Here’s my question: wouldn’t it make sense for the transfer portal to “open” AFTER bowl season? Then all the players who were considering entering the portal could play their bowl game and THEN look around for other opportunities, instead of announcing now and, I presume(?), foregoing their potential bowl game. Or will Ben Findley and KEO be suiting up for us in Shreveport?
I've heard a good explanation for it before (which I can only half remember), but it's for the benefit of the players. The transfer portal opens when it does due to early signing day, and the purpose of that was that coaches have to actually 'put up or shut up' with scholarships so that kids aren't strung along by a team as a backup choice for an unreasonable amount of time (i.e. a kid may have a "non-actionable" scholarship offer from a school, but he is only going to get it if their first or second choice recruit falls through). Plus, bowls are essentially meaningless exhibition games anyway, so you can't really blame kids for not wanting to get hurt and risk their future in some meaningless 7-5 vs. 6-6 game.
Of course, there are also people who want to get rid of early signing day and only having the spring signing period. That would reduce pressure on schools to fire coaches mid-season and have coaches (like Spav) leave so quickly after the season. But it could also calm the early transfer portal madness.
Corruption is probably not the best word to describe what is going on. Greed is probably more apt. From the executives to the AD's to the commissioners, everyone is incentivized to line their pockets and further their careers.
Former B10 commissioner Kevin Warren is probably a good example here. He was an NFL exec for decades before taking a short stint as the B10 commissioner. In his 3.5 year stint in college ball, he pretty much signed the death warrant of the Pac-12. A lot of folks had a hand in that, no doubt, but if you remove this guy the conference probably still exists today (he pulled in USC and UCLA as part of the media deal which set everything in motion).
And then before USC and UCLA even make it into the B10, he gets hired away as the CEO of the Chicago Bears. So I guess the question to ask is how did a guy with so little connection to college football have such a profound lasting impact? Did Fox organize this little career stop, or was he merely in a holding pattern between NFL stints and figured "conference expansion" would be a good byline on his resume? Or maybe some combination of the above.
The athletic landscape is littered with guys like this. They have little to no connection to the teams and conferences that they represent. They get paid buckets of money and they float from one job to the next. They have little incentive to rock the boat unless the "powers that be" give a wink and a nod. Had Fox found it in their interests to keep the Pac-12 alive, there is no way that Warren pulls the trigger. But how convenient that a guy with no college football experience finds himself in the corner office of the BIG10 right when they are about to negotiate their most pivotal media deal in their conferences history. And keep in mind this guys specialty in the NFL is building stadiums, not media deals. A little strange right?
I am not saying there was corruption. Greed (the legal kind) is probably sufficient to explain everything that is happening. Bama brings in more ratings, which brings in more money, so the committee finds a way to justify putting them in because a bunch of execs and ADs in the right places are going to get nice big bonuses. The rules allow for it, so they do it.
But also keep in mind, part of the reason we got the CFP was because I think Utah threatened anti-trust lawsuits over the BCS system. So who knows, maybe someone with a law degree can chime in here!
There's more context to Kevin Warren. He wanted to accelerate to the end game and poach more from the P12, but the B1G didn't like the feel of completely stripping the P12 of its pieces and so they preferred to just twist the knife instead.
It was clear Warren wasn't going to be given free reigns to just blow up college football as we know it, so they went their different ways. But I think if the B1G hadn't been cowards and just blew up the P12 from the outset, everyone would have been better off than this mess.
At least that's what I've picked up over the time.
The kind of "legal" corruption that would make the Kingfish proud.
Yeah, it's legal, for now. Heck, it's even legal in politics, where family members of elected decision makers, suddenly get super high paying jobs for which they have no qualifications. Hmmm...
Yes, greed, but corruption is rampant where there is greed. But, here, it is important to consider there are public universities that are being influenced and controlled by private enterprises. I think there may be a niche, there, for legal oversight. Racketeering? Dunno.'
Throw NASCAR in there, as well. A friend who worked on NASCAR crews told me of a race where he was told Richard Petty, who had not won a race for a few months or years, not sure, but definitely a long shot, was going to win and the win coincided with a visit from the POTUS, whose Air Force 1 did a fly over, just as Petty crossed the finish line.
And the NBA. In the early 2000s, the Sacramento KIngs were foiled in the playoffs, not as much by the Lakers, as the refs, one of whom later admitted that they were told that the Lakers advancing was better for the league.
And yet, the CFP is not run by the NCAA. The CFP is run by a Board of Directors consisting of 10 commissioners of FBS conferences plus the Notre Dame athletic director.
But Texas beat Alabama so it was really an Alabama versus FSU decision.
Also, the SOS stuff is a weak argument. FSU scheduled and beat two SEC teams, LSU and Florida. They also beat Miami and Clemson. What hurts FSUs SOS is that Clemson and Miami were both down this season.
They got jobbed, any way you slice it. There’s no justification for them getting passed - none. Using the “QB is out” is such a bullshit excuse because the SEC runs ESPN.
Especially considering tOSU went through and won with their 3rd string QB, so there's literally precedent of the committee not caring about that injury specifically.
Texas jumping over is the worst, with Bama second. I might feel sorry for them, but I am pretty sure they wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if it was us. Programs like FSU are too self-absorbed for empathy.
Yes, something needs to be done, but that would mean walking away from networks and risking football dying altogether.
Football's too big to die, even if the networks walked away. Further, if there was a void created by the absence of ESPN, Fox, NBC, CBS, and ABC, other networks would fill the void. There are simply too many advertising dollars to allow college football to die on the vine.
This is why I am highly critical of athletic directors and commissioners who have abdicated their responsibilities to guide college football and not be steamrolled by TV execs.
Everyone’s pointing at the expanded playoff as the answer.
That’s only going to get MORE SEC teams in the mix…it’s only gonna get more B1G teams in the mix. You’ll have 1 ACC, 1 B12, 1 G5 and 9 frigging SEC/B1G teams…theres no difference, and it’s not a win for the rest of the country.
I heard mention of the Sun Bowl early on; was kinda hoping for that. El Paso is no great shakes, but I like that the Sun Bowl never sold out their name; old bowl game. They've had a lot of good games. But this is fine, glad to have Cal in one at all.
I was initially hoping that we would jump UCLA and get the L.A. bowl as one last final insult to them on the way out of the PAC-12. But I think Texas Tech is a more interesting match-up than Boise. And with how the transfer portal and coaching carousel is playing out, I think UCLA is miserable enough as it is, and could very likely get blown out by Boise.
For those that haven't been paying attention, Chip Kelley is staying for another year despite most fans wanting him fired (they even flew banners around campus) and then USC poached their DC (who was probably the only coach they wanted to keep on that staff). Also Moore entered the portal and it sounds like there are a lot more to come.
I thought it was USC that flew the banners to troll UCLA. WRT Moore, I think most ucla fans aren’t too upset about him leaving.
Losing Lynn was a big blow, especially when you consider it was to your cross town rivals. I was upset about losing Spav but at least it was to Baylor and not Stanford or ucla.
An interesting thing about this is how quickly they flew into defense mode. I think ESPN got used to CFB being an exercise in prisoner's dilemma and didn't expect literally everyone to come flying in to support FSU.
what was really shitty was that the announcers at the Florida State game were continually talking up Alabama and talking down the Seminoles. Like they knew how it was going to go, and were instructed to run interference.
no..they got screwed because they lost two quarterbacks late...any of the top teams would have killed them. Their offensive performance last night was unwatchable...they clearly have a great defense but it would just not have been fair to the truly competitive teams to put them in it...my take
This is true that their 3rd string QB wasn’t very good in the ACC CG but the FSU second string QB would have been cleared and healthy to play by game time. So the 3rd string QB likely wouldn’t even play in the CFB playoff game.
They earned the right to get curb stomped in the CFP by going 13-0. If they were worried about it they could always decline the invite. But instead we had a bunch of crotchety old men paid by E$PN make up a bunch of excuses for why the SEC, the worst conference this year, needed to be included. Literally every other conference has been excluded from the CFP at least once (and in our case many times). But E$PN runs the CFP and the $EC is their cash cow, so the writing was on the wall.
Also, since we are on the topic. The very same committee that snubbed FSU gave Liberty the nod over SMU for the fiesta bowl. Liberty is undefeated, but has quite literally the worst SOS in all of FBS football. Meanwhile 11-2 SMU is somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of SOS.
I think it is fair to say that the spread for Oregon vs Liberty is probably going to be the biggest spread in the history of any NY6 bowl ever. Yet that didn't seem to bother the selection committee when an SEC team wasn't in jeopardy of losing a playoff spot.
The committee’s role is to pick the 4 best teams in the country. FSU is not one of those teams. I agree that it seems inconsistent to ignore the fact that FSU is undefeated and then turn around and unduly reward an unproven Liberty solely on the basis of their record.
If 4 best teams means the committee gets to just pick whoever they want, why even play out the season? That would be risking injury. It's better to just recruit the best roster on paper.
That same committee was laying the groundwork for a one loss Oregon over a one loss Texas a week prior. The writing was on the wall, they were fully expecting a UGA, UM, FSU and Oregon CFP and were preparing to leave Texas on the outside.
But it turns out they have no idea who the four best teams are because two of the four that they had pegged for the CFP lost their respective championship games. And one of the four from the week prior had to get removed because you can't put a one loss Bama team in and not include Texas (and the Pac 12 was too strong of a conference to leave out, finally).
It was absurdly transparent what they were doing. FSU was one of the four best in the country last week, until they got in the way of an SEC team and suddenly they are the fifth best. If you are going to drop them for losing a quarterback, why only fifth? Surely a hobbled FSU team is probably worse than UGA, tOSU, and Oregon. Why didn't the committee drop them down to 8th or 9th?
The answer is simple, they wanted an SEC team in the playoff. And as a bonus, you put them at fifth in a bowl against UGA and hope they get slaughtered so you can turn around and tell everyone you were right for keeping them out.
Honestly, FSU should boycott the bowl game and just claim a share of the natty. They gain nothing by playing that game.
44% of CFP era championships have been won by backup quarterbacks.
There is literally no case to be made for one loss Alabama jumping undefeated FSU. Alabama barely beat Auburn a week earlier and needed a ton of help from the refs to pull it off. And they had a few close wins against similarly bad teams. Meanwhile the ACC was 6-4 against the SEC this year, including FSU going 2-0 against them. And FSU's third string QB put up better numbers than Michigan's starter in the championship week games, playing against a higher ranked opponent. And besides, the second string QB is will be back in time for the bowl games.
And by the way this absolutely impacts us. The committee is setting a precedent that wins don't matter, that the CFP is a beauty pageant, and the SEC is a blonde with big boobs. Next year when the CFP goes to 12 teams, we are going to start seeing 1-2 loss ACC and BIG12 teams get jumped by 2-3 loss BIG10 and SEC teams. While it might seem like we are a long way away from this mattering for us, we should absolutely aspire to make the 12 team playoff and we should want that process to be as fair as possible.
Yes, the hosts on the ESPN selection show were already saying that next year there will only be two Power conferences - SEC and Big10. ACC will be outside looking in, just like this year.
Agree 100%. Which is why ucla/sc jumped to the big10. As long as current cast of characters determine who the 12 teams will be, the sec/b10 will be laughing at everyone else as their teams are picked regardless of actual accomplishments.
Yep, the 12 team playoffs are going to be a complete joke. It’s going to be the SEC/Big10 Invitational with perhaps 1 Big12 team, maybe 2 ACC teams and 1 G5 sacrificial lamb.
Agree the two QBs going down sealed Fl Stat’s fate. At the same time I think it is true that ESPN destroyed the Pac-12, forcing the two socal schools to go to the big10 along with subsequent Pac-12 destruction.
I guess one flies into Dallas or Little Rock and drives to Shreveport. Didn't see very many direct flights to the city. Probably staying at home and watching ESPN for this one...
I think I would have picked SMU to beat a disappointed Oregon team. Liberty however had the worse strength of schedule in the Nation, don’t see how they make this game competitive.
Poor Oregon, they were favored to win the Pac12 championship game and go to the playoffs, but now have to play Liberty. I don't know any NFL players from Liberty, I'm sure there are some, but only know Samantha Ponder as their alum, which they can be proud of.
Well, here we go Bears. I'm flying out to see this game and hoping for a good show. I take the players that have entered the portal will not play in this game? That's a loss at LB with KEO out. But I still like our chances against this TT team. Our running back room and run scheme are proven. Mendoza is a gamer. If the D can play Ok, we have a good chance.
It's hard to believe players would declare for the portal before the season is over. I understand why coaches do it because they are going right into recruiting season.
Just bought tix for my son and I. Flying in and out of Dallas. Now I have to look at all the fun things to do in Shreveport on a Saturday before the game...
Yeah, well, on first check, TT is favored. Not sure why: maybe because their flight is way shorter and they’ll have more of their people there? Seems to me Cal is in an upward trajectory whereas TT not so much. Both have plenty to prove. That Holiday Bowl loss was when these players were barely born.
Here’s my question: wouldn’t it make sense for the transfer portal to “open” AFTER bowl season? Then all the players who were considering entering the portal could play their bowl game and THEN look around for other opportunities, instead of announcing now and, I presume(?), foregoing their potential bowl game. Or will Ben Findley and KEO be suiting up for us in Shreveport?
I've heard a good explanation for it before (which I can only half remember), but it's for the benefit of the players. The transfer portal opens when it does due to early signing day, and the purpose of that was that coaches have to actually 'put up or shut up' with scholarships so that kids aren't strung along by a team as a backup choice for an unreasonable amount of time (i.e. a kid may have a "non-actionable" scholarship offer from a school, but he is only going to get it if their first or second choice recruit falls through). Plus, bowls are essentially meaningless exhibition games anyway, so you can't really blame kids for not wanting to get hurt and risk their future in some meaningless 7-5 vs. 6-6 game.
Re: Finley and KEO, I'm pretty sure they're gone.
That makes a lot of sense.
Of course, there are also people who want to get rid of early signing day and only having the spring signing period. That would reduce pressure on schools to fire coaches mid-season and have coaches (like Spav) leave so quickly after the season. But it could also calm the early transfer portal madness.
Darn. I wanted the LA Bowl in Los Angeles. I would have traveled there, but not to Shreveport. Anyway, GO BEARS!!
Go Bears! Avenge 2004!!!
I didn’t quite understand why Florida St wanted to leave the ACC until today.
No way they deny an undefeated Big 10 or SEC team, zero
None.
The NCAA is one of the more corrupt organizations you will find, and it showed yet again today.
What would you suggest? No conferences or eligibility rules? Come on. . . Show me some evidence or corruption.,
Corruption is probably not the best word to describe what is going on. Greed is probably more apt. From the executives to the AD's to the commissioners, everyone is incentivized to line their pockets and further their careers.
Former B10 commissioner Kevin Warren is probably a good example here. He was an NFL exec for decades before taking a short stint as the B10 commissioner. In his 3.5 year stint in college ball, he pretty much signed the death warrant of the Pac-12. A lot of folks had a hand in that, no doubt, but if you remove this guy the conference probably still exists today (he pulled in USC and UCLA as part of the media deal which set everything in motion).
And then before USC and UCLA even make it into the B10, he gets hired away as the CEO of the Chicago Bears. So I guess the question to ask is how did a guy with so little connection to college football have such a profound lasting impact? Did Fox organize this little career stop, or was he merely in a holding pattern between NFL stints and figured "conference expansion" would be a good byline on his resume? Or maybe some combination of the above.
The athletic landscape is littered with guys like this. They have little to no connection to the teams and conferences that they represent. They get paid buckets of money and they float from one job to the next. They have little incentive to rock the boat unless the "powers that be" give a wink and a nod. Had Fox found it in their interests to keep the Pac-12 alive, there is no way that Warren pulls the trigger. But how convenient that a guy with no college football experience finds himself in the corner office of the BIG10 right when they are about to negotiate their most pivotal media deal in their conferences history. And keep in mind this guys specialty in the NFL is building stadiums, not media deals. A little strange right?
I am not saying there was corruption. Greed (the legal kind) is probably sufficient to explain everything that is happening. Bama brings in more ratings, which brings in more money, so the committee finds a way to justify putting them in because a bunch of execs and ADs in the right places are going to get nice big bonuses. The rules allow for it, so they do it.
But also keep in mind, part of the reason we got the CFP was because I think Utah threatened anti-trust lawsuits over the BCS system. So who knows, maybe someone with a law degree can chime in here!
There's more context to Kevin Warren. He wanted to accelerate to the end game and poach more from the P12, but the B1G didn't like the feel of completely stripping the P12 of its pieces and so they preferred to just twist the knife instead.
It was clear Warren wasn't going to be given free reigns to just blow up college football as we know it, so they went their different ways. But I think if the B1G hadn't been cowards and just blew up the P12 from the outset, everyone would have been better off than this mess.
At least that's what I've picked up over the time.
The kind of "legal" corruption that would make the Kingfish proud.
Yeah, it's legal, for now. Heck, it's even legal in politics, where family members of elected decision makers, suddenly get super high paying jobs for which they have no qualifications. Hmmm...
Yes, greed, but corruption is rampant where there is greed. But, here, it is important to consider there are public universities that are being influenced and controlled by private enterprises. I think there may be a niche, there, for legal oversight. Racketeering? Dunno.'
Solutions? Anybody? Bueler?
I would say that it is more incompetent and with low morals than corrupt.
IOC and FIFA are completely corrupt.
Throw NASCAR in there, as well. A friend who worked on NASCAR crews told me of a race where he was told Richard Petty, who had not won a race for a few months or years, not sure, but definitely a long shot, was going to win and the win coincided with a visit from the POTUS, whose Air Force 1 did a fly over, just as Petty crossed the finish line.
And the NBA. In the early 2000s, the Sacramento KIngs were foiled in the playoffs, not as much by the Lakers, as the refs, one of whom later admitted that they were told that the Lakers advancing was better for the league.
Was it the series when Big Shot Bob hit the 3 at the buzzer?
Not sure. Can't remember. It was one of the few moments I was interested in NBA games.
Sepp Bladder’s FIFA remains the gold standard.
The system has been literally rigged FOR the SEC for 2 decades.
And yet, the CFP is not run by the NCAA. The CFP is run by a Board of Directors consisting of 10 commissioners of FBS conferences plus the Notre Dame athletic director.
C'mon, they're all connected. You know that.
The NCAA is a shield for its member institutions and conference commissioners.
A lot of people can do a lot of things behind a shield.
I will say there’s perhaps more collusion between ESPN/SEC/FOX/B1G than the NCAA…
That being said. They did take a Big 12 school, Texas. What’s more, FSU’s SOS rank is 55th.
But Texas beat Alabama so it was really an Alabama versus FSU decision.
Also, the SOS stuff is a weak argument. FSU scheduled and beat two SEC teams, LSU and Florida. They also beat Miami and Clemson. What hurts FSUs SOS is that Clemson and Miami were both down this season.
Texas is basically an SEC team.
FSU scheduled LSU…they scheduled at Florida.
They got jobbed, any way you slice it. There’s no justification for them getting passed - none. Using the “QB is out” is such a bullshit excuse because the SEC runs ESPN.
Especially considering tOSU went through and won with their 3rd string QB, so there's literally precedent of the committee not caring about that injury specifically.
Texas jumping over is the worst, with Bama second. I might feel sorry for them, but I am pretty sure they wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if it was us. Programs like FSU are too self-absorbed for empathy.
Yes, something needs to be done, but that would mean walking away from networks and risking football dying altogether.
Football's too big to die, even if the networks walked away. Further, if there was a void created by the absence of ESPN, Fox, NBC, CBS, and ABC, other networks would fill the void. There are simply too many advertising dollars to allow college football to die on the vine.
This is why I am highly critical of athletic directors and commissioners who have abdicated their responsibilities to guide college football and not be steamrolled by TV execs.
Everyone’s pointing at the expanded playoff as the answer.
That’s only going to get MORE SEC teams in the mix…it’s only gonna get more B1G teams in the mix. You’ll have 1 ACC, 1 B12, 1 G5 and 9 frigging SEC/B1G teams…theres no difference, and it’s not a win for the rest of the country.
What’s the solution?
I heard mention of the Sun Bowl early on; was kinda hoping for that. El Paso is no great shakes, but I like that the Sun Bowl never sold out their name; old bowl game. They've had a lot of good games. But this is fine, glad to have Cal in one at all.
The Sun is my Rose...
Sigh.
Revenge for the Holiday Bowl!!!
I was initially hoping that we would jump UCLA and get the L.A. bowl as one last final insult to them on the way out of the PAC-12. But I think Texas Tech is a more interesting match-up than Boise. And with how the transfer portal and coaching carousel is playing out, I think UCLA is miserable enough as it is, and could very likely get blown out by Boise.
For those that haven't been paying attention, Chip Kelley is staying for another year despite most fans wanting him fired (they even flew banners around campus) and then USC poached their DC (who was probably the only coach they wanted to keep on that staff). Also Moore entered the portal and it sounds like there are a lot more to come.
I thought it was USC that flew the banners to troll UCLA. WRT Moore, I think most ucla fans aren’t too upset about him leaving.
Losing Lynn was a big blow, especially when you consider it was to your cross town rivals. I was upset about losing Spav but at least it was to Baylor and not Stanford or ucla.
USC fans flew banners in support of Chip.
Wilcox implied in his press conference that it qas personal for Spav, like he wanted to go back to TX for his family
Why? It doesn’t impact us.
We might as well start getting used to the travel now.*
*Does not apply to me since my employer gave me an excuse note.
Florida State got screwed because word came down from ESPN that there MUST be an SEC team in the playoffs. ESPN has ruined college football.
An interesting thing about this is how quickly they flew into defense mode. I think ESPN got used to CFB being an exercise in prisoner's dilemma and didn't expect literally everyone to come flying in to support FSU.
And FOX Sports for initiating the USC move to the BIG 10. Of course UCLA had to follow. They are really helping to ruin College football.
Yep Coach.
Pac 12 leaders certainly played a role, but the driving force that changed this great sport was the networks .
what was really shitty was that the announcers at the Florida State game were continually talking up Alabama and talking down the Seminoles. Like they knew how it was going to go, and were instructed to run interference.
In retrospect, once Alabama beat UGA, there really was no reason for FSU to play. It was locked then, ‘Bama was in with the win.
And once they were in, Texas was too. Sucks for FSU.
Pathetic and embarrassing
Disney/ESPN/ABC is televising 40 of 43 bowl games. That's insane, and I don't doubt the influence.
no..they got screwed because they lost two quarterbacks late...any of the top teams would have killed them. Their offensive performance last night was unwatchable...they clearly have a great defense but it would just not have been fair to the truly competitive teams to put them in it...my take
Yea, FSU’s QB was 8/21. No way Louisville should have lost. FSU would have been wiped out in the playoffs for sure
This is true that their 3rd string QB wasn’t very good in the ACC CG but the FSU second string QB would have been cleared and healthy to play by game time. So the 3rd string QB likely wouldn’t even play in the CFB playoff game.
They earned the right to get curb stomped in the CFP by going 13-0. If they were worried about it they could always decline the invite. But instead we had a bunch of crotchety old men paid by E$PN make up a bunch of excuses for why the SEC, the worst conference this year, needed to be included. Literally every other conference has been excluded from the CFP at least once (and in our case many times). But E$PN runs the CFP and the $EC is their cash cow, so the writing was on the wall.
Also, since we are on the topic. The very same committee that snubbed FSU gave Liberty the nod over SMU for the fiesta bowl. Liberty is undefeated, but has quite literally the worst SOS in all of FBS football. Meanwhile 11-2 SMU is somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of SOS.
I think it is fair to say that the spread for Oregon vs Liberty is probably going to be the biggest spread in the history of any NY6 bowl ever. Yet that didn't seem to bother the selection committee when an SEC team wasn't in jeopardy of losing a playoff spot.
The committee’s role is to pick the 4 best teams in the country. FSU is not one of those teams. I agree that it seems inconsistent to ignore the fact that FSU is undefeated and then turn around and unduly reward an unproven Liberty solely on the basis of their record.
If 4 best teams means the committee gets to just pick whoever they want, why even play out the season? That would be risking injury. It's better to just recruit the best roster on paper.
That same committee was laying the groundwork for a one loss Oregon over a one loss Texas a week prior. The writing was on the wall, they were fully expecting a UGA, UM, FSU and Oregon CFP and were preparing to leave Texas on the outside.
But it turns out they have no idea who the four best teams are because two of the four that they had pegged for the CFP lost their respective championship games. And one of the four from the week prior had to get removed because you can't put a one loss Bama team in and not include Texas (and the Pac 12 was too strong of a conference to leave out, finally).
It was absurdly transparent what they were doing. FSU was one of the four best in the country last week, until they got in the way of an SEC team and suddenly they are the fifth best. If you are going to drop them for losing a quarterback, why only fifth? Surely a hobbled FSU team is probably worse than UGA, tOSU, and Oregon. Why didn't the committee drop them down to 8th or 9th?
The answer is simple, they wanted an SEC team in the playoff. And as a bonus, you put them at fifth in a bowl against UGA and hope they get slaughtered so you can turn around and tell everyone you were right for keeping them out.
Honestly, FSU should boycott the bowl game and just claim a share of the natty. They gain nothing by playing that game.
FSU was absolutely one the best 4 teams in the country. Their defense is legit.
44% of CFP era championships have been won by backup quarterbacks.
There is literally no case to be made for one loss Alabama jumping undefeated FSU. Alabama barely beat Auburn a week earlier and needed a ton of help from the refs to pull it off. And they had a few close wins against similarly bad teams. Meanwhile the ACC was 6-4 against the SEC this year, including FSU going 2-0 against them. And FSU's third string QB put up better numbers than Michigan's starter in the championship week games, playing against a higher ranked opponent. And besides, the second string QB is will be back in time for the bowl games.
And by the way this absolutely impacts us. The committee is setting a precedent that wins don't matter, that the CFP is a beauty pageant, and the SEC is a blonde with big boobs. Next year when the CFP goes to 12 teams, we are going to start seeing 1-2 loss ACC and BIG12 teams get jumped by 2-3 loss BIG10 and SEC teams. While it might seem like we are a long way away from this mattering for us, we should absolutely aspire to make the 12 team playoff and we should want that process to be as fair as possible.
Yes, the hosts on the ESPN selection show were already saying that next year there will only be two Power conferences - SEC and Big10. ACC will be outside looking in, just like this year.
Agree 100%. Which is why ucla/sc jumped to the big10. As long as current cast of characters determine who the 12 teams will be, the sec/b10 will be laughing at everyone else as their teams are picked regardless of actual accomplishments.
Yep, the 12 team playoffs are going to be a complete joke. It’s going to be the SEC/Big10 Invitational with perhaps 1 Big12 team, maybe 2 ACC teams and 1 G5 sacrificial lamb.
Agree the two QBs going down sealed Fl Stat’s fate. At the same time I think it is true that ESPN destroyed the Pac-12, forcing the two socal schools to go to the big10 along with subsequent Pac-12 destruction.
Actually, it was Fox Sports who wanted the LA market since they are the network that covers the BIG10. ESPN has the ACC and the SEC.
This LA Times article makes clear the dominant role ESPN played in the downfall of the Pac-12:
https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2023-08-16/pac-12-collapse-decisions-realignment-ucla-oregon#:~:text=Dreaming%20too%20big&text=The%20network%2C%20the%20Big%20Ten's,team%20Pac%2D12's%20media%20rights.
yup...both things can be true
LOL at rules. They don’t exist in CFB.
"Are there rules, here? I'm going to beat you with this tire iron until you go away!"
"You're a pacifist!"
"Shit!"
I guess one flies into Dallas or Little Rock and drives to Shreveport. Didn't see very many direct flights to the city. Probably staying at home and watching ESPN for this one...
there are connecting flights to Shreveport on American at least...says someone who may or may not have checked last week
Shreveport seems to be a 3 hour drive from everywhere. Which would not be my choice of advertising slogans.
"More than three hours away from Dallas!" doesn't sound too bad
It's Texarkana adjacent!
Based on a commonly used website (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_International_Airport#Passenger), SFO has direct flights to ~12 ACC schools:
Atlanta (GT)
Boston (BC)
Charlotte (Wake Forest – ~80 minutes away)
Chicago (Notre Dame – ~2 hours away)
DFW (SMU)
Louisville (Louisville)
Miami (Miami)
Pittsburgh (Pitt)
RDU (NC State/Duke/UNC)
Richmond (UVA)
Meanwhile, Clemson and VTech are each ~2.5 hours from CLT.
We can drive to LSJU.
That just leaves FSU and Syracuse, which will each be a relatively easy connecting flight from nearby hubs.
You are SO RIGHT. This should have been done by our idiotic commissioner and AD's. a year ago.
Oregon gets Liberty in the Fiesta Bowl. Might as well televise this game on the Pac12 network because no one is watching this game on New Years Day.
I really dislike Liberty as an institution. It's been run by sketchy, amoral people for a long time. I hope Oregon beats them 73-0.
I agree and feel the same about Liberty. I hope Oregon just destroys them. I doubt Nix plays in the bowl game.
I think I would have picked SMU to beat a disappointed Oregon team. Liberty however had the worse strength of schedule in the Nation, don’t see how they make this game competitive.
Liberty is undefeated, which is really important when the SEC is not involved
Liberty runs a triple option type offense. Could be hard for Oregon. I’ll at least watch the beginning
Poor Oregon, they were favored to win the Pac12 championship game and go to the playoffs, but now have to play Liberty. I don't know any NFL players from Liberty, I'm sure there are some, but only know Samantha Ponder as their alum, which they can be proud of.
Demario Douglas…Malik Willis.
Sounds like a fun one. Also, man, Florida State is gonna be angry next year.
FSU: Take Out Our Anger on Those Damned California Yankees Season.
Well, here we go Bears. I'm flying out to see this game and hoping for a good show. I take the players that have entered the portal will not play in this game? That's a loss at LB with KEO out. But I still like our chances against this TT team. Our running back room and run scheme are proven. Mendoza is a gamer. If the D can play Ok, we have a good chance.
Wilcox said players portalling out may or
may not play in the bowl. case by case
It's hard to believe players would declare for the portal before the season is over. I understand why coaches do it because they are going right into recruiting season.
Just bought tix for my son and I. Flying in and out of Dallas. Now I have to look at all the fun things to do in Shreveport on a Saturday before the game...
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It's good that the bowl game is early. Hope most players, if they decide to, enter the portal after the bowl game.
And hopefully by then our coaching staff are solidified and help retain players.
I was hoping for LA, I won’t be able to make it Shreveport for this game.
Same.
Calendar marked
Marcel Yates is also on the Texas Tech staff too.
If the kids know their Cal football history, this is a bit of a redemption game. Who wants it more?
Yeah, well, on first check, TT is favored. Not sure why: maybe because their flight is way shorter and they’ll have more of their people there? Seems to me Cal is in an upward trajectory whereas TT not so much. Both have plenty to prove. That Holiday Bowl loss was when these players were barely born.