championship Game with a shoulder injury.

What might be more relevant to the Peach Bowl is what Texas did to Clemson on the ground. The Longhorns ran for a season-high 292 yards behind an offensive line with a high ceiling when it’s healthy. The Sun Devils better buckle up.

Line: Texas -13.5.

Why we should be excited: Dillingham’s team is a whirlwind of enthusiasm and positive energy right now. That might be enough against a talented Texas team. But if you like storylines, how about the current Big 12 champion trying to take down the team that almost single-handedly killed the league multiple times?

No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 8 Ohio State

Oregon hasn’t been in the Big Ten long enough for this not to feel like a classic Pac 12 vs. Big Ten Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes and Ducks have met under those circumstances in Pasadena twice. Most recently, Terrelle Pryor led Ohio State to a 26-17 victory against Oregon in the 2010 Rose Bowl game. Before that, you have to go back to the 1958 Rose Bowl. The Big Ten champion and No. 2 Buckeyes beat the Pacific Coast Conference co-champion Ducks 10-7.

Ohio State leads the series 9-2, though the Ducks have won the last two. The Buckeyes are 9-7 in 16 Rose Bowl appearances. The Ducks are 4-4.

First look

Technically, we already had that in Eugene, Ore., on Oct. 12. The Ducks won a back-and-forth thriller, 32-31. The game had a little bit of everything, including a little trickery at the end when the Ducks left an extra man on the field defensively in an attempt to drain some precious time from the clock while Ohio State tried to make a last-minute winning drive.

Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel (341 yards, two TDs, 27-yard rush TD) and Ohio State’s Will Howard (326 yards, two TDs, rush TD) were both brilliant. The Ducks are the only team this season to score more than 17 points against the Buckeyes. Both defenses will need to come up with some answers, but the really interesting chess match will be between Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein.

The Ducks were hyper-aggressive, taking shots down the field against the Ohio State secondary and were the only team to reach 5.0 yards per carry against the Buckeyes. What’s the counter for Knowles, who didn’t send a ton of pressure at Gabriel early in the game? Ohio State’s offensive line, beset by injuries in the regular season to its two best players, was awesome against a good Tennessee defensive front. Whether that carries over against All-American Derrick Harmon and the Ducks’ talented line will be one of the keys to the game.

Line: Ohio State -1.5

Why we should be excited: This might be the national championship game in the quarterfinals.

No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 7 Notre Dame

The last time the Fighting Irish and Bulldogs played in the Sugar Bowl a freshman running back named Herschel Walker led Georgia to its first national title. Shout out to Buck Belue, the Bulldogs’ first championship quarterback. The storied programs did not play again until 2017 when Georgia and its fans invaded South Bend and came away with a 1-point victory in September.

It was a sign of things to come for then-second-year coach Kirby Smart. Georgia would win the SEC and lose an overtime College Football Playoff Championship Game to Alabama. Two years later, Notre Dame took the trip to Athens and lost, 23-17. Coming up short against the very best teams in the country was one of the defining characteristics of Kelly’s 11 seasons with the Irish. The postseason losses have been especially lopsided.

Now Notre Dame is Marcus Freeman’s program. It’s not just chasing a national championship, it’s trying to change its standing in the sport. The last time the Irish won a game like this, a major New Year’s Day-type bowl game and against a high-level opponent, was the 1993 Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M.

First look

Georgia might have the top-to-bottom most talented roster in the country, but this has been a team that only rarely has flashed dominance — and now is likely to be playing with its No. 2 quarterback. Gunner Stockton was good enough in relief of the injured Carson Beck to help Georgia beat Texas in overtime in the SEC Championship Game.

Now he faces another talented defense, but with time to prepare. Conversely, Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden also has time to prepare for Stockton, who is far more of a threat with his legs than Beck.

Will Georgia try to morph into Notre Dame? The Irish are limited in the downfield passing game with Riley Leonard, but he’s a dangerous and rugged runner who provides a nice complement to the explosive Jeremiyah Love.

This looks like a defensive battle, but not so fast. This hasn’t been vintage Georgia D. The Bulldogs rank 31st in the country in rush defense at 3.69 yards per carry and had all kinds of issues stopping the quarterback run game against Georgia Tech.

Line: Georgia -1.5.

Why we should be excited: It’s the most competitively-balanced big postseason game Notre Dame has played since the mid-1990s.

Brad Crawford: Power ranking College Football Playoff's eight remaining teams

Quote

And then there were eight! The College Football Playoff's first round is in the books with all four favored teams cruising to victories, setting up the quarterfinals on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, featuring the top four seeds — Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State. Peeking at early lines via FanDuel SportsBook, two of the four matchups are double-digit spreads while oddsmakers expect competitive finishes in the Rose Bowl (Ohio State vs. Oregon) and Sugar Bowl (Notre Dame vs. Georgia). Where do the eight remaining teams stack up against one another?

Power ranking what's left of the playoff field in the first season of the expansion era is subjective since we've only seen four of these teams play recently. Unbeaten Oregon, SEC champion Georgia, Group of Five victor Boise State and Big 12 winner Arizona State have had a couple weeks of rest time for their playoff debuts, so we're going by samples dating back to the regular season. Here is more on power ranking the eight remaining teams in the College Football Playoff:

1. Oregon Ducks

Next game: vs. Ohio State, Rose Bowl, Jan. 1

A long-awaited rematch between the Ducks and Buckeyes comes in Pasadena following Ohio State's 42-17 triumph over Tennessee. Oregon is the playoff field's lone unbeaten as the top seed and beat Ohio State by a point earlier this season at Autzen Stadium after the Buckeyes ran out of time in the final seconds. Oregon is the only team in the playoff that ranked inside the top 10 in total offense and total defense.

2. Ohio State Buckeyes

Next game: vs. Oregon, Rose Bowl, Jan. 1

Will Howard was terrific in Ohio State's playoff opener, completing 24 of 29 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns, only his second 300-yard, multi-score game of the season. Any remnants of the loss to Michigan quickly evaporated for a team that looked the part as one of the playoff frontrunners after ripping off a 21-point lead in the first quarter. With one of the most-talented rosters in the field, Ohio State's current national title odds sit at +360, via FanDuel Sportsbook, which is second to Texas (+310).

3. Georgia Bulldogs

Next game: vs. Notre Dame, Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1

With quarterback Carson Beck expected for the remainder of the postseason, the Bulldogs have to win with Gunner Stockton, who played admirably during the second half of Georgia's SEC title game win over Texas. Don't be mistaken, however — this team is built defensively and will advance in the playoff as far as Jalon Walker and that group can take them. Stockton's job will be to avoid turnovers while the other side of the football controls the line of scrimmage. Georgia's 3-0 all-time against Notre Dame, including two wins under Kirby Smart.

4. Texas Longhorns

Next game: vs. Arizona State, Peach Bowl, Jan. 1

Since Georgia beat Texas head to head in Atlanta a few weeks ago, and trounced the Longhorns in Austin earlier this season, the Bulldogs get the nod in these updated playoff power rankings. That said, Texas clicked on every cylinder it had offensively during Saturday's victory over Clemson after nearly eclipsing 300 yards on the ground with a pair of 100-yard rushers. Anchored by one of college football's top defenses, that unit failed to show against the Tigers, so Texas will need to regroup on that side to try and combat Cam Skattebo and the red-hot Sun Devils.

5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Next game: vs. Georgia, Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1

The Fighting Irish thoroughly manhandled Indiana, the first of three first-round playoff games that were never competitive. Indiana's offense was in quicksand against a stronger, faster opponent and Notre Dame used its home-field advantage to the highest extent. Notre Dame and Texas are tied for the most takeaways nationally (29) heading into the next round and both teams are also stingy on third down defensively, ranking inside the top 10. Traveling to New Orleans to battle Georgia in the SEC's backyard will be a tough matchup for Notre Dame, winners of 11 straight.

6. Penn State Nittany Lions

Next game: vs. Boise State, Fiesta Bowl, Dec. 31

The James Franklin naysayers are quiet following Penn State's throttling of SMU in the first round. Aided by two interception returns for touchdowns early, the Nittany Lions made quick work of the 11-win Mustangs on an afternoon that was frustrating at times offensively. Up next is a tussle with Heisman finalist Ashton Jeanty and Boise State out West. The winner moves on to play the Georgia-Notre Dame victor in the playoff semifinals.

7. Boise State Broncos

Next game: vs. Penn State, Fiesta Bowl, Dec. 31

Boise State gets another crack at beating Power 4 competition on New Year's Eve. Ashton Jeanty and the Broncos lost by three points at Oregon in September, which marked the only setback of the season for the Group of Five champion. Outside of Jeanty, Boise State's primary strength is not turning it over. The Broncos only gave it away eight times this fall, which was tied with Arizona State among playoff teams for second-fewest nationally. The Broncos average 250 yards per game on the ground while Penn State allows 100, tops among remaining playoff squads.

8. Arizona State Sun Devils

Next game: vs. Texas, Peach Bowl, Jan. 1

The Big 12 champions are two-touchdown underdogs against Texas, which is plenty of motivation for a team that's streaking at the right time and led by a coach who has taken the "why not us" mentality to the extreme. Kenny Dillingham's program went 3-9 last season and projected to finish last in the conference before going unbeaten during the second half of the campaign and ripping off several ranked wins. They need more of those as a longshot moving forward.

 

[Hagbard Celine 11285]

ralph russo needs a cattle prod up the ass:

"if you like storylines, how about the current Big 12 champion trying to take down the team that almost single-handedly killed the league multiple times?"

fuck you asshole

[Wilcox Cummingtonite 3660]

12 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

ralph russo needs a cattle prod up the ass:

"if you like storylines, how about the current Big 12 champion trying to take down the team that almost single-handedly killed the league multiple times?"

fuck you asshole

Yeah what the fuck is that shit. That whole article sucks. Fuck that guy.

[satyanash 15656]

Ben Axelrod: ESPN’s College Football Playoff coverage makes for a miserable, negative experience

Quote

College campuses hosted FBS playoff games for the first time this weekend. But instead of celebrating the first-of-its-kind matchups and incredible scenes, ESPN spent the entire weekend bashing schools, criticizing fans, and generally making it a miserable experience.

It started Friday night when Cinderella Story Indiana played Notre Dame in the first playoff game in South Bend. Indiana coach Curt Cignetti failed to back up his pre-game trash talk and the Hoosiers lost to the Fighting Irish 27-17. The ten-point margin was flattering to Indiana, but by the end of the telecast, you would think you were watching a replay of Georgia beating TCU 65-7 in the national championship game a couple of years ago.

Never one to hide his opinion, ESPN play-by-play person Sean McDonough got the anti-party started late in the fourth quarter. With the game well out of reach, instead of focusing on the amazing job Cignetti did in taking a team ranked 17th in the Big Ten preseason poll to the playoff, McDonough instead questioned Indiana’s worthiness of making it in the first place.

If that wasn’t enough, McDonough then decided to throw the entire Big Ten as a conference under the bus in bemoaning the stranglehold that the Power 2 have over college football.

Imagine you’re an Indiana fan watching that game. What would your response be to having the best season in school history wadded up and thrown in a trashcan like that? It probably wouldn’t make you feel great. But it was just the beginning of ESPN spending the entire weekend being the wicked stepmother trying to keep Cinderella locked up in the attic.

The next morning on College GameDay, Kirk Herbstreit piled on and went even further. He said that Indiana was outclassed, shouldn’t have been on the field, and that it was a mistake that the committee gave them a playoff berth instead of “other teams.” But at least it wasn’t a knock on Indiana, according to him…

Who those “other teams” should have been Herbstreit did not say. Is it Alabama that who went 9-3 including a loss at Vanderbilt and could only muster 3 points against a 6-6 Oklahoma team? Is it three-loss Ole Miss that gave Kentucky its only Power Four win at home? Or maybe it’s three-loss South Carolina, who probably ended up with the best resume but lost to both Alabama and Ole Miss. Maybe it was two-loss Miami, as he hinted later in the program.

When Pat McAfee is emerging as the voice of reason asking to let all the games play out before issuing hot takes, you know things are getting weird. It went from bad to worse when another at-large team, SMU, got soundly beaten by Penn State in Happy Valley. The Mustangs threw a pair of first-half pick-sixes in a game that was never really in doubt as the Nittany Lions rolled to a 38-10 victory.

Again, some of the network’s personalities (specifically those on the SEC Network side) were quick to tear into SMU’s playoff presence as a joke. But were there any celebrations over the fact that SMU’s first season in the ACC resulted in their first playoff berth? The job done by Rhett Lashlee? Was there any credit given to Penn State and James Franklin for clutching up in a playoff game when his big-game resume is such a target?

How about the white-out crowd at Penn State being one of the toughest environments in the sport? Nope, just more gatekeeping from the likes of Paul Finebaum and Lane Kiffin from their couches at home.

At least the pearl-clutching was calmed down during Texas’ 38-24 win over Clemson since the Tigers won an automatic bid by winning the ACC. Besides, Clemson has been one of the most successful teams of the 2000s, so their spot in the in-crowd is safe. They already “belonged.” But if the narratives were moving a certain pro-SEC, pro-brand name direction heading into the Tennessee-Ohio State game on Saturday night, they got blown up in a major way.

At least they should have. But that wouldn’t have helped ESPN’s effort to crush the underdog and continue to treat the College Football Playoff as their own exclusive country club. Ohio State dominated Tennessee from start to finish in a 42-17 trouncing, the most impressive performance of the first round. But again, instead of celebration, the game was used as a prop for Kirk Herbstreit to continue his totally bizarre feud with Buckeyes fans and share his frustrations about the state of college football fandom with everyone.

By saying 20% of one of the largest fanbases in sports were “lunatics” the message was clear. If you’re not on board with how Herbstreit or ESPN wants you to see it, you don’t belong.

But here’s what’s really curious. At no point during the blowout did Herbstreit give Tennessee the same energy that he gave to Indiana earlier in the day. There was no mention of Tennessee, an at-large selection by the way, being “outclassed” or perhaps ceding their spot to other teams who would have made for a better game. There was no discussion of whether Tennessee was a paper tiger or the truth that Indiana was more competitive in Columbus than the Volunteers were.

Instead, after the Tennessee game on SportsCenter with Linda Cohn, Herbstreit doubled down again with even more gatekeeping when asked for his one takeaway from the first-round games.

Herbstreit called out “fringe fans” once more for daring to value wins over who looks better getting off the bus, (someone please call Herm Edwards), and asked the committee not to listen to social media when making their selections next year, as if Warde Manuel and company are following the tweets of every Barstool campus affiliate to see who makes the best case for their school.

But at least he didn’t hit fans over the head with the tiresome “fat guys in their underwear living in their mother’s basements” gag. Nick Saban beat Herbstreit to that on Friday’s episode of College GameDay.

Once more, there was no mention of Tennessee because they are one of the haves. They have national championships, the SEC, and the preferred status at ESPN that comes along with it. They fit Herbstreit and ESPN’s definition of someone who belongs. It’s great to hold people in the sport accountable and not blindly be a cheerleader for everyone and everything, but why do it so selectively where only those outside the power players receive that treatment? And why put your own fans and viewers in the crosshairs?

And in case you were wondering, in the 24 hours after the Tennessee game, there were no tweets from Paul Finebaum bashing the CFP committee for giving the Volunteers the 8 seed and producing another “blockbuster.” Scott Van Pelt was the only ESPN person willing to go there. What message does all of this send?

Well, if you watched ESPN all weekend long, you would think that the 12-team playoff was an abomination and an embarrassment for college football. You would think its fans are on the level of English soccer hooligans of the 1980s. And you would think there is no point playing any of these games and that we should just give things to teams that have great brand names who we “think” are “best.” You would believe college football is in a total crisis because it turns out it’s really hard to win a playoff game on campus.

(To be fair, maybe college football is in a crisis, but it’s certainly not because of all that.) This was the defining theme from ESPN from the College Football Playoff weekend – the outsiders that lost are frauds and fans that care a little bit too much are sickos. And not in the fun Sickos Committee kind of way, either.

None of this is helpful or healthy. No other sport treats its fans or teams with such open disdain except for college football, specifically if this is how ESPN operates. It’s a direction of tribalism, of haves and have-nots, and where anyone who is not part of a 10-year, $3 billion deal is not a big enough box office attraction to be part of the show.

Maybe someone should tell ESPN that college football has never been more popular and that there are great stories and terrific positives to consider and promote? Hopefully, after this weekend, ESPN will take a long look inwardly and ask themselves if this is really where they want to take College Football Playoff coverage, and the sport as a whole. Because there must be a better way than the constant drumbeat of negativity they peddled this past weekend.

Do you know why America loves March Madness so much? It’s because we don’t spend hours trying to re-litigate who got in and who didn’t once the tournament begins. We celebrate Cinderella instead of trying to tar and feather her. And we have fun. We celebrate the beauty of it all and why we love sports in the first place. Maybe ESPN’s College Football Playoff coverage should take the hint and do likewise.

 

[satyanash 15656]

[Huckleberry 34739]

My system's current output:

[Js1 87279]

8 minutes ago, satyanash said:

I’m quite okay that we lost the SECCG with our current path being the most favorable. 

[gofuckyourself 9093]

20 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

ralph russo needs a cattle prod up the ass:

"if you like storylines, how about the current Big 12 champion trying to take down the team that almost single-handedly killed the league multiple times?"

fuck you asshole

A New Yorker hating on Texas (in athletics or otherwise)?

Shocked I tell ya.

[South Austin 53258]

I think Ohio State is going to crush Oregon.

[aggie08 21846]

It's fucking stupid that the teams that supposedly earn byes don't get to host a single game. How fucking cool would it be to have Ohio State going to Autzen and ASU and Boise St hosting the biggest games their stadiums have even seen? Nah, let's play big games indoors in Atlanta and New Orleans for the millionth time.

That's my brilliant contribution.

Edited Monday at 04:58 PM by aggie08

[BurntOrange&White 42001]

 

This is a big loss for ND

 

[Js1 87279]

20 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

It's fucking stupid that the teams that supposedly earn byes don't get to host a single game. How fucking cool would it be to have Ohio State going to Autzen and ASU and Boise St hosting the biggest games their stadiums have even seen? Nah, let's play big games indoors in Atlanta and New Orleans for the millionth time.

That's my brilliant contribution.

Agree. Top 8 teams should have home games. But the bowls won’t agree to it. 

[utexas8 1718]

I think Ohio State is going to crush Oregon.

If Texas makes it, we would prefer Ohio state correct? Haven’t really watched them play except when they shit the bed against Michigan and Howard’s bonehead play against Oregon.

[BurntOrange&White 42001]

2 minutes ago, utexas8 said:

If Texas makes it, we would prefer Ohio state correct? Haven’t really watched them play except when they shit the bed against Michigan and Howard’s bonehead play against Oregon.

Ohio St's defensive coordinator is one of the pioneers of the flyover defense that we tend to struggle with. I'd rather face Oregon's defense than Ohio States defense. I like our defensive matchup with Oregon's offense more than Ohio St but Dillon Gabriel > Will Howard.

Edited Monday at 05:28 PM by BurntOrange&White

[Huckleberry 34739]

36 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

It's fucking stupid that the teams that supposedly earn byes don't get to host a single game. How fucking cool would it be to have Ohio State going to Autzen and ASU and Boise St hosting the biggest games their stadiums have even seen? Nah, let's play big games indoors in Atlanta and New Orleans for the millionth time.

That's my brilliant contribution.

This is what I've been saying. The guarantee for the top 4 conference champs should be a top 8 seed, not top 4. It's too early to change anything else. Well I guess Oregon wouldn't host but they would prefer the bye. But I want to see teams traveling to the supposedly undeserving Boise State and Arizona State. Indiana at Boise State and Tennessee at Arizona State would have been awesome. 

Edited Monday at 05:36 PM by Huckleberry

[Huckleberry 34739]

15 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

 

This is a big loss for ND

 

This and the two play disaster sequence for Texas are why people were underappreciating the value of the byes compared to the overall path.

[satyanash 15656]

45 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

It's fucking stupid that the teams that supposedly earn byes don't get to host a single game. How fucking cool would it be to have Ohio State going to Autzen and ASU and Boise St hosting the biggest games their stadiums have even seen? Nah, let's play big games indoors in Atlanta and New Orleans for the millionth time.

That's my brilliant contribution.

People are hugely underrating the importance of getting a bye. It's a week of extra rest and time to gameplan while your opponents beat each other up and come into the game tired. Not to mention, every extra game is an extra opportunity to lose.

[WBT 20997]

20 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

This and the two play disaster sequence for Texas are why people were underappreciating the value of the byes compared to the overall path.

I think people also do a lot of rounding the chance of unlikely upsets all the way down to zero.

[South Austin 53258]

34 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Ohio St's defensive coordinator is one of the pioneers of the flyover defense that we tend to struggle with. I'd rather face Oregon's defense than Ohio States defense. I like our defensive matchup with Oregon's offense more than Ohio St but Dillon Gabriel > Will Howard.

Agree. I’d rather face Oregon than Ohio State.

[WBT 20997]

I'd take Howard over Gabriel every time

[Sgt Hulk 14470]

I wanted Texas vs ND in the natty.  That’s a big loss for ND

[BurntOrange&White 42001]

13 minutes ago, WBT said:

I'd take Howard over Gabriel every time

[Surly Bevo 25778]

39 minutes ago, satyanash said:

People are hugely underrating the importance of getting a bye. It's a week of extra rest and time to gameplan while your opponents beat each other up and come into the game tired. Not to mention, every extra game is an extra opportunity to lose.

I guess we will see but we have seen plenty of times in professional sports the team that kept playing and kept the mojo going come in and take down the team that sat around getting cold.  Happens more in baseball but has also happened 5 times this century where a wild card team has won the Super Bowl...and that isn't even taking into account divisional round upsets.  Will be interesting to see how that plays out at a college level.  

 

Wild card World Series champions

1997 Florida Marlins

2002 Anaheim Angels

2003 Florida Marlins

2004 Boston Red Sox

2011 St. Louis Cardinals

2014 San Francisco Giants

2019 Washington Nationals

2023 Texas Rangers

Other wild card World Series participants

2000 New York Mets

2002 San Francisco Giants

2005 Houston Astros

2006 Detroit Tigers

2007 Colorado Rockies

2014 Kansas City Royals

2022 Philadelphia Phillies

2023 Arizona Diamondbacks

Wild card Super Bowl champions

1980–81: Oakland Raiders–Super Bowl XV

1997–98: Denver Broncos–Super Bowl XXXII

2000–01: Baltimore Ravens–Super Bowl XXXV

2005–06: Pittsburgh Steelers–Super Bowl XL

2007–08: New York Giants–Super Bowl XLII

2010–11: Green Bay Packers–Super Bowl XLV

2020–21: Tampa Bay Buccaneers–Super Bowl LV

Other wild card Super Bowl participants

1975–76: Dallas Cowboys-Super Bowl X

1985–86: New England Patriots–Super Bowl XX

1992–93: Buffalo Bills–Super Bowl XXVII

1999–2000: Tennessee Titans–Super Bowl XXXIV

 

[South Austin 53258]

Howard looked pretty damn sharp against Tennessee.

[chainsaw 10307]

2 hours ago, satyanash said:

saying 20% of one of the largest fanbases in sports were “lunatics”

[chainsaw 10307]

I want a revenge tour. First up, Dillon Gabriel. Next up, Georgia.

[BurntOrange&White 42001]

3 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Howard looked pretty damn sharp against Tennessee.

Maalik kicked his ass.

[Js1 87279]

5 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Howard looked pretty damn sharp against Tennessee.

Tennessee looked totally unprepared and shell shocked for that game. At least the Texas staff has experience against Howard 

[Huckleberry 34739]

7 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

I guess we will see but we have seen plenty of times in professional sports the team that kept playing and kept the mojo going come in and take down the team that sat around getting cold.  Happens more in baseball but has also happened 5 times this century where a wild card team has won the Super Bowl...and that isn't even taking into account divisional round upsets.  Will be interesting to see how that plays out at a college level.  

 

Wild card World Series champions

1997 Florida Marlins

2002 Anaheim Angels

2003 Florida Marlins

2004 Boston Red Sox

2011 St. Louis Cardinals

2014 San Francisco Giants

2019 Washington Nationals

2023 Texas Rangers

Other wild card World Series participants

2000 New York Mets

2002 San Francisco Giants

2005 Houston Astros

2006 Detroit Tigers

2007 Colorado Rockies

2014 Kansas City Royals

2022 Philadelphia Phillies

2023 Arizona Diamondbacks

Wild card Super Bowl champions

1980–81: Oakland Raiders–Super Bowl XV

1997–98: Denver Broncos–Super Bowl XXXII

2000–01: Baltimore Ravens–Super Bowl XXXV

2005–06: Pittsburgh Steelers–Super Bowl XL

2007–08: New York Giants–Super Bowl XLII

2010–11: Green Bay Packers–Super Bowl XLV

2020–21: Tampa Bay Buccaneers–Super Bowl LV

Other wild card Super Bowl participants

1975–76: Dallas Cowboys-Super Bowl X

1985–86: New England Patriots–Super Bowl XX

1992–93: Buffalo Bills–Super Bowl XXVII

1999–2000: Tennessee Titans–Super Bowl XXXIV

 

Now do the list of non wild card champions. 

[chainsaw 10307]

22 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

DEI

[Surly Bevo 25778]

1 minute ago, Huckleberry said:

Now do the list of non wild card champions. 

Well that would be everybody else.  That said, in professional sports the teams with byes are usually clearly the best teams (longer regular seasons more balanced schedules blah blah blah) and yet it still happens there. This set up....eh maybe.   tOSU getting that Michigan loss taste out of their mouth I think helps them more in a rematch with a team they lost to by 1 point then if they had sat around waiting...we shall see.  

[WBT 20997]

1 minute ago, Surly Bevo said:

tOSU getting that Michigan loss taste out of their mouth I think helps them more in a rematch with a team they lost to by 1 point then if they had sat around waiting...we shall see

I mean, losing by 1 on the road says they should be favored on a neutral field already

[Fudge Nuggets 19473]

If Beck is out, I think ND mudhole stomps UGA.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18984]

Apologies if this has been brought up, but Texas already beat the ACC champ, plays the Big 12 champ next, could get the Big 10 champ in the third round, and then have a re-rematch with the SEC champ. That would be a pretty cool run on the way to a national championship.

[mdmost 44109]

21 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

If Beck is out, I think ND mudhole stomps UGA.

Beck is out. I think Notre Dame has a great chance to win if their defense can shut down Georgia's running game. 

[Darth Tron 1162]

3 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

My system's current output:

 

Glad to see I'm not the only one that does this.

[Hagbard Celine 11285]

uga > domer

stockton is not green - this is his 3rd year in the program

we don't know what his portfolio of throws looks like yet

but like in the league, the tournament is about running the ball

etienne ran 16 for 94 and caught 5 for 28 with 2 TDs in the ccg

if stockton can just game manage to keep domer honest, uga will win

i also think stockton is a dual threat and we haven't seen it yet

despite 9 runs for 8 yards he looked far more dangerous on the move than beck

[Dnaguy 12709]

2 hours ago, satyanash said:

People are hugely underrating the importance of getting a bye. It's a week of extra rest and time to gameplan while your opponents beat each other up and come into the game tired. Not to mention, every extra game is an extra opportunity to lose.

 

2 hours ago, WBT said:

I think people also do a lot of rounding the chance of unlikely upsets all the way down to zero.

 Without the dumb top 4 conf champs getting top 4 seeds, this weekend would have been a lot different / set a different tone.

The take away should be about seeds and not that Alabama or Ole Miss deserved to be on the playoffs.

Guarantee that the top 4 conf champions get a home game like @Huckleberry said with a guaranteed top 8 seed. 
I feel like that’s a compromise the lower tier teams would agree to. I don’t think they’d agree to a change that only makes them eligible for the playoffs. Remember that any change has to be made unanimously.

So the seeds would have been 

Oregon 1 plays winner of 

Tenn @ Az St

Penn St #4 plays winner of 

Clemson @ Notre Dame 

Texas #3 plays winner of 

SMU at tOSU

Georgia #4 plays winner of 

Indiana at Boise

 

[Thatguy 9446]

1 hour ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Yeah I don't get that at all

[satyanash 15656]

 

 

[Js1 87279]

11 minutes ago, satyanash said:

 

 

[skilesare 103]

3 hours ago, Dnaguy said:

I feel like that’s a compromise the lower tier teams would agree to

I haven't seen much discussion of this, but why not keep the byes for the champions but seed them according to has they fall in the final rankings.

 

So ASU would have been pairs with Oregon from the beginning and Georgia with Boise.

Then the other two quarterfinal games would be play in for the other teams.

if the top four were all conf champs then it would look like this year with a play in game for each.

 

[TrashMaster G 18132]

On 12/22/2024 at 2:18 PM, Hagbard Celine said:

ralph russo needs a cattle prod up the ass:

"if you like storylines, how about the current Big 12 champion trying to take down the team that almost single-handedly killed the league multiple times?"

fuck you asshole

I have no idea who Ralph Russo is, but he sounds like a fucking moron.

 

8 hours ago, aggie08 said:

It's fucking stupid that the teams that supposedly earn byes don't get to host a single game. How fucking cool would it be to have Ohio State going to Autzen and ASU and Boise St hosting the biggest games their stadiums have even seen? Nah, let's play big games indoors in Atlanta and New Orleans for the millionth time.

That's my brilliant contribution.

"Supposedly" earn byes?

I'm pretty sure they byes 100% happened.

[Huckleberry 34739]

On 12/7/2024 at 4:49 PM, Helobious said:

 

He got up just fine, he was faking being hurt because he was mad about the fumble. Wanted attention/sympathy. 

We all already knew, but we can now officially add the above to the list of great Helobious takes.

Edited yesterday at 01:32 AM by Huckleberry

[Sgt Hulk 14470]

Cmon notre dame beat the shit out of ga 

[DaysOff 8219]

18 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Apologies if this has been brought up, but Texas already beat the ACC champ, plays the Big 12 champ next, could get the Big 10 champ in the third round, and then have a re-rematch with the SEC champ. That would be a pretty cool run on the way to a national championship.

I'm going to make a t-shirt, or put it on a wall.

[WBT 20997]

18 hours ago, Dnaguy said:

 

 Without the dumb top 4 conf champs getting top 4 seeds, this weekend would have been a lot different / set a different tone.

The take away should be about seeds and not that Alabama or Ole Miss deserved to be on the playoffs.

Guarantee that the top 4 conf champions get a home game like @Huckleberry said with a guaranteed top 8 seed. 
I feel like that’s a compromise the lower tier teams would agree to. I don’t think they’d agree to a change that only makes them eligible for the playoffs. Remember that any change has to be made unanimously.

So the seeds would have been 

Oregon 1 plays winner of 

Tenn @ Az St

Penn St #4 plays winner of 

Clemson @ Notre Dame 

Texas #3 plays winner of 

SMU at tOSU

Georgia #4 plays winner of 

Indiana at Boise

 

Why would they agree to give up a bye?

[WBT 20997]

19 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Apologies if this has been brought up, but Texas already beat the ACC champ, plays the Big 12 champ next, could get the Big 10 champ in the third round, and then have a re-rematch with the SEC champ. That would be a pretty cool run on the way to a national championship.

Just like last year we beat the sec champ and were lined up to beat the pac and b1g champs.  Oops

[immamac 44411]

12 hours ago, Sgt Hulk said:

Cmon notre dame beat the shit out of ga 

Not happening. Georgia is very good. 

Its effectively Oregon, Ohio State and Georgia Texas who are just in a different category than the rest. 

Late losses for Texas and Ohio State may actually make them the most dangerous. 

Oregon is gonna have a tough time with a gauntlet schedule, I think they've done well for their games with a bunch of nobody in between. Their schedule wasn't weak necessarily, but it was spread out in a way that didn't challenge them against big teams back to back. 

Texas had Oklahoma (rivalry) then Georgia then Vandy who was on fire at the time

Georgia had Texas, Florida, Ole Miss, Tennessee in a stretch. 

I feel like Oregon isn't gonna be good at the back to backs. 

Ohio State is an extremely talented team with a head coach who is inexplicably weird in big games.