Running CFB playoff thread

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Yes, three decades ago and OSU has won national titles since. I don't think Herbstreit has had a great few weeks with all the playoff flip-flopping and criticizing, and then he goes full waterfall after the natty. Just not impressed.

They're never going to talk about how emotionally fragile that man is, all the way down to needing an emotional support animal. Then again, maybe they can't at this point because it's a HIPAA violation.

 

[playthrough]

It occurs to me that Ryan Day's baller move would be to jump into another thread and take one of the vacant NFL jobs. "Let Chip beat Michigan for you, you ungrateful jerks. I'm outta here."

Would be great if he retired and moved someplace warm. He can't need more money and his family would be better off. That fan base cannot be satiated; last night will wear off in nine months.

 

[Hermes]

Ohio State fans not only want to win 85 pervent of their games, beat Michigan and win the national title. They want you to be an unrepentant ashhole while doing it. And they expect you to be from Ohio. So John Cooper and Ryan Day, no matter how much success they have, can never be Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Jim Tressel or Urban Meyer.

It's an insane standard. He should stay one or two more years and then cash in at an NFL or less pressure-filled college program that will still pay him like a top five coach with a 10-year contract and treat him like a king.

 

[TigerVols]

So out of the 11 playoff games, there was one that was legitimately dramatic (Az. State-Texas), one competitive with a late decisive play (OSU-Texas), one kinda upset (ND-Georgia), and the rest blowouts. In the 10 NFL playoff games so far, there have been three wildly dramatic games decided in the last two minutes (Commies-Bucs, Bills-Ravens, Eagles-Rams), one big upset (Commies-Lions), and the rest snoozers or absolute blowouts. That really looks like random difference to me. And yet, I get more interest in the NFL playoffs as they go on, while the college playoff is eerily like its March Madness equivalent. I was more interest at the start than at the finish.
Is this me, or is it an experience endemic to college sports?

I think I can speak for another poster when I say we were wildly more interested at the start than at the end.

 

[Gutter]

So out of the 11 playoff games, there was one that was legitimately dramatic (Az. State-Texas), one competitive with a late decisive play (OSU-Texas), one kinda upset (ND-Georgia), and the rest blowouts.

You left out Notre Dame-Penn State.

 

[franticscribe]

So out of the 11 playoff games, there was one that was legitimately dramatic (Az. State-Texas), one competitive with a late decisive play (OSU-Texas), one kinda upset (ND-Georgia), and the rest blowouts. In the 10 NFL playoff games so far, there have been three wildly dramatic games decided in the last two minutes (Commies-Bucs, Bills-Ravens, Eagles-Rams), one big upset (Commies-Lions), and the rest snoozers or absolute blowouts. That really looks like random difference to me. And yet, I get more interest in the NFL playoffs as they go on, while the college playoff is eerily like its March Madness equivalent. I was more interest at the start than at the finish.
Is this me, or is it an experience endemic to college sports?

I enjoyed the college football playoff considerably this year. I watched four full games and half of two others. It's been many years since I watched that much of the college football postseason. A lot of years, I might've watched only one or two bowl games. I think the last title game I watched was Clemson's first championship over Alabama.

To me, the 12-team playoff format resulted in the first legitimate national championship of my lifetime (gross that it had to be tOSU, but whatever). I definitely think it could stand some improvements - particularly with the seeding and the determinations about who gets the byes. I've long had a love-hate relationship with football, but now that there's a real playoff I find myself more interested in college football than I have been in a very long time.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

So out of the 11 playoff games, there was one that was legitimately dramatic (Az. State-Texas), one competitive with a late decisive play (OSU-Texas), one kinda upset (ND-Georgia), and the rest blowouts. In the 10 NFL playoff games so far, there have been three wildly dramatic games decided in the last two minutes (Commies-Bucs, Bills-Ravens, Eagles-Rams), one big upset (Commies-Lions), and the rest snoozers or absolute blowouts. That really looks like random difference to me. And yet, I get more interest in the NFL playoffs as they go on, while the college playoff is eerily like its March Madness equivalent. I was more interest at the start than at the finish.
Is this me, or is it an experience endemic to college sports?

Not just you. I watched and enjoyed the college football playoffs, primarily for gambling reasons - thank you, Ohio State, for that late field goal! Covered the -8.5 for me and got me a $475 payday for the pick'em pool I won.

But it didn't change my college football bowl game/playoff interest. I follow the teams I have a vested interest in and am a casual observer for the rest. Always have been that way.

The NFL playoffs are much more appealing to me. You can inject things like Bills-Ravens, Bills-Chiefs, even Eagles-Packers, directly into my veins.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

You left out Notre Dame-Penn State.

Fair enough. That was also a good competitive game. Come to think of it, more evidence for the proposition that as games, the two playoffs haven't been that different.

 

[dixiehack]

Ohio State fans not only want to win 85 pervent of their games, beat Michigan and win the national title. They want you to be an unrepentant ashhole while doing it. And they expect you to be from Ohio. So John Cooper and Ryan Day, no matter how much success they have, can never be Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Jim Tressel or Urban Meyer.

It's an insane standard. He should stay one or two more years and then cash in at an NFL or less pressure-filled college program that will still pay him like a top five coach with a 10-year contract and treat him like a king.

At least on radio, the postgame interview prompts to players brought up "the adversity you faced" and the pressure their coach was under without naming what the adversity and pressure specifically was: a fan base having a psychotic break because of four of their coach's 10 losses in a 6-year career. But God forbid we talk about the actual storyline. I'm sure it was the same way on TV.

 

[Webster]

If OSU lost, those two really iffy DPI calls would be a talking point.

 

[Songbird]

JD Vance will never have a wetter dream kind of day than January 20, 2025.

 

[HanSenSE]

1) My biggest complaint about the playoff is it seemed too long, then got lost in the shuffle when the NFL playoffs started. Wonder if there was a way to start in early December? It seems they're locked into late January finales for a couple of years, however. And spare me the "must give the student-athletes time to take finals" talk, schools on the quarter system like Stanford have been able to juggle both during March Madness. As it is, the start of the spring term is just a few weeks away in many places.

2) Eventually, I think we'll see a divorce between the CFP and the bowls. Don't know what happened in other games, but it was kind of sad to see Rose Bowl week traditions like the Beef Bowl and trips to Disneyland swept aside. In the case of the Granddaddy, the romanticism of B1G vs. Pac-?? is gone. Would it be that much of a killer to let, say, Boise State and Northwestern enjoy the sunset and let the power schools have their own games?

3) Wondering how much of the convicted felon's appearance is related to the settlement his people reached with ABC? Wonder if we might see him on the Manningcast next fall?