Tuesday with Gorney: 5 thoughts on the first round of the CFB playoffs.
After the first weekend of the College Football Playoff, Rivals’ national recruiting director adam gorney I have some thoughts. Here are his top five:
1. Ocular examination should be used for seeding.
This may be arbitrary, as eyeball tests can be very tricky and sometimes deceptive, but the committee is too focused on seeding conference champions too high. , doesn’t fully take into account the strength of the schedule and how incredibly difficult the SEC and Big Ten are. Now after expansion.
I hope this situation changes in the coming years. It’s unfair that the SEC is runner-up (texas) Should have hosted Clemson in the opener, but the Big 12 champions arizona Even though this conference is not as difficult to navigate as the SEC, it received a bye.
The same argument holds for pennsylvania state universityThey only lost once in the regular season ( ohio), and did not suffer a second loss until losing to Oregon in the conference championship.
2. Boise State getting a first-round bye is ridiculous.
If a Group 5 team has to participate, it will almost always be the 12th seed and must play in all rounds. That may sound harsh or unfair, but let’s be real. The Broncos have a much easier schedule to get to this spot and should need to win at every stage of the playoffs to win it all.
give boise state A bye is ridiculous when they also have to play Texas, Penn State, Ohio State, and even ACC champion Clemson. Too much weight was placed on the Broncos winning the Mountain West – they did. UNLV In the conference championship, it was a big deal. And while they probably had a very strong performance in a three-point loss to Oregon, the schedule is a joke.
Texas’ last three games were against Clemson. georgia and Texas A&M. Boise’s final three are UNLV; oregon (One of the toughest matchups all season) and won by 4 points. wyoming.
3. Oregon had a very tough draw.
Some would argue that of the four teams that received byes in the first round – Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State – the Ducks were the toughest opponent in the second round.
Penn State has never looked more solid SMU, notre dame cathedral shattered Indiana Texas pulled away from Clemson, but Ohio State was a phenomenal opponent. tennessee In a very close game in Columbus. There was talk during the preseason that the Buckeyes might be the best team in the country, and they looked that way Saturday night.
Why this tie makes it tougher for Oregon State – Wouldn’t the Ducks want to play Penn State again like they did in the Big Ten Championship or use that speed against Notre Dame? They’ve beaten Ohio State once this season, and it’s tougher than usual to beat the team twice.
On Oct. 12, Ohio State visited Oregon and quarterback Will Howard was a second off the clock. Otherwise, the Buckeyes could have brought in a field goal unit and kicked a potential game-winner against the Ducks. Ohio State and Oregon State looking for revenge in the Rose Bowl is shaping up to be a classic matchup, the toughest matchup for the Ducks.
4. Sean McDonough served a humble pie.
As Notre Dame dominated Indiana on Friday night, play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough lashed out at the Big Ten, especially the Hoosiers who had qualified, wondering if the ACC was being disrespected. did.
“They need to lose the assumption that the SEC and the Big Ten are clearly head and shoulders above other companies, especially the Big Ten,” McDonough said. “The SEC has a recent (history of) AlabamaGeorgia, has it been since 2002 that the Big Ten has won two national championships in college football? That’s 22 seasons. I don’t understand why there is such speculation. A lot of people seem to think the Big 10 in particular is much better than the ACC or Big 12, but I’m not sure what they base that on.
“People talk a lot about the strength of schedule, but, well, I guess we’re playing each other. So we’re saying, ‘Well, our league is better than other leagues, so our What if your league is no better than the other leagues? Is the strength of your schedule better than the others?
The next day, Penn State of the Big Ten completely dominated SMU, 38-10, in a victory that included two pick-sixes. After the Longhorns fell 7-0, Texas defeated Clemson 38-24. The ACC is out of the playoffs and McDonough may be crazy.
5. It’s not perfect, but 12 teams is better than 4.
Despite all the debate and discussion about whether Indiana State and SMU should have been in the College Football Playoff, whether Arizona State and Boise State should have gotten first-round byes, and Saturday’s total loss, Having 12 teams is much better than having only one team. Four.
It never made sense to have only four spots in the old Power Five conferences. The team was frequently eliminated from the playoffs. I feel sorry for the SEC team – Alabama Ole Missto some extent south carolina – Regarding not being able to play, but in another sense, all three of them didn’t work out at some point this season.
12 may be a good number, it may not be perfect, but it’s definitely better than 4.
