What a mess. As a decision metric, the idea of a committee certainly seems like a worse plan now. I do think that an expanded playoff (maybe 8 teams?) would make the committee's job easier.
not only the only undefeated power 5 conference team in the country, the only undefeated team in the fbs period
If they made it 8, just give all the power 5 conference winners a berth and then 3 at large bids that could be based on rankings, or even a computer.
Personally, I would do a 6 team playoff, with the 5 conference champs and one wildcard - whoever's the highest ranked non-champ in the polls or a BCS type setup. At least then every team has a route in by winning their conference - no controversy there and I think it makes the system "fair". One lucky team gets in as a bonus. This year, that would be the correct 6 teams (Alabama, Oregon, Baylor, FSU, OSU + TCU as the wildcard). Some years, a scrub champion would get in, but so be it.
An 8 team system would give more teams outside the Power 5 conferences a chance. I wasn't clear in my original post above: I don't think a committee is going to decide a 4 team playoff any better than a computer would in this year's chaotic environment.
This is the year everyone will say 6 is perfect, but then that would require the Big 12 adopting a championship game, bc an extra power 5 bottom feeder game is not as important as a conference championship game vs. a quality foe. I've always wanted 6...maybe that will happen in the future.
TCU cannot possibly get in with the head to head loss, and the committee didn't want Baylor in. Ohio St.'s ass whooping created a very easy out for the committee, Ohio St. is gonna be the 4th team. Ohio St. over TCU and Baylor is much less controversial than TCU over Baylor.
Frankly, the Big Ten is garbage. But you obviously have to give credit to Ohio State for doing their job.
59-0ing ANY team is difficult. Did Wisconsin tank the game in order to give a Big Ten team a chance to make it in?
They are going to drop TCU and put Ohio State in, even though they shouldn't. Only way to avoid major controversy in the first season of this format. It sucks...I personally think TCU is a better team than Baylor (and I am biased), but Baylor won head to head so they would be screwed more. The other 3 spots are locked now. Both teams are better than OSU. The worst part for TCU if this happens is that Baylor probably gets Cotton Bowl and we get a dog**** bowl game despite being one of the top 5 teams in the country. Tomorrow can't come fast enough
I think, though I'm not sure, there's a Big12 vs SEC "big bowl" game, so Baylor would go to that in that scenario. The worst TCU should get is the Cotton Bowl, if that's any consolation.
Strange to think that the undefeated defending national champions with a returning Heisman winner at qb might have the weakest argument of the top 6 teams.
Why do they have the weakest argument? They are the only undefeated team in the nation winning a P5 conference. They have wins over Georgia Tech, Clemson and Louisville and tried to schedule a difficult OOC schedule (though it backfired because Notre Dame/Oklahoma State/Florida all ended up sucking, regardless that might still a better OOC schedule than any contender excluding Oregon). Why is TCU's resume considered more impressive than Florida State's? The only good win TCU has is Kansas State. Baylor I can understand because Baylor beat TCU as well as Kansas State. If FSU doesn't get in, all hell will break loose.
The basic argument is that the ACC is wretched - far below the other conferences - and they struggled with a whole bunch of bad opponents this season. TCU struggled with Kansas and it was a big deal, but FSU seemed to have that kind of performance more weeks than not. If they had played a Big12 or Pac12 or SEC schedule, most people feel they would have lost a game or three - they were just fortunate not to have to play anyone particularly good. That said, beating GaTech, who just beat Georgia, helps solidify their resume a bit. And ultimately, while they look terrible, they have managed to win all their games and that means something. They deserve to be in, but I'm pretty sure Alabama will be hugely favored over them - more so than they would be favored over Baylor/TCU/OSU. So that would tell us that people think those other teams are better. If FSU was 6-6 last year and wasn't a huge superpower, I think most people would be saying that they didn't deserve it because of their weak schedule and the sketchy performance against it. On the flipside, if Jameis Winston wasn't a huge douchebag, they might be looked at much better. The whole process is very subjective (right or wrong).
We have reached the selection show.... If I were to bet on it, I'd say Baylor gets screwed and TCU goes. Ohio State has a case but I think the committee has been feeling TCU all year.
Yeah, I'm strictly using the eye test, I've watched them play 6 times and have not been really that impressed. But of course they deserve to be in.
