If there were a legit playoff...

[Lord_Byron]

Heard an interesting stat today...excluding games against each other...Clemson and Alabama are a combined 106-4 over the last 110 (I admit that's an arbitrary number) games. Still...it makes you question if NCAA football isn't where the NBA was with Golden State and Cleveland. Two teams so far removed from everyone else that the vast majority of teams are playing for...nothing

And one of those four is Dino Babers' Syracuse team in 2017. (my daughter won't let me forget it)

[hammb]

Heard an interesting stat today...excluding games against each other...Clemson and Alabama are a combined 106-4 over the last 110 (I admit that's an arbitrary number) games. Still...it makes you question if NCAA football isn't where the NBA was with Golden State and Cleveland. Two teams so far removed from everyone else that the vast majority of teams are playing for...nothing

Been that way for awhile.

Personally I'd expand it by a few. Add Oklahoma, Ohio State, and Georgia at the very least.

Those 5 teams are so vastly superior to the rest of college football. Then the next tier is maybe 15-25 teams, and then huge dropoffs from there as well.

By the time you get to all the dropoffs to MAC football it's painful.

I think the money aspect is the biggest reason. These big schools can afford blank checks to the right coaches so they don't leave. They also have world class training facilities, nutrition/training staff, etc. They're basically NFL teams with 18-22 year old kids.

The other thing that nobody wants to talk about, but I feel is probably contributing mightily is the decline in HS players playing football. There are about 5% less kids playing football today as there were 10 years ago. Assuming that decline is reflected at each level of recruit (5% fewer 5*, 5% fewer 4*, etc), would mean less talent is making it to the lower levels. The top dogs are going to bring in the same number of kids they always did, they're just dipping down a bit further in the talent pool. By the time it gets to BG we're taking kids now that probably were 1AA players 10 years ago.

Also worth discussing the fact that social media and internet has exponentially increased exposure for kids across he talent spectrum. Gone are the days where a 4* caliber player from a small school in NW Ohio gets a 2* grade because of lack of exposure. This is why my above point about fewer players at least star level hasn't shown in the numbers, despite showing in reality. It's why our recruiting classes look so much better now than they did 20 years ago, even though you'd have to be blind to think the 2018 team was as talented as our 2002 team. Nowadays if a kid can play at OSU/Clemson/bama it's almost a lock they'll get seen and recruited by those schools. That wasn't the case even 20 years ago.

I'll always follow and root for BG to win. But to me college football has become a total garbage product on the whole. You know going in there are only like 5 teams playing for the real prize, and a vast majority of the games are snoozefests. WHen the sport is good it can still be really amazing, but those games are just fewer and further between.

[Falconwriter]

I think this only shows the field should be expanded. A lot of "experts" went to the mat trying to get Georgia in and they absolutely did not deserve it. The playoffs and bowl season showed us this. If your best "win" is a loss to your arch rival in the league title game, and you lost to the only other team of note on your schedule (LSU) by 20 points, you should not remain in the discussion for a playoff. I think the bowl outcome sort of confirmed this, even though I put less stock in bowl games.

This year's playoff also proves -- once again -- that the CFPC has no clue what it's doing. Since the inception of this system, that group has not correctly seeded the teams even once. No No. 1 seeded team has won the title. Perhaps if they weren't so busy defending the SEC bias, and revising their arguments to suit their selections (as opposed to actually following the criteria they set down), they might do a better job.

Expand the playoff to eight teams. Give the P5 champions an automatic bid (Notre Dame would have to join the ACC or another conference to be eligible), and then have three at-large berths to be used for teams like Central Florida or another mid Major that has done very well, or second place P5 teams if they've had a lot of success outside of losing their conference title game. Then have the first round of games at the home fields of the top 4 seeds. The Final Four can be done like it is now, at rotating sites. The whole thing would add exactly one more week to the existing season...and not even that if they'd eliminate the two weeks between the semi-finals and final.

[Flipper]

Given the current playing field
..expanding the invitational would just add a week or two until we get the inevitable Alabama vs Clemson game.

[Redwingtom]

...Clemson would have just defeated Alabama 44-16 to win the National Title.

[Redwingtom]

I believe in the last several years, a grand total of 3 teams have won a playoff game. Alabama, Clemson and Georgia. There is no current need for expansion. The "problems" run way deeper than how many teams are in the post season playoff.