SPORTS  |  LIFESTYLE  |  ATTITUDE  |  AUTHENTIC
YDKJ
  • HOME
  • About
  • Contact
  • Photos

College Football  |  Brand names obviously key to the CFP

12/4/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Alabama coach Nick Saban has no reason to yell at the CFP selection committee this year.
by Jack Kerwin  |  ydkjack1@gmail.com

I
t’s all about the brand, baby.

Strength of schedule. Good wins. Bad losses. Conference championships.

None of it matters, really.

When you get down to the nitty gritty of everything, it doesn’t.

Come College Football Playoff time, if your brand is strong, if it’s ingrained in people’s minds, you got a shot to get in – even if you have not one, but two bad losses, or no conference championship on your current resume. Heck, you don’t need an invite to the conference championship on it anymore.

This is what we call best? Unequivocally best?

Puh-leeze. Cue the Muttley laugh track …

Sorry, just not buying it. Especially the “without a doubt” proclamations.

Thing is, when you have more than 120 schools supporting gridiron programs at the highest non-professional level and only four are going to gain access to the winner-take-all party, debates and perhaps bitter feelings are going to emerge.

There is no perfect process to determine “the best” foursome, because they are far too many factors that even the most detailed analytics known to man could decipher, let alone what the “eye test” reveals.

But the big debate as the regular season closed for all schools not named Army or Navy was whether Alabama or Ohio State deserved to be the fourth and final entrant into the national semifinals, especially once it became clear that Clemson, Oklahoma and Georgia had nailed down berths …

Huh? Really? Say what?

If we’re not talking the two most recognizable brands in college football, neither would even be in the discussion. Or, more to the point, the sole focus of it.

The Buckeyes, frankly, had no business even being mentioned. Not when they had a 31-point loss on the road and a 15-point loss at home on their ledger.

The Tide? Only one loss, but it was a decisive one to its fiercest rival, and it didn’t even play in the title game for the Southeastern Conference, which, by the way, ranked a mere fourth among the Power 5 this fall. Yet, with Bama and SEC champ Georgia, it received two spots in the semis.

The mind boggles … or at least it should.

Forget the damn brands. Every team from No. 6 through 12 had as solid an argument, if not better, as Bama and fifth-ranked Ohio State for that final berth.
  • Wisconsin: 12 wins, its one loss to Ohio State by 6 in Big Ten title game, 2-1 vs. ranked teams.
  • Auburn: 10 wins, SEC finalist, 3-1 vs. ranked teams, including wins against Alabama and Georgia.
  • Southern California: 11 wins, Pac-12 champ, 3-2 vs. ranked teams.
  • Penn State: 10 wins, 1 win vs. ranked team, 2 road losses vs. ranked teams by combined 4 points.
  • Miami: 10 wins, Atlantic Coast Conference finalist, 2-1 vs. ranked teams.
  • Washington: 10 wins, 1-0 vs. ranked teams.
  • Central Florida: 12 wins, only undefeated FBS team in country, American Athletic Conference champ, 2-0 vs. ranked teams.

Reality is, expansion is needed in order to truly proclaim a legit national champ. Does it have to be 12, 16, 6 or 8?

Not really sure. But, right now, 4 isn’t enough. Not when the only separation you have between the haves and too many of the have-nots is brand name come playoff time.
​

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    NFL
    MLB
    NBA
    NHL
    NCAAFB
    ​NCAABB
    Eagles
    Phillies
    76ers
    Flyers
    Temple
    Villanova
    La Salle
    ​Saint Joe's
    ​Penn State

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    January 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015

    Best of 2018

    Picture

    Best of 2017

    Picture

    Best of 2016

    Picture

    Best of 2015

    Picture

    RSS Feed

Picture
Your source for insight ... or insanity

GET TO KNOW YDKJ

ABOUT    |    CONTACT   |    BLOG    |    PRIVACY POLICY

​© COPYRIGHT 2018   YDKJ   |   Terms & Conditions
Picture