CFP Talk

[Figrating]

The CFP is too small by 4 teams. Whatever the number, a football tournament can't have byes.

Four one-sided games for round one of the burlesque we have - thought at least one dog would compete more. The rest should all be the rumbles you expect.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Oregon, OSU, PSU and ND are the “cream of the class”, as Dan Hampton would say. Georgia is diminished without Beck. Texas is close but not quite there. The rest of the field is a sizable step down.

I think OSU and ND make the final. Could easily be Oregon but it’s hard to beat a team twice, and OSU was right there a few months ago vs the Ducks.

 

[NUCat320]

I like this writeup. Ray Ratto is an old school newspaper columnist who hasn’t really adapted but made cool younger friends, against all odds.

The College Football Playoff's Shitty First Weekend Did Its Job | Defector

The College Football Playoff is a wild hit so far, in that everyone hates it. Notre Dame beat Indiana Friday in a spectacular nothingburger that turned out to be the closest game of the weekend, and the three Saturday games were the competitive equivalent of Week 2 bodybag games decided by an...

defector.com

Only a very few teams per year have even a counterpuncher's chance of winning it all, and those teams get a yearly reminder at some point that money talks and Cinderella walks.

Obviously, I’m cheering for Boise.

The worst part of CFP, that I only realized just this moment: those are the *only* New Year’s Day games. That’s a real f*cking shame.

Trivia: Northwestern holds the record for most bowl game losses in the state of Texas in the same calendar year.

 

[techtim72]

I like this writeup. Ray Ratto is an old school newspaper columnist who hasn’t really adapted but made cool younger friends, against all odds.

The College Football Playoff's Shitty First Weekend Did Its Job | Defector

The College Football Playoff is a wild hit so far, in that everyone hates it. Notre Dame beat Indiana Friday in a spectacular nothingburger that turned out to be the closest game of the weekend, and the three Saturday games were the competitive equivalent of Week 2 bodybag games decided by an...

defector.com

Only a very few teams per year have even a counterpuncher's chance of winning it all, and those teams get a yearly reminder at some point that money talks and Cinderella walks.

Obviously, I’m cheering for Boise.

The worst part of CFP, that I only realized just this moment: those are the *only* New Year’s Day games. That’s a real f*cking shame.

Trivia: Northwestern holds the record for most bowl game losses in the state of Texas in the same calendar year.

Great writing. In a bit counter to his premise, although I don't know and have little interest in knowing how the playoff teams are slotted the way they are, the selection of an underdog and non-traditional power team such as Boise State for a bye does up their chances at an upset dramatically.

 

[NJCat]

the selection of an underdog and non-traditional power team such as Boise State for a bye does up their chances at an upset dramatically.

I disagree. Best case for BSU would have been a home game on the Smurf field in late December.

 

[techtim72]

Playing a game at their home field in the first round only sets up a defeat in the second round with a rested, higher ranked opponent on a neutral field. So they perhaps win a game but their likelihood of advancing beyond the second round is diminished. Right?

 

[NJCat]

Playing a game at their home field in the first round only sets up a defeat in the second round with a rested, higher ranked opponent on a neutral field. So they perhaps win a game but their likelihood of advancing beyond the second round is diminished. Right?

Right. But you said best case for an upset, and to my thinking the best case for an upset was on their blue turf in December.

 

[NU Houston]

Trivia: Northwestern holds the record for most bowl game losses in the state of Texas in the same calendar year.

LOL. Never thought of it like that, though I was at both of those games (Dallas on January 1 and Houston in late December). Fortunately, the Cats won their bowl game in Florida the next season and have won several more since then (none of which I've attended).

Northwestern football hasn't played a game in Texas since that bowl game loss to A&M in 2011. Thankfully, they start next season at Tulane, and I'll be there, since Houston (to quote the Grateful Dead) is too close to New Orleans.

 

[NJCat]

Northwestern football hasn't played a game in Texas since that bowl game loss to A&M in 2011.

But they did play 2 Texas teams that season......

 

[Hungry Jack]

I like this writeup. Ray Ratto is an old school newspaper columnist who hasn’t really adapted but made cool younger friends, against all odds.

The College Football Playoff's Shitty First Weekend Did Its Job | Defector

The College Football Playoff is a wild hit so far, in that everyone hates it. Notre Dame beat Indiana Friday in a spectacular nothingburger that turned out to be the closest game of the weekend, and the three Saturday games were the competitive equivalent of Week 2 bodybag games decided by an...

defector.com

Only a very few teams per year have even a counterpuncher's chance of winning it all, and those teams get a yearly reminder at some point that money talks and Cinderella walks.

Obviously, I’m cheering for Boise.

The worst part of CFP, that I only realized just this moment: those are the *only* New Year’s Day games. That’s a real f*cking shame.

Trivia: Northwestern holds the record for most bowl game losses in the state of Texas in the same calendar year.

The money quote from Ratto’s piece:

“Notre Dame has been living off its name since losing the BCS Championship to Alabama by a thousand points 12 years ago and then having their 12 wins vacated by something called the NCAA, which used to be a thing the way the Ottoman Empire used to be a thing.”