What purpose does a Conference Championship game serve?

[BigDofBA]

Re: What purpose does a Conference Championship game serve?

I'm not sure what you expected.

I expected to get several different opinions.

Obviously I already know what my opinion is. I wanted to see what other people on this forum thought. Isn't that the point of a message board? To discuss topics pertinent to the forum?

You keep saying "I'm not sure what you're loooking for" and "I'm not sure what you're expecting" which isn't really contributing to the discussion so why even bother to post in this thread?

I thought this was a message board that we used to discuss college football. I'm interested in what others think.

[kehlis]

Re: What purpose does a Conference Championship game serve?

I expected to get several different opinions.

Obviously I already know what my opinion is. I wanted to see what other people on this forum thought. Isn't that the point of a message board? To discuss topics pertinent to the forum?

No need to throw out the old "isn't that the point of a message board" question man.

You asked a question that you know the answer to already. In the current setup it means nothing and we all know that since there are five power conferences and four playoff spots. I feel like I said that already but you may missed it.

I like the thread and would prefer to have this discussion in this thread alone rather than have it spill into the other threads. I don't think anyone disagrees that conference champs should get an automatic bid and there should be some at large bids. Under the current set up, that isn't possible.

If you want to pretend to talk about what a conference championship means in the current setup when you already know the answer, have at it. I'll leave.

If you want to talk about why you posted this in the first place (your motive isn't exactly a secret), I'm all for it. I think we could have a very good discussion.

[BigDofBA]

Re: What purpose does a Conference Championship game serve?

You asked a question that you know the answer to already. In the current setup it means nothing and we all know that since there are five power conferences and four playoff spots. I feel like I said that already but you may missed it.

I've already said I have my opinion on why there are conference championship games. I want to know what other people think because I think it's ridicuolous you can get into the playoff when you lose head to head to a team that also wins your league.

I like the thread and would prefer to have this discussion in this thread alone rather than have it spill into the other threads. I don't think anyone disagrees that conference champs should get an automatic bid and there should be some at large bids. Under the current set up, that isn't possible.

Then why do you keep asking me "what do you expect" and say "I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for?

If you want to talk about why you posted this in the first place (your motive isn't exactly a secret), I'm all for it. I think we could have a very good discussion.

Motive? Lol. Really? I've been pretty open about why I started this thread in the first place. I want a discussion on the ridiculousness of how champions are chosen. It's just an extension of the BCS.

My "motive" is pretty clear. I think the system is horrible. Penn State got shafted and I don't even like Penn State.

Ohio State is deserving but the logic used for including Ohio State doesn't apply to other teams. Neither does the logic for including Washington.

I don't have some top secret agenda. I was just trying to get conversation going.

If you're Ohio State, you're perfectly happy not even playing another game after Michigan because you know you're in. Meanwhile, a team you lost to, has to play and they don't get rewarded for beating you or winning your league.

BTW, my team has benefited from the beauty pageant that is college football a few teams over the last 15 years and I've said the same thing. I've been on this board awhile so you'll have to take my word for it.

I said it in 2003, 2004, and laughed in 2008 when Texas beat OU and didn't get in despite having the same record.

There was also a year USC was clearly the best team and didn't get a shot because they lost one conference road game. I think it may have been Booty was the QB and their defense was insane.

[Jackdog]

Re: What purpose does a Conference Championship game serve?

This system is still a beauty pageant, just an extension of the BCS. Willing to bet a year's pay the BCS would have had the same top 4.

[kehlis]

Re: What purpose does a Conference Championship game serve?

I've already said I have my opinion on why there are conference championship games. I want to know what other people think because I think it's ridicuolous you can get into the playoff when you lose head to head to a team that also wins your league.



Then why do you keep asking me "what do you expect" and say "I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for?




Motive? Lol. Really? I've been pretty open about why I started this thread in the first place. I want a discussion on the ridiculousness of how champions are chosen. It's just an extension of the BCS.

My "motive" is pretty clear. I think the system is horrible. Penn State got shafted and I don't even like Penn State.

Ohio State is deserving but the logic used for including Ohio State doesn't apply to other teams. Neither does the logic for including Washington.

I don't have some top secret agenda. I was just trying to get conversation going.

If you're Ohio State, you're perfectly happy not even playing another game after Michigan because you know you're in. Meanwhile, a team you lost to, has to play and they don't get rewarded for beating you or winning your league.

BTW, my team has benefited from the beauty pageant that is college football a few teams over the last 15 years and I've said the same thing. I've been on this board awhile so you'll have to take my word for it.

Okay, got it.

System sucks, we all agree.

Not sure what else there is to discuss other than alternatives we would like to see but have at it sir.

[BigDofBA]

Re: What purpose does a Conference Championship game serve?

Michigan and Penn State both have complaints IMO.

I feel like the committee went off record more than anything else which is why I think a conference title game isn't as important as it should be.

If record is so important why not consider W. Michigan? People will say, "Because W. Michigan they didn't play anyone.

If that's the case why does Washington get rewarded for a weak OOC schedule? Why doesn't Michigan and Penn State get rewarded for beating numerous top 10 teams.

Michigan had three top 10 wins. Penn State had two. Washington had 1.

Maybe I'm ranting now but a four team playoff doesn't cut it and is only an extension of the BCS. It's definitely better but it's not all the way there IMO. I'm sick of hearing all of the contradicting reasons for including this team over that team.

[z Revis]

Re: What purpose does a Conference Championship game serve?

You're always going to have arguments though. You go to 8 and we'll be arguing over who gets the 8th seed. Had Penn St. gotten in we'd be arguing about Washington having 1 less loss.

IMO they should go to 16. At least then you're guaranteed to have the best teams in and you're only arguing over which 16th seeded team is going to get blown out by Alabama. Some will say if you have that many teams you lose some of the magic of regular season but meh. You'll gain it back in the playoffs. Plus you'll get more meaningful games among teams that are in the 17-25 range.


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[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: What purpose does a Conference Championship game serve?

I think what the CFP committee has made crystal clear after 3 years of this now and week after week this season of throwing out "nuggets" while having us over-interpret every sentence like a piece of scripture....is that all that matters is having the fewest losses.

Are you a P5 team that is undefeated or with 1-loss? Then, welcome to the playoff! Unless there are 5 teams in this group, then we'll actually have to think a little bit.

Are you a P5 team with 2 losses and some combination of conference champions/good SOS/great h2h wins (over 1-loss teams even)/pass the eye test? Sorry but there is no room at the inn. Check back again next year.

Bottom line. This isn't a best teams competition, it's a snazzy W-L record resume competition, no matter how that W-L record came about. I am both grateful and disappointed that in spite of all the apparent complexity and stated mission to select the 4 best teams, the selection criteria have proven to be quite simple and essentially the same as they've always been.

So to answer the original question of this thread, the CCG's don't mean anything unless you have more 1-loss P5 teams than spots available in the CFP. In years where this isn't the case, the CCG's serve no purpose in the context of sorting out potential playoff teams. In those years, it's solely about bragging rights and money.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: What purpose does a Conference Championship game serve?

Also, I favor either an 8-team playoff with 5 auto-bids for P5 conference champs or a 6-team playoff with no auto-bids and 1st round byes for the top 2.

[BigDofBA]

Re: What purpose does a Conference Championship game serve?

A few years ago the committee said that Baylor didn't get in because of their weak OOC schedule.

That same year, they dropped TCU out of the playoffs the Final weekend because they didn't play a championship game. Both Baylor and TCU had one loss.

Fast forward to this year and Washington is in with a horrible OOC schedule and Ohio State is in without playing in a conference title game or even winning their conference.

I just want some consistency and some criteria. I understand that the committee put in who they "think" are the best four teams I'm just sick of hearing their ridiculous reasoning. It does seem like a beauty pageant.

People say if the playoff were 8 teams, like I want, then there would be an argument over who the 8th team was. To me, it's comparing apples and oranges. At least with 8 teams, you could have five automatic bids for power five teams based on winning your league. At least everyone would know what they had to do to get in. I would rather be arguing about which second place PAC-12 or Big-12 team didn't get in rather than complaining about the Big 10 champion not get in over a team they beat in their division.

I like a world in which you have OOC games like OU/Ohio State, Wisconsin/LSU, Alabama/USC, or Michigan/Colorado.

I don't like a world in which you can get rewarded for playing Rutgers, Idaho, and Portland State and get the nod over a team that won the Big 10 and another team (Michigan) that has three wins over top 10 teams and one loss against a top 10 team in overtime.

For the record, I think Washington is a good team and I will be rooting for them to win it all. I'm just pointing out what I perceive to be huge flaws with this system.

We screamed for years to get a playoff, and now the system is improved, but I want the powers at be to continue to improve the system because it could still be a lot better.

[Sportsforever]

Re: What purpose does a Conference Championship game serve?

I'm probably not going to phrase this correctly, but the biggest issue I have with OSU getting in is as follows:

- by not winning their division and NOT playing in a conference championship game, OSU was essentially rewarded with a bye and didn't have to play what essentially was a quarterfinal game for Washington/Clemson (Alabama was in regardless of their result more than likely).

Along with the other things I've mentioned in other threads about their merits vs PSU's, it just really doesn't sit well to me to reward OSU and not make them play the 13th game/have to play to get in. Furthermore, they then weren't placed as a #4 seed.

Regardless, this year has really basically given the middle finger to conference championships/games...it's re-enforced that this sport is still a figure skating competition that placed a heavy emphasis on "style points".

[BigDofBA]

Re: What purpose does a Conference Championship game serve?

I'm probably not going to phrase this correctly, but the biggest issue I have with OSU getting in is as follows:

- by not winning their division and NOT playing in a conference championship game, OSU was essentially rewarded with a bye and didn't have to play what essentially was a quarterfinal game for Washington/Clemson (Alabama was in regardless of their result more than likely).

Along with the other things I've mentioned in other threads about their merits vs PSU's, it just really doesn't sit well to me to reward OSU and not make them play the 13th game/have to play to get in. Furthermore, they then weren't placed as a #4 seed.

Regardless, this year has really basically given the middle finger to conference championships/games...it's re-enforced that this sport is still a figure skating competition that placed a heavy emphasis on "style points".

Thank you! This was what I had in mind when I made this thread.

After Ohio State beat Michigan, Herbstreit made a comment that Ohio State fans might actually root for Penn State to win. It didn't make sense at first, but after I thought about it did.

If you're solidly in at #2, why would you want to risk playing an extra game when you're already in?

So essentially, they lost head to head to Penn State, Penn State won their division, and Penn State won their conference. At the end of the day, what happened on the field didn't matter and Ohio State got in despite all of this.

I think Ohio State is really good too but I have a problem disregarding what happens on the field. To me that should be the ultimate decider.

And like I've already said, the entire reason the committee bumped TCU from #3 to #6 the final week of the 2014 season is because TCU didn't play in a conference title game. This year that logic completely changed. The logic and reasoning makes no sense and it changes game to game, team to team.

[Swamp Swagger]

Re: What purpose does a Conference Championship game serve?

I could have swore at one time or another Urban was one coach who said you shouldn't get a shot if you didn't win your conference

Maybe it wasn't him but I thought it was


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[redsox4evur]

Re: What purpose does a Conference Championship game serve?

I could have swore at one time or another Urban was one coach who said you shouldn't get a shot if you didn't win your conference

Maybe it wasn't him but I thought it was


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Yea he said. I think it was in 2006.


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[Sportsbuck]

Re: What purpose does a Conference Championship game serve?

And like I've already said, the entire reason the committee bumped TCU from #3 to #6 the final week of the 2014 season is because TCU didn't play in a conference title game. This year that logic completely changed. The logic and reasoning makes no sense and it changes game to game, team to team.

Slight revisionist history here as I mentioned in the other thread. The conference title win helped OSU, but the only reason it propelled them into the playoffs was because they shellacked #13 Wisconsin 59-0 in the biggest blowout in CCG history (w/ their backup QB to top it all off).

If Ohio State beats a Wisconsin team that was playing their back-up QB 38-31 or any other variation of close score, I think Baylor/TCU are probably in at the #4 spot.

The emphatic blowout of that win is what got OSU into the playoffs.