re: Honest assessment of the CFP 4 Team Playoff era (2014-2023)

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It was the same 4 teams rotated every year, maybe the off chance Notre Dame would sneak in and get annihilated. From 2015-2018 was probably the worst period in College football with it being the Alabama & Clemson show.

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Would it have been much different if it they were still playing under the BCS rules?

We don't know what will happen with this new format, as others have already pointed out; the matchups could still be much worse.

Maybe playoff baseball just isn’t that big a deal anymore

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Just say what you mean.

Alabama was so good it ruined your viewing experience.

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Fortunately the new rules are leveling the playing field.

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So you think the #1 vs #12 games are going to be so much better than the #1 vs #4 blowouts?

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The ONLY way this happens is if the 12 seed pulls off 2 wins against 5 and the 4 seed.

If that happens, it means the 12 was seeded incorrectly, but that is okay.

I don’t start watching MLB playoffs until the LCS’s.

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I guess you prefer the era of Bama, Ohio St and Clemson rotating as the top 3 in the country?

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So who exactly do you think is going to make a Cinderella run to make the Semi-Finals/Finals?

Boise? Iowa State? BYU? Indiana?

It’s going to be the usual big dogs in the end. The era you disdain rolls on, we’ve just got two more rounds of blowouts before we get there

I liked CFP 4 and think playoff expansion is great, but the era of computer rankings was truly the best. At that time, people just didn’t understand it.

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when there’s more parity now than there ever has been.

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I disagree. All we are seeing is different blue bloods rise to the top. Washington last year is the exception, but they have competed nationally before.

Texas? Georgia? Oregon? Penn State? Those are blue bloods and new bloods. If you want real parity, then you’ll be looking for Indiana, Pitt, and some upstart Big 12.

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Then there’s the possibility of a rematch and a completely irrelevant game in the SECCG.

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In my dream scenario, any conference not doing a true round robin or using divisions (like the B10 and SEC) will have rules that block rematches in the CCG, either partially or wholly. Give the CCG auto-berth to whoever finishes atop the standings via your usual rules, and then starting with #2, anyone who's played #1 already is eliminated. Go on down the list with your usual tiebreaks and this no-rematch clause until you find an "at-large" team that creates a unique matchup.

It eliminates the possibility of two teams playing three times, gives a possible fringe team a chance to secure a bid, doesn't unduly punish the #1 seed, blocks some instances where a team could "backdoor" into a bid, and gives some meaning back to the regular season games.

I would consider relaxing the rematch rule if one of those at-large teams actually beat #1 in the regular season. Gives #1 a chance to avenge the loss, while also giving the at-large a chance to prove that they weren't a fluke.

Might be a stupid idea. I just hate rematches. The idea that, say, Oregon could be in a position to have to go 3-0 against OSU to win a natty, when OSU might only have to go 1-2 against Oregon, just bugs the piss out of me.

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Thanks Les Saban needed a foil badly in his conference with all the same advantages and the other half of the Game of the Century just wasn’t up to the task…

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That’s a little bit of revisionist history, along with not being totally correct.

Les Miles was more than up to the task in 2011 - beating Little Nicky on his home field in the game of the century.

Let’s also not forget the SEC office and its malfeasance with bridge schedules, not to mention the weekly officiating biased displayed toward Alabama. So to say that “LSU had all the same advantages” as Alabama under Saban is false.

Honestly, had LSU lost on the road at Bama by the same 9-6 score in the game of the century, there is no way LSU would have jumped Okie State to play in the BCS title game. I also seriously doubt LSU would have gotten the same mulligan in 2017 that Alabama got.