College Football season is about to kick off. Here are our record projections for every team

[TUGBrian]

believe FCS does it for logistical reasons and that those teams would not likely draw enough of a crowd at an major stadium venue to make it profitable.

are just far too many pointless bowls in this day and age not to be able to make the cfp fit in those slots.

 

[Elan]

believe FCS does it for logistical reasons and that those teams would not likely draw enough of a crowd at an major stadium venue to make it profitable.

are just far too many pointless bowls in this day and age not to be able to make the cfp fit in those slots.

Yes, definitely logistics for FCS. Though that's not a factor for FBS, I just like it better. I didn't read numbers, but it seems like attendance was great for the first round games.
Agree that there are too many bowls.

 

[beejaybee]

All I can say is that I hope the next round of games (NYE and Day) is worth watching! We ran errands during much of the Texas-Clemson game and binged on old Forensic Files shows during the Tennessee-Ohio State game.

Yeah, that wasn’t fun or entertaining. With the exception of Clemson -Texas for a brief few minutes in the 4th quarter, those games were boring as hell.

As a Buckeye fan, watching us win over the Vols was fun and entertaining! Especially after the debacle on November 30th!

 

[Rolltydr]

As a Buckeye fan, watching us win over the Vols was fun and entertaining! Especially after the debacle on November 30th!

As a Tide fan, it’s always a little satisfying to see all those people wearing their ugly orange color and sad faces.

 

[Elan]

I've noticed the SEC fan bases have gotten awfully quiet on social media after the beatdown Tennessee took. Anyone checked on Lane Kiffin?

 

[Elan]

From an article I just read summarizing this past weekend's games:

Stringing up sacrificial lambs is nothing new in college football. Semifinal games during the first 10 years of the CFP were decided by an average of 17.9 points. The national champion has won the title by at least 15 points the last six years.

You're asking, "Is this what we want college football to be?" That's not a question worth answering. After all, if you've been paying attention, it has always been this way.

 

[Rolltydr]

I've noticed the SEC fan bases have gotten awfully quiet on social media after the beatdown Tennessee took. Anyone checked on Lane Kiffin?

Trust me, Lane won’t stay silent for long.

 

[Rolltydr]

From an article I just read summarizing this past weekend's games:

Stringing up sacrificial lambs is nothing new in college football. Semifinal games during the first 10 years of the CFP were decided by an average of 17.9 points. The national champion has won the title by at least 15 points the last six years.

You're asking, "Is this what we want college football to be?" That's not a question worth answering. After all, if you've been paying attention, it has always been this way.

Precisely why I liked the BCS. It’s really not that hard to select the 2 best teams. A 4 team playoff? Ok, it’s only one more round but the semi final games were still usually routs. Jumping straight to 12 teams was just a money grab. I understand it. They couldn’t turn down that much money. But, most of the first round and quarter final games are going to suck.

So, by continuing to expand, they just keep proving that 2 was the correct number all along!

 

[Elan]

Precisely why I liked the BCS. It’s really not that hard to select the 2 best teams. A 4 team playoff? Ok, it’s only one more round but the semi final games were still usually routs. Jumping straight to 12 teams was just a money grab. I understand it. They couldn’t turn down that much money. But, most of the first round and quarter final games are going to suck.

So, by continuing to expand, they just keep proving that 2 was the correct number all along!

I'm not sure how you can feel that way when the data from the 4 team playoff era says otherwise. In that 10 year history, the 1 and 2 seeds played each other in the final only 4 times, meaning the committee got it wrong 60% of the time, including two years when the #4 seed won it all...
I'd much rather they shortened the season and let more teams in a playoff (12-16) than the other way around. Just let the teams decide things on the field instead of by some agenda driven committee.

Just curious, however; who would be your 2 teams this year?

 

[Rolltydr]

I'm not sure how you can feel that way when the data from the 4 team playoff era says otherwise. In that 10 year history, the 1 and 2 seeds played each other in the final only 4 times, meaning the committee got it wrong 60% of the time, including two years when the #4 seed won it all...
I'd much rather they shortened the season and let more teams in a playoff (12-16) than the other way around. Just let the teams decide things on the field instead of by some agenda driven committee.

Just curious, however; who would be your 2 teams this year?

First, I disagree the committee is agenda driven. They are a diverse enough group from all areas of the country and backgrounds including administration, coaching and fandom. I believe they are fair and impartial and try to do the best job they can knowing a good segment of fans is going to be mad anyway because their team wasn’t selected, didn’t get a bye or a home game. Nothing they do, and nothing that comes in the future, is going to make everyone happy, not even you and I.

As for the best two teams this year… I must admit this is probably the closest the top 4 teams have been since the CFP started. I say that not having seen much of Oregon. But based on their record, strength of schedule and mini-rout of Ohio State, I’d have them at 1. To me, Georgia, Texas and Notre Dame are almost identical. ND has the worst loss to NIU but it was early in the year and they looked a little better to me down the stretch than TX and GA. I’d then have GA at 3 and TX at 4 based on their head to head. That leaves Penn State out. They barely beat Bowling Green, USC, Minnesota and have already lost to Ohio State and Oregon. I can defend that decision.

 

[Brett]

Yes, definitely logistics for FCS. Though that's not a factor for FBS, I just like it better. I didn't read numbers, but it seems like attendance was great for the first round games.
Agree that there are too many bowls.

There's never too many bowls
.
I don't watch most of them but if family or friends went to the school and I'm not doing anything else I might tune in (or drop out)
Wasabi Bowl !
Duke Mayonnaise bowl !
Go Bowling Military bowl !

 

[TUGBrian]

just so many people on different sides of the fence.

heck I even heard one sports analyist flat out say he didnt care who deserved it or not and that he considers d1 ball a business and that business would generate more profit had they put in alabama over smu/clemson/indiana/boise state/etc etc

note he didnt argue they would produce a better game, just that it would have been a better business decision and hes probably not wrong. most if not all of the games in the first round would have likely drawn more money in ticket prices and commercials.

 

[pedro47]

ND bracket is more easy than Oregon. IMHO
Oregon must play a fired up Ohio State team next.

 

[geist1223]

Need to cut down on the number of playoff Teams/Games. It is just a money grab. But the same can be said for the NFL, MLB, NBA, etc.

 

[beejaybee]

There's never too many bowls
.
I don't watch most of them but if family or friends went to the school and I'm not doing anything else I might tune in (or drop out)
Wasabi Bowl !
Duke Mayonnaise bowl !
Go Bowling Military bowl !

I think I will choose which bowl games to watch based on the sponsor!
Love Cheez-Its, Pop Tarts, Frosted Flakes, Dukes, and VRBO.
Will have to skip the Peach Bowl since not a fan of Chick-Fil-A.
I will watch the Rose Bowl despite the sponsor (Bucks over Ducks!).

 

[Rjbeach2003]

The biggest thing shown this year is that they need to seed all the games. That is the main reason for imbalance in most of the second round games, except for Oregon-Ohio State.

 

[pedro47]

IMHO, they need to reduce the number of regular season games.
Bowl games should be based upon a team winning record and the strength of teams they defeated. No team that win only six (6) games should be bowl eligible. No player should be able to opt out a bowl game because they want to be drafted by the NFL. IMO.

All bowl games that draw less than 20,000 paying spectators should be eliminated.

 

[Rolltydr]

IMHO, they need to reduce the number of regular season games.

I agree with reducing the regular season but it’s never going to happen. The only solution at this point is move the start of the season up a week or two and start the playoffs on the first weekend in December, allowing the championship game to be no later than the first weekend in January. Ideally, the conference championship games would go away in favor of the first round games but that is going to require a lot of TV money and probably 3 or 4 automatic qualifiers for the Big 10 and SEC to make up for the lost revenue from those games. As far as I’m concerned, they can eliminate the bowl games.

 

[TUGBrian]

doubt any team is going to get rid of a game every year, too much money to throw away for most schools!

im all for getting rid of the automatic bids though, IMO thats causing bigger issues than anything else.

also dont know how they will make it fair for teams who play in a conf championship game which adds yet another game to only a small number of teams, but likely the winner will be in the top 12 and move on thus making it somewhat unfair to them that half the remaining top 12 would essentially get an extra week off to recover/prepare while they instead have to play a really good team or a rival in a game that has zero impact on the playoff selection now.

 

[Rolltydr]

doubt any team is going to get rid of a game every year, too much money to throw away for most schools!

im all for getting rid of the automatic bids though, IMO thats causing bigger issues than anything else.

also dont know how they will make it fair for teams who play in a conf championship game which adds yet another game to only a small number of teams, but likely the winner will be in the top 12 and move on thus making it somewhat unfair to them that half the remaining top 12 would essentially get an extra week off to recover/prepare while they instead have to play a really good team or a rival in a game that has zero impact on the playoff selection now.

I think there’s at least a 50/50 chance the Big 10 and SEC, maybe a couple ACC teams (FSU, Miami and possibly NC), and Notre Dame form their own division with a total of 40-50 teams, and either have complete autonomy within the NCAA or leave the NCAA altogether. They will get a massive TV contract, possibly with multiple networks, similar to the NFL. Their playoff system would also be similar to the NFL. The schedules would be equitable and playoff spots would be based solely on wins and losses. And, for those who say it’ll never happen because it’s too much like the NFL, that’s exactly why it will happen. The NFL is the most popular television product and there is not a close second. 19 of 20 most watched TV programs of all-time are Super Bowls, the other was the MASH finale. The NFL is popular worldwide and draws a global audience and makes a lot more money.

Does anyone really believe the top tier of universities playing college football will turn down more guaranteed billions to play bigger and better games, against better competition, that will also better prepare the athletes for the NFL? If you’ve paid any attention to the moves by B1G commissioner Pettiti and SEC commissioner Sankey over the past couple of years, you shouldn’t be surprised.

 

[TUGBrian]

certainly wouldnt have thought years ago college kids would be getting multi million dollar contracts to play!

 

[pedro47]

certainly wouldnt have thought years ago college kids would be getting multi million dollar contracts to play!

Plus, college players now can make big dollars while actively playing football or basketball in season.

 

[Rolltydr]

Plus, college players now can make big dollars while actively playing football or basketball in season.

Very few make big bucks. This is from a Sports Illustrated article earlier this year:

“One shocking discovery was that over half of NIL deals are valued at $100 or less. Most people hear about luxurious deals with high price tags, but most athletes aren't coming across those often.

The median disclosure value, meaning the middle price tag when all deals are sorted from least to greatest, is actually just $62. The average is much higher at $2,716.”

So, there are a few college athletes who are good enough at their sport, AND also, have the name and facial recognition required to demand six figure contracts. However, those are few and far between. Remember, the NIL money is coming mostly from local businesses supporting their local teams. They aren’t just handing out tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to an unknown lineman or 2nd team safety. Their businesses wouldn’t be successful if they made decisions like that.

 

[pedro47]

ND bracket is more easy than Oregon. IMHO
Oregon must play a fired up Ohio State team next.

I predicted that Oregon with play a fire up Ohio State team on December 23, 2024. Will my prediction hold true or false?

 

[Brett]

I predicted that Oregon with play a fire up Ohio State team on December 23, 2024. Will my prediction hold true or false?

Ducks are done