BleedGopher
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Per Matt:
The Playoff selection committee.
Want to know why the SEC and Big Ten have done a 180 on their Playoff format preference, pushing instead for a format that gives each 3 automatic qualifiers and guarantees a top 2 seed — and a first-round bye in the tournament — in every Playoff, every year?
Because they don’t trust the Playoff committee to get it right.
“I don’t think we can ignore the elephant in the room,” a Big Ten athletic director told Saturday Tradition. “There are too many opportunities for (a Playoff vote) to go horribly wrong.”
Before we go further, understand this: The uncertainty about the selection committee’s ability to get it right doesn’t center around Florida State’s snub for the 2023 Playoff.
The Noles were the first unbeaten Power conference champion to miss the tournament in the Playoff era. That’s not what has the Big Ten and SEC sideways.
Here’s what does: Georgia became the first No. 1-ranked team on Championship Saturday to lose — by 3 points to No. 8 Alabama in a conference championship game — and drop out of the tournament field. That, and Ohio State’s treatment by the committee after a regular-season loss to Michigan.
It’s not as simple as Alabama beat Georgia and won the SEC, and they’re in. And if Alabama is in, then 1-loss Texas — which beat Alabama on the road in mid-September — is in, too.
That simplistic decision, the SEC believed, ignored strength of schedule among the 3 teams (Texas, Alabama, Georgia), and the complete change in the Alabama offense since the Texas loss.
The Big Ten, meanwhile, wasn’t thrilled about Ohio State dropping from No. 2 in the nation entering the final week of the regular season, to No. 6, after a 6-point loss at No. 3 Michigan — while driving late in the game with a chance to win it.
The Big Ten gripe: Why was FSU at No. 4 entering Championship Saturday? If the season-ending injury to QB Jordan Travis was a deal breaker on the final vote of the season, it most certainly was after FSU nearly lost to Florida in the regular-season final.
Then there’s Oregon, which was clearly slotted at No. 5 to allow an easy jump into the Playoff had it beaten Washington in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Oregon had 1 win vs. Top 25 Playoff poll team (No. 20 Oregon State), while Ohio State had wins over No. 10 Penn State and No. 17 Notre Dame.
Those “misses,” as another Big Ten athletic director said, will be magnified in the 12-team field — especially with the strength of the 2 super conferences compared to the rest of the FBS field.
saturdaytradition.com
Go Gophers!!
The B1G Story
It didn’t take long for the Big Ten and SEC partnership, or working group, or whatever you want to call it, to finally find a common enemy.The Playoff selection committee.
In a matter of weeks, the Big Ten and the SEC — the 2 heavyweight superconferences poised to changed the landscape of college sports — came to the realization that months (and in the SEC’s case, nearly 2 years) of politicking for no automatic qualifiers for the 12-team Playoff format wasn’t the way to go.Want to know why the SEC and Big Ten have done a 180 on their Playoff format preference, pushing instead for a format that gives each 3 automatic qualifiers and guarantees a top 2 seed — and a first-round bye in the tournament — in every Playoff, every year?
Because they don’t trust the Playoff committee to get it right.
“I don’t think we can ignore the elephant in the room,” a Big Ten athletic director told Saturday Tradition. “There are too many opportunities for (a Playoff vote) to go horribly wrong.”
Before we go further, understand this: The uncertainty about the selection committee’s ability to get it right doesn’t center around Florida State’s snub for the 2023 Playoff.
The Noles were the first unbeaten Power conference champion to miss the tournament in the Playoff era. That’s not what has the Big Ten and SEC sideways.
Here’s what does: Georgia became the first No. 1-ranked team on Championship Saturday to lose — by 3 points to No. 8 Alabama in a conference championship game — and drop out of the tournament field. That, and Ohio State’s treatment by the committee after a regular-season loss to Michigan.
It’s not as simple as Alabama beat Georgia and won the SEC, and they’re in. And if Alabama is in, then 1-loss Texas — which beat Alabama on the road in mid-September — is in, too.
That simplistic decision, the SEC believed, ignored strength of schedule among the 3 teams (Texas, Alabama, Georgia), and the complete change in the Alabama offense since the Texas loss.
The Big Ten, meanwhile, wasn’t thrilled about Ohio State dropping from No. 2 in the nation entering the final week of the regular season, to No. 6, after a 6-point loss at No. 3 Michigan — while driving late in the game with a chance to win it.
The Big Ten gripe: Why was FSU at No. 4 entering Championship Saturday? If the season-ending injury to QB Jordan Travis was a deal breaker on the final vote of the season, it most certainly was after FSU nearly lost to Florida in the regular-season final.
Then there’s Oregon, which was clearly slotted at No. 5 to allow an easy jump into the Playoff had it beaten Washington in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Oregon had 1 win vs. Top 25 Playoff poll team (No. 20 Oregon State), while Ohio State had wins over No. 10 Penn State and No. 17 Notre Dame.
Those “misses,” as another Big Ten athletic director said, will be magnified in the 12-team field — especially with the strength of the 2 super conferences compared to the rest of the FBS field.
The B1G 10: Big Ten, SEC send Playoff message to everybody: Accept ... or else
The B1G and SEC want guaranteed bids and seeds in the Playoff. If they don't get it, they could form their own playoff.
saturdaytradition.com
Go Gophers!!