Weekly Top 10 Review Topic

moranis
Posts: 2919 (0)
Hall of Famer
8 7 6 19 42 51 1 2
Prospect
to be fair Mike, before Michigan State and Florida State last year, the last time a team in a power conference went undefeated in conference play (aside from teams on probation) was 2010.  That is a two year gap with no teams.  This year there were two teams as well.  It isn't near as frequent as you make it seem.  That is where the non-con comes in.

This year Alabama's victory over West Virginia didn't matter because the SEC West is so good and Alabama has the history and sway.  I don't think Oregon's victory over Michigan State is the reason Oregon is in either, though it might be part of the reason they are at 2 ahead of Florida State.  I do however think that if Baylor had a victory over a team like Mississippi State, Arizona, Georgia Tech, Missouri, etc. it would be in the playoffs ahead of Ohio State.  That one victory would have made a huge difference for Baylor.

12/9/2014 10:27 AM
MikeT23
Posts: 58012 (0)
Hall of Famer
87 1 47 1 189
Prospect
Posted by AlCheez on 12/8/2014 8:46:00 PM (view original):
Yeah, to be clear, I wasn't alleging anything either.  I do think this couldn't have worked out much better for the first year of the playoff though.

I was looking back through old standings this morning out of curiosity on the whole "undefeated power conference" thing.  In the last 5 years, I saw that 6 power conference teams made it through their conference play (championship game included) undefeated.   (FSU this year and last, OSU this year, MSU in 2013, Auburn and Oregon in 2010)  It's 7 if you include OSU in 2012 when they were postseason ineligible.  A couple others were undefeated in the regular season and lost in the conference title game, but really doesn't change anything because you have to win that game to get that "automatic" spot.

While I'm with what you said earlier in the thread about no one planning to lose, the reality is that going undefeated in the conference is always a dicey proposition for even the best teams.  You're going to want a schedule that helps you out if you drop one somewhere, unless literally everyone goes that way with their non-con.
This post.   It's 7 times in the last 5 seasons.    That's "pretty much every year". 
12/9/2014 10:36 AM
MikeT23
Posts: 58012 (0)
Hall of Famer
87 1 47 1 189
Prospect
My point is simple.  The belief is "Go undefeated as a Power 5, make the playoffs."    There is no point in risking a loss in a non-con. 
12/9/2014 10:46 AM
moranis
Posts: 2919 (0)
Hall of Famer
8 7 6 19 42 51 1 2
Prospect
There aren't exactly undefeated teams abound.  There is one this year.  There was one last year.  One the year before.  One the year before that.  2010 was the last time there were multiple unbeaten teams and there are plenty of years without any major unbeaten teams.  Seems like a pretty big gamble to take to rely on being unbeaten. 

If Baylor had played and beaten Mississippi State in the non-con this year instead of Northwestern St., and everything else was the same, is Baylor or Ohio State in the playoffs this year?

12/9/2014 11:46 AM
MikeT23
Posts: 58012 (0)
Hall of Famer
87 1 47 1 189
Prospect

My guess is OSU.   TCU beat top 25 Minnesota much worse than OSU did.     Didn't get them in, did it?

12/9/2014 11:52 AM
MikeT23
Posts: 58012 (0)
Hall of Famer
87 1 47 1 189
Prospect
Again, go undefeated in conference + beat cupcake non-cons = make the playoff.
12/9/2014 11:54 AM
MikeT23
Posts: 58012 (0)
Hall of Famer
87 1 47 1 189
Prospect
If Baylor had been undefeated, they'd be in, right?

Weak non-con wouldn't have hurt them. 
12/9/2014 11:56 AM
utz26
Posts: 59 (0)
Rookie
3 2
Prospect
Maybe instead of being mad at everyone else, Briles should be mad at himself.....  If they beat TCU they most likely are in.... But i guess that is even tough to say when you have the Defending undefeated national champs in the 3 seed....   The way the playoffs are set up, its going to be very subjective especially without them telling us what they are really using as their criteria.... With that being said, OSU smashed a very good Wisconsin team and they deserved it.  I also this if TCU or Baylor are in, they get smashed by Oregon or Alabama... OSU has a better shot...
12/9/2014 10:13 PM
MikeT23
Posts: 58012 (0)
Hall of Famer
87 1 47 1 189
Prospect
TCU would have a better shot at beating Bama than OSU.     Boykin is the type of QB that gives Saban nightmares. 
12/10/2014 8:24 AM
moranis
Posts: 2919 (0)
Hall of Famer
8 7 6 19 42 51 1 2
Prospect
I think OSU's offense is a bit of an unknown with Jones.  He certainly isn't the runner of Barrett, but he sure does have a big arm.  Not really sure how that will play out against the physical speedy defense that Bama has. 

That said, I think the outcome of the game will come down to OSU's D-Line vs. Bama's O-Line.  If Bosa and company can get pressure and limit the big runs, I think they have a pretty good shot at winning the game.  If not, probably not.
12/10/2014 11:21 AM
MikeT23
Posts: 58012 (0)
Hall of Famer
87 1 47 1 189
Prospect
Posted by MikeT23 on 12/7/2014 2:52:00 PM (view original):
TCU is gonna shitkick Ole Miss.
This seems to be holding true.
12/31/2014 1:24 PM
MikeT23
Posts: 58012 (0)
Hall of Famer
87 1 47 1 189
Prospect
Posted by MikeT23 on 12/7/2014 4:23:00 PM (view original):
The LAST think I want to see is # of losses decide who plays on.    I expect Oregon to rip FSU a new one.   And FSU lost exactly 0. 
What?
1/1/2015 9:09 PM
moranis
Posts: 2919 (0)
Hall of Famer
8 7 6 19 42 51 1 2
Prospect
Ohio State with 209 more yards of offense and is losing by 1 at the half.  -2 turnover margin will kill you.  plus two first and goals with just 6 points.
1/1/2015 10:41 PM
moranis
Posts: 2919 (0)
Hall of Famer
8 7 6 19 42 51 1 2
Prospect
final score was close, but that was a dominating game from OSU.  On to Dallas to take on Oregon.
1/2/2015 12:47 AM
stinenavy
Posts: 4004 (0)
Hall of Famer
4 330 1
All Star
Dominating? Uh, no. It's not like Ohio St was up 20+ and Alabama threw in some garbage TDs to make it close.

Like most people (ESPN had like 30ish people make picks and 1 person took Ohio St), I'm surprised they won. I was hoping they'd win, because it's an easier opponent for Oregon.

I did like that Ohio St kept passing on 1st down even with the lead. It didn't end up working for them on those drives, but I like the attempt to not condense the offense into running plays into 8 man fronts. Alabama passing on 1st and 10 from the 25 when they were running the ball at will, was a WTF moment for me.
1/2/2015 3:28 AM
◂ Prev 1...48|49|50|51|52|53 Next ▸
Weekly Top 10 Review Topic
△Top△Bottom

Search Criteria

Terms of Use Customer Support Privacy Statement

© 1999-2024 WhatIfSports.com, Inc. All rights reserved. WhatIfSports is a trademark of WhatIfSports.com, Inc. SimLeague, SimMatchup and iSimNow are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts, Inc. Used under license. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.