Playoff Selection Committee

[butta54 371]

I mean a complete undefeated regular season (pre-bowl games) and that is just my guess at it. Again I have no idea why they made any of the rankings the way they did at any week this year. I'm just guessing some possible reasons.

[BwareDWare94 723]

Yes, I firmly believe Wisconsin mailed it in. There's no other explanation for that score.

[OSUViking 505]

Yes, I firmly believe Wisconsin mailed it in. There's no other explanation for that score.

 

Or, you know, OSU simply outplaying them in every facet of the game for every second of the game. That's totally unreasonable to expect from a team that also did the same thing to Michigan State at Michigan State. OSU dominated Wisconsin. They made Wisconsin their bitch. Deal with it.

[oochymp 2,393]

I didn't actually watch that game so it's hard for me to comment specifically, but it's hard for me to imagine a team that's got a shot at winning their conference and a place in one of the major bowl games throwing the conference championship, especially considering the number of players who will never play in the NFL, I really don't think any college players actually put conference pride ahead of team or individual pride

Edited December 7, 2014 by oochymp

[OSUViking 505]

that home loss was the first start of a freshman QB, they beat Navy 34-17 and Indiana 42-27, and they did come out of the road game against Penn State with a win, so I don't see why mid-game scores should have much meaning

 

 

 

Not to mention people seem to enjoy forgetting a few "questionable" roughing calls that extended otherwise dead drives that lead to a TD to make the score 17-14 and the game-tying field goal. The officiating was awful that game, but please don't act like it won OSU the game. Near the end, it almost put them in a position to lose.

[blotsfan 2,112]

Yeah wisconsins coach and players care more about the big 10 making the playoffs than their own pride/financial compensation (for the coach)

[butta54 371]

First off it is impossible for any football team to ever lay down. At most the QB can play crappy on purpose, but having over 22 guys each agree to bomb each play is never going to happen. Too many egos and personalities for everyone to be on the same page.

 

Second the Wisconsin AD is on the committee and I have to believe he leans more towards not voting for the team that destroyed his team than trying to "get the Big 10 in the playoffs" which pretty much means nothing for the other Big 10 teams.

[CampinWithaMissingPerson 2,025]

I don't think it's a given that 'Bama beats OSU either honestly. Like I've been saying this whole time: none of these teams are great. OSU has deep speed at WR which is an area 'Bama has struggled defending. Urban Meyer's resume speaks for itself. He gets teams up for big games, so does Saban obviously so this should be a great match-up.

 

but FSU was undefeated last week, are you saying the Committee did their rankings last week assuming FSU wouldn't complete its undefeated season? because otherwise by putting TCU ahead of FSU last week the Committee said they thought TCU was better than an undefeated FSU

 

Georgia Tech upsetting FSU was a very popular pick. But in terms of last week they looked at TCU blowing out Texas and FSU holding on narrowly against their rival in the Gators and judged TCU better. Not until FSU beat and looked much better against 11th ranked Georgia Tech did they decide FSU was better I guess

[oochymp 2,393]

yeah, but GT looked pretty bad today and FSU only won by 2, that really wasn't that impressive a win

[CampinWithaMissingPerson 2,025]

yeah, but GT looked pretty bad today and FSU only won by 2, that really wasn't that impressive a win

 

Did they look bad? They still did what they've been doing all year against people and that's running all over people getting 330 some yards rushing yet again (which is their average.) Only trouble was they played an offense in Florida State that they couldn't stop. Also as most know while watching the game the final score was closer than it really was. They scored a late garbage time TD and prior to that FSU was just running the ball every down late to kill clock and kick FGs instead of trying to score TDs for style points. Not saying that was some ultra impressive win or anything I just completely disagree that GT looked bad. They looked like Georgia Tech usually does.

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Ya, I'm as strong an anti-FSU person as you'll find this year, but I can't find any reason to criticize FSU for any kind of win over a team that was ranked 11th going into the game. The committee ranking FSU 3rd is 100% fair and accurate, I think.

[oochymp 2,393]

I guess I'm mainly thinking the second half, when FSU figured out how to stop the triple option and completely shut GT down, they're an incredibly one dimensional offense and, as you said, their defense couldn't do anything to even slow down FSU

[Milla4Prez63 678]

Shouldn't FSU be getting credit for that then? Instead people again just discredit their opponents and act like we play nothing but FCS teams.

[OSUViking 505]

Another interesting fact about OSU's "body of work"... 4 of the Top 10 defenses in the country come from the Big Ten. You have Penn State at #2, Wisconsin at #4, Michigan State at #7, and Michigan at #10. Ohio State was held to 293 total yards against Penn State, scorched Wisconsin last night, hit 568 yards against Michigan State, and managed 416 yards against Michigan. Three of those games were played on the road - two in hostile environments (Happy Valley, Spartan Stadium), and one on a neutral field. People are so quick to look past Bama's struggle against LSU and Arkansas, but neglect to mention that Happy Valley is easily one of the hardest places to play and currently has the #2 defense.

 

I'm by no means saying Bama is bad. I'm using them as a comparison. I think Bama is good. I'm very anxious about the game, and while I think either team can win it, I'll admit I think Bama is probably a more polished team right now. I'm also not trying to say the Big Ten is stronger than the SEC (even though I don't think the SEC is that far above any other conference this year), I'm just trying to put to rest the argument that the Penn State game should have kept us from the playoff. Also, I'm trying to point out OSU has played some good fucking defenses and torched them (Wisconsin, Michigan State) while also having a pretty solid game against Michigan.

[Bucman 891]

Only Bware would think a college players would throw a game for money they will never see

[oochymp 2,393]

Shouldn't FSU be getting credit for that then? Instead people again just discredit their opponents and act like we play nothing but FCS teams.

fair enough, but I still don't think it's impressive enough to move ahead of a team that won 55-3, if you think TCU is better than FSU then the only addition to the resume is that FSU comes out with a narrow win against a good team while TCU destroys a bad team then how do you justify changing your opinion on the ranking?

 

as I said initially, I don't really have an issue with the four teams that made the playoffs, the issue is in dropping TCU behind FSU based on this week's performance, but I think the mistake was placing TCU at #3 the week prior which forces this question, if they'd left TCU at #4 then I don't think anyone would have an issue with OSU taking their spot, falling behind Baylor is another issue entirely but I'm not sure the functional difference between #5 and #6 is really significant since the non-playoff bowls generally get to choose who they get and both teams did get a spot in one of the New Year's bowl games

[BJORN 679]

So last week, it was obviously close between FSU & TCU. It's not hard to see why a legit win against a good top 25 team in Georgia Tech would vault FSU over TCU. The reality is a win over ISU is expected and does nothing for your resume. So basically, TCU's resume was set in stone last week, while FSU still had work to do. (Same could be said for OSU and Baylor). I really wanted TCU to make it, Boykin is the most exciting player in college ball. If anything my qualms are with OSU making it over them and Baylor.

[butta54 371]

OSU beat a "hot" Wisconsin team 59-0 with a third string QB...

 

I personally believe the move was to avoid the whole Baylor/TCU debate. But there is no denying the impressive performance Ohio State had and the talent on their roster.

 

Also as many analyst have pointed out today, you look at the what all three teams did this weekend and TCU's was least impressive.

Edited December 8, 2014 by butta55

[Bucman 891]

Yeah TCU was least impressive, ISU even helped by throwing the game.

[Vin+ 3,121]

BWareman.

[Thanatos 2,847]

Another interesting fact about OSU's "body of work"... 4 of the Top 10 defenses in the country come from the Big Ten. You have Penn State at #2, Wisconsin at #4, Michigan State at #7, and Michigan at #10. Ohio State was held to 293 total yards against Penn State, scorched Wisconsin last night, hit 568 yards against Michigan State, and managed 416 yards against Michigan. Three of those games were played on the road - two in hostile environments (Happy Valley, Spartan Stadium), and one on a neutral field. People are so quick to look past Bama's struggle against LSU and Arkansas, but neglect to mention that Happy Valley is easily one of the hardest places to play and currently has the #2 defense.

 

I'm by no means saying Bama is bad. I'm using them as a comparison. I think Bama is good. I'm very anxious about the game, and while I think either team can win it, I'll admit I think Bama is probably a more polished team right now. I'm also not trying to say the Big Ten is stronger than the SEC (even though I don't think the SEC is that far above any other conference this year), I'm just trying to put to rest the argument that the Penn State game should have kept us from the playoff. Also, I'm trying to point out OSU has played some good fucking defenses and torched them (Wisconsin, Michigan State) while also having a pretty solid game against Michigan.

I'm not saying they dont deserve it, but I also don't see why TCU got dropped.

 

Really should have had a six-team playoff this year.

[oochymp 2,393]

I'm not saying they dont deserve it, but I also don't see why TCU got dropped.

 

Really should have had a six-team playoff this year.

the problem with that line of thinking is those last two words, you can't just decide "okay, we have six good teams this year, they'll all get a chance" maybe next year there'll be two teams that are clearly better than the rest, you can't change the rules mid-season

 

I think the root of the issue is that teams don't fully decide their own fate on the field, the Committee intercedes, which is why with five major conferences there should be eight playoff spots so that all of the conference winners get in (stipulating that conferences submit a single champion) then you can let the Committee fill out the other three spots, that way it's actually on the teams to play their way in

[Milla4Prez63 678]

TCU never should've been ranked #3 to begin with, and honestly I'm glad the committee admitted their mistake rather than arrogantly sticking to their guns to avoid admitting mistake.

[OSUViking 505]

I'm not saying they dont deserve it, but I also don't see why TCU got dropped.

 

Really should have had a six-team playoff this year.

 

You can take this with a grain of salt coming from an obviously partial Buckeye fan, but beating Iowa State 55-3 doesn't look very impressive compared to beating #13 Wisconsin 59-0. That's probably such a rehashed statement at this point that I don't blame you if you just get annoyed by that, but it's how I see it. The committee supposedly doesn't take the last week's rankings in with them (I really don't believe the last rankings don't influence their next ones), and if they were looking at what team was in better form then I'd assume they looked at an Ohio State team that just boat raced Wisconsin, despite struggling against Indiana a few weeks prior.

 

What I personally don't understand is TCU dropping below Baylor. Baylor may have beaten TCU, but as it was mentioned it was a close, come-from-behind win. It's not like Baylor established their dominance in that game. Baylor pulled off a great game, but I think it may have gone differently had it been played anywhere else. That last statement doesn't matter because it wasn't played anywhere else, but I think we have to take into consideration how dominant TCU was in that game up until the final portion of it. The TCU-Baylor resumes were really quite similar (Baylor destroying an Oklahoma team that TCU played close, TCU putting a whooping on a K-State team that Baylor played close. Idk. I think TCU should have stayed above Baylor, but who's to say they shouldn't have been in the playoff altogether. I agree it doesn't make much sense to put a team to #3 and then drop them to #6.

[.AirMcNair. 1,232]

How the fuck does one become a fan of two teams in the same damn conference? I mean being a fan of 2 teams in the same sport is weird enough as it is, but in the same conference?