My reaction to the field of 12 this year and what I would change:
The committee put Miami in over Notre Dame. I figured they would, but I disagree. It’s pretty tough to argue Notre Dame over Miami, but I’ll tell you where I’m coming from.
Notre Dame has played a lot better since their initial losses and they would beat Miami if they played again. In fact, I think Notre Dame would beat them by double digits. Notre Dame has consistently dominated since their loss to A&M, inlcuding a double digit win against USC.
Miami has been anything but consistent. They struggled with Florida and they let Florida State and Virgina Tech hang around for a while. They also lost to very average teams like Louisville and SMU. They have been good, sometimes great, but they have also looked very average at times.
I think Notre Dame could have contended for a championship. They had a shot to win it last year, and I think they are even better this time around. All this being said, I understand why Miami made it, and you really can’t get mad about it. I do think it is lame that Notre Dame pussed out of the Pop Tarts Bowl. I really would have liked to see them play BYU.
I am less frustrated with the rankings, I am more frustrated with the whole playoff structure. Why are we including G5 teams? Why have teams that aren’t in the Top 12? I have done the research. Almost every single year there is a team from each P4 conference that finishes in the Top 12, and every now and then a G5 team sneaks in (like Boise State last year). We don’t need autobids. A team from every P4 conference was in the top 12 this year, so what’s the problem?
I propose that we get rid of auto bids and get rid of conference championships. The playoffs under a system like that would have looked like this:
1 Ohio State
2 Indiana
3 Georgia
4 Texas Tech
5 Oregon vs 12 Miami
6 Ole Miss vs 11 BYU
7 Texas A&M vs 10 Notre Dame
8 Oklahoma vs 9 Alabama
Doesn’t that look so much better? Every team would have had the same amount of rest going into the playoffs as well. Instead, we have Tulane and James Madison being included over Notre Dame and BYU who had fantastic seasons.
I also think Texas and Vanderbilt should have been included, but I understand why they were left out. Texas was 9-3 with a bad loss against Florida, and they struggled with Mississippi State and Kentucky. Vanderbilt didn’t have any Top 25 wins (misleading because I believe Tennessee and Missouri were Top 25 caliber, the committee just didn’t rank them because they are stupid), and they didn’t stand much of a chance against Alabama or Texas.
All of this arguing I would normally say is stupid. Who cares who 11 and 12 are? It’s not like they have a chance at winning the championship anyways. Well, that is normally the case, but not this time. The committee isn’t just 1 or 2 spots wrong on Notre Dame, they are 4 spots off. Notre Dame is no. 11, but I think they should be number 7 and hosting a game in the 1st round. Notre Dame would be one of a few legitamate championship contenders, and they are being completely left out. Last year, Alabama, Ole Miss, and South Carolina were left out of playoffs, all teams that were better than SMU and Indiana, but ultimately none of them really had a shot at winning the championship (except for maybe Ole Miss).
A 4 team playoff would have actually been pretty easy to pick this year as Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia, and Texas Tech make a clear top 4. Texas A&M would have an arguement with a win oer Notre Dame, but Texas Tech won their conference and have looked unstoppable (outside of when ASU beat them, but TTU didn’t have their QB and they should have won the game anyways). Ole Miss has the win over Oklahoma, but I doubt they would have been considered after the departure of Lane Kiffin. Oregon has no wins that come close to the top 4, so they wouldn’t be considered either. The only thing that would have made this complicated is if Alabama won the SEC championship, improving them to 11-2. I’d imagine they probably would have been included at 11-2, but there is a possiblity A&M would have been the SEC’s representative. Ultimately, the 4 team playoff would have included the 4 main contenders, and there would have been very little controversy, thus supporting that we probably shouldn’t have moved to the 12 team format.
The committee did a decent job, as they did last year, but ultimately it is the format that is the real problem.
JacobErwin.com 