College football playoff race: Who do you think should get in?

[12HankQB]

Doesn't matter. It's all about the $$$

[konjo78]

Yea I’ve seen a lot of “So and so aren’t quality teams, no way they should be ranked that high!” But I’ve never seen an alternative.

There’s one great team this year.  A couple of good ones, and a lot that don’t really stand out.  That’s just how the season worked out.  There was some parity this year - it happens. It seems silly to parse teams ranked 8-25 because there’s not a ton of separation.  

I made the mistake of trying to equate quality with rank. That was wrong of me to do because of points made above. This year has shown a lot of the teams ranked 10 - 25 are just lower quality than previous years. That conferences are not as tiered as they once were from one another. Just look at conference championships this year..  Pac 12 have 2 id say B- level teams playing in it. Both the ACC and Big 10 have about a C+ level team in it. SEC has its 2 best teams out of luck and Big 12 forces their best teams to qualify so those two are more normal than others.
I just look at a team like Penn State (note im someone who cheers them on each and every week) and their resume is very weak. If i gave them a grade it too would be a B-, which i have related to a team who shouldnt be ranked 12th. Problem is there are not many teams who are better than that grade this year so thats why they are 12th

[Crimson's Ghost]

Yeah, and that's kind of what I mean. Maybe on a different year, Penn State isn't a top 15 team. But I think they deserved to be where they are ranked right now, I can't make a case for them to not be in the top 15. 

So that's kind of what I mean, maybe there might not be a ton of great teams this year. Some years that's just how it plays out. 

[abpk2903]

You can’t only use arguments when they fit your narrative. Losing to Maryland in overtime is horrible for Ohio State? Then how bad is it for the Big 12 that they beat the team playing in the conference championship game (Texas). 

The Big Ten is the worst P5 conference this year? The why did the team that finished 3rd in the east division beat the ACC coastal champion 51-6 on the road?

How about Iowa beating Iowa State? Or Indiana beating Virginia.

You may have the opinion they B1G is bad but the experts disagree with you. ESPN ranks the B1G the second best conference behind the SEC. They won 7 of 8 bowl games last year. They were very successful in the non-conference against the other P5 conferences. 

The data just doesn’t support your opinion. 

[konjo78]

Oh the big 10 isnt the worst p5 conference this year, thats either Pac12 or ACC. I also agree with your point, texas losing to maryland also highlights why I feel teams just arent that amazing this year.


My point is as a whole these power 5 confernces are just down in quality this year. Something like the AAC or MW are closer to being equals to the p5 than being a tier below. The data doesnt support the Quality of the Big 10 geing an A or A- conferenfe. The quality of the big 10 this year is around B level, which is a downgrade for it. I will grade each conference below with my own personal opinion.

1. American - C

2. ACC - C+

3. Big 12 - B-

4. Big 10 - B

5. CUSA - D+

6. MAC - C

7. MWC - C

8. Pac 12 - C+

9. SEC - A

10. Sunbelt - C-

[abpk2903]

It’s just kind of an odd year. 

USC, Tennessee, Florida State and Nebraska are all historically bad.  Miami isn’t historically bad but a major disappointment.

Some teams that may not quite be blue bloods but have been very good for the last decade in a half are also struggling (Oregon, Oklahoma State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech)

There are a group of past blue bloods that I think many would agree are getting better as a program but still not quite National Championship picture ready. Florida, Texas, Penn State

Just leaves us of a perception of some “blah” football.

[konjo78]

Except where schools are struggling there are no other teams in those P5 stepping up to take their place. Northwestern, pitt and utah won their divisions but 0 of them would i call a quality team who, if they won, should be in a new year 6 game.

But I dont think we would see anyone object to Pitt being in a new years 6 bowl if they lost to clemson

[Wrasslerfan]

Konjo are you surprised that the pac 12 is bad or weak

[konjo78]

No, because quite frankly west coast talent out here is poor. I cant speak to cali as a whole but Washington, idaho, utah and oregon high school football is painful to watch. Very little running, lot of incomplete passes and very little physicality.

Plus there are a lot of schools now pulling for talent outside of the pac12. Boise state for example gets a lot of talent from cali that use to be defaulted into pac12 schools. Then in the FCS the big sky is a high class football conference for that level that also pulls a whole lot of talent out. eastern wash, montana, and more might not be FBS quality but they definitely have 3 or 4 FBS talents on their teams that could of put over a pac12 team.

[konjo78]

I actually think you could pull ligonier or richland out of D6AA and place them in the highest class in most of those states and theyd have a real shot of winning a state championship