CFB Final 4

Washington getting in could hurt the quality non-conference games that we've been getting. They played no one in the non-con - Rutgers, Idaho, and Portland State. Compare them to Oklahoma, who has two losses, both against good non-con opponents (Houston and Ohio State).

If Oklahoma had played Washington's schedule, who would be in the playoff? This might show some teams that a viable path to the playoff is to play no one as long as you go 12-1 with a conference title.
I don't think it matters at this point. They are the pac 12 champs they're a lock to get in.
 
What are everyone's predictions for the final 4? Should be interesting to see what the committee does as there are several different scenarios that could play out.

I think it will be, Bama, Clemson, OSU, PSU

What it should be, Bama, Clemson, Washington, PSU.

If the committee is consistent they will drop Ohio State from 2nd to 5th because of lack of 13th data point.

However I have a feeling they won't and Ohio State is in. I don't have a problem with that because Ohio State is a top 4 team. I have a problem with their BS they gave two years ago about needing more data points to not drop a team from 3 to 6.

Bama and Ohio State are locks. Clemson is almost a lock. Big question is if Penn State or Washington is the 4th team.
 
They won by 31 in the pac 12 championship game against a top 10 team....

Colorado is a tough team to evaluate. While they were a "top 10 team", they lost to every school in their schedule with a pulse.

As did Washington if you consider we don't really know a thing about Colorado.
 
Alabama
Clemson
Washington
Penn State

I think the committee, whether they will admit this or not, understands politics. In CFB politics, you cannot omit a one loss Pac 12 champ in favor of a second B1G team. And going out on a limb, I think they will uphold their principle that conference championships matter, and select the B1G team that won the conference championship. In spite of their 2 losses, PSU played their best football toward the end of the season. Maybe that is not a crieria, but it is reasoning that would sell the decision. That, and they beat tOSU head to head.

I'll have a lot less to gripe about and hope you're right...but I wouldn't hold your breath on that.

When Ohio State wins a CCG...Championships and CCGs and 13 data points matter. When Ohio State is a top 4 eye test 12 game team..."our job is to pick the best 4 teams".

It's a moving target based on how to get their biggest brands positioned best. 20 years ago Penn State might have been on equal footing but they aren't the brand Ohio State is now.
 
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I would go with.

Bama vs Penn State & Clemson vs. Washington.

I think winning conference championships should be the sole criteria. If Ohio State was an ELITE team, they should have beat Penn State. They have an impressive late season win over the Huskers (62-3), However, their combined victory margin over Wisky, Northwestern, MSU and Michigan is 15 points. OSU is very good, but I wouldn't say dominent team that they should get in over Penn State. If Iowa, Northwestern, Nebraska or Wisky had the same scenario as Ohio State- I don't think we would be having this discussion. Penn State would be in the playoff.

Also Penn State has 9 straight wins. This is a much better team now than in September. Not sure I can say the same about Ohio State.
 
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I don't think it matters at this point. They are the pac 12 champs they're a lock to get in.

Seeing as the champs of 2 of the other 4 major conferences are not locks to get in, and the Pac-12 champ didn't get in last year, this doesn't make any sense.
 
Colorado is a tough team to evaluate. While they were a "top 10 team", they lost to every school in their schedule with a pulse.

As did Washington if you consider we don't really know a thing about Colorado.

Another reason Colorado is so hard to get a measure on is because they won when Liufau was healthy and generally lost when he wasn't healthy or played injured. That's a consideration that gets applied when a favored team of the committee can benefit but ignored when it's a factor for a less shiny brand.
 
Seeing as the champs of 2 of the other 4 major conferences are not locks to get in, this doesn't make sense.

Well when you win the great Pac 12 North, beating out Oregon who's great as always and a Washington St team who had such impressive out of conference wins, you have to be in.
 
Ohio State did win their division and a of their non conference games. they tied for the division championship with Penn state. the tie breaker for the playoff spot is Penn state losing to Pitt and Ohio state beating Oklahoma
 
Penn State should play Colorado in the Rose Bowl. However, the Rose bowl might choose USC because they'll bring more fans to the game and draw a larger tv audience.
 
#1 Alabama v. #4 Clemson

#2 Ohio State v. #3 Washington



Give the Rose Bowl traditionalists their match up, even if not in Pasadena.

Dabo v. Saban will draw eyeballs, too. Sets up an Urban v. Saban championship.

Bump UW over Clemson because the 'Dubs crushed Colorado in their championship game and Clemson struggled over a goodish Virginia Tech team.

Conveniently forget all about that 13th data point/conference championship malarkey they fed us, but not that I feel too bad for Baylor in hindsight.

Not that it matters for the conference -- a UT or OU with the resume of TCU or Baylor from that year would have made it through just fine. Those blue blood schools need to worry about creating that resume in the first place right now. Good luck, Mr. Herman.
 
In my opinion, there should never be two teams in the final four from the same conference. There are 5 conferences fighting for 4 spots. Win your conference and you are one of 5 teams considered for 4 spots. OSU did not win the big Ten and they should not be considered.

Adding OSU to the final four is like adding Iowa State back into the NCAA tournament after we were beaten by Hampton because we all know Iowa State was the better team. OSU had their chance. They did not beat Penn St and they did not win their conference.
 
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#1 Alabama v. #4 Clemson

#2 Ohio State v. #3 Washington



Give the Rose Bowl traditionalists their match up, even if not in Pasadena.

Dabo v. Saban will draw eyeballs, too. Sets up an Urban v. Saban championship.

Bump UW over Clemson because the 'Dubs crushed Colorado in their championship game and Clemson struggled over a goodish Virginia Tech team.

It would have been an interesting year for the old BCS formula.

Computer average probably would have been:
Alabama
Ohio State
Michigan
Clemson
------------
Washington

Final Coaches/Harris poll for the other 2/3 would/will probably be:
Alabama
Ohio St.
Clemson
Penn St or Washington

It would be the same Penn State or Washington question but with a somewhat objective criteria that had been agreed upon by everyone before a single game was played. What a marvelous decision to abandon that for a very small committee of partisans. BRILLIANT!
 
Colorado is a tough team to evaluate. While they were a "top 10 team", they lost to every school in their schedule with a pulse.

As did Washington if you consider we don't really know a thing about Colorado.

"They lost to every school in their schedule with a pulse". Washington lost one game! That game was to a USC team that is playing as well as any team in the country except Bama. Washinton's PF/PA in Pac12 games was 389 to 184, a margin of victory of nearly 23 points in Pac12 games.

IMO there is a bias against the Pac12, because most people don't watch their games. Also, there aren't many weak links in the Pac12. Whereas, the Big10 has 5-6 really bad teams.
 
I've always been a believer that if you don't win your conference, you shouldn't be able to play for the national title. Should you be declared the best if you don't win your own conference? Had an issue when Nebraska didn't win the Big 12 yet played in the National Title game a while ago.
 
"They lost to every school in their schedule with a pulse". Washington lost one game! That game was to a USC team that is playing as well as any team in the country except Bama. Washinton's PF/PA in Pac12 games was 389 to 184, a margin of victory of nearly 23 points in Pac12 games.

IMO there is a bias against the Pac12, because most people don't watch their games. Also, there aren't many weak links in the Pac12. Whereas, the Big10 has 5-6 really bad teams.

We just saw this on the CFP show. Joey Galloway was talking about the B1G East being the best division in college football. It was pointed out to him that computer metrics have that division #4 and the Pac-12 North at #2.

When a division or a conference has some really good teams and some really bad ones, we tend to overrate it. The B1G East (and the B1G in general) checks that box right now. Sure OSU Michigan and PSU are very good. They also basically got four in-division byes against 3-9 Michigan State, Indiana, Maryland, and the worst P5 team in college football, Rutgers.
 
"They lost to every school in their schedule with a pulse". Washington lost one game! That game was to a USC team that is playing as well as any team in the country except Bama. Washinton's PF/PA in Pac12 games was 389 to 184, a margin of victory of nearly 23 points in Pac12 games.

IMO there is a bias against the Pac12, because most people don't watch their games. Also, there aren't many weak links in the Pac12. Whereas, the Big10 has 5-6 really bad teams.

Maybe, but name a team in the Pac12 that did anything out of conference.

I'll go ahead and answer for you. Their isn't one. The best non-con win for the Pac12 is Stanford's win over KState.
 
"They lost to every school in their schedule with a pulse". Washington lost one game! That game was to a USC team that is playing as well as any team in the country except Bama. Washinton's PF/PA in Pac12 games was 389 to 184, a margin of victory of nearly 23 points in Pac12 games.

IMO there is a bias against the Pac12, because most people don't watch their games. Also, there aren't many weak links in the Pac12. Whereas, the Big10 has 5-6 really bad teams.

The bottom half teams of the Pac have much more speed than the bottom B10 teams. To me that's the difference, I follow somewhat more closely living out here now. A 4-8 team like UCLA is absolutely loaded with talent and speed and can't quite put together, it's not comparable to playing Minnesota, Illinois, Rutgers or Purdue.