2025-26 College Football Thread

[monkeyman576]

It's petty and childish to boycott the bowl games when the CFP selection doesn't go your way. I would be embarrased if I was a Notre Dame fan or player. This isn't an undefeated team, they loss their first two games of the season, and Texas A&M, a team they lost to, lost to Texas, and Miami, a team they lost to, lost to SMU and Louisville.

Notre Dame is being punished for not playing in a conference championship game, which is how it should be in my opinion. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

[Hrycaj]

Originally Posted by monkeyman576

It's petty and childish to boycott the bowl games when the CFP selection doesn't go your way. I would be embarrased if I was a Notre Dame fan or player. This isn't an undefeated team, they loss their first two games of the season, and Texas A&M, a team they lost to, lost to Texas, and Miami, a team they lost to, lost to SMU and Louisville.

Notre Dame is being punished for not playing in a conference championship game, which is how it should be in my opinion. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

I think they are being punished for not playing in a conference. Their traditional schedule was weak so those first two games cost them big. Hard to feel bad for them though. Like you said, can’t have it both ways.

[dsvitak]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

1. Indiana
Most obvious candidate here. Beat the Ducks in Oregon & OSU for the T1e8n title. No brainer

2. Georgia
Won the SEC. Victory over the one team that beat them, plus Ole Miss

3. Texas Tech
Most under the radar title contender. Dominated the 12ish. Only loss came on the road w/o their starting QB on a TD in the last :30

4. Ohio State
Maybe the best defense in the country. Maybe, pound for pound, the most disappointing offense.

5. Oregon
Not sold on these guys. Record might get them a higher seeding than they are actually worthy of.

6. Texas A&M
Being carried by their win @ Notre Dame. Could be in line for an early upset.

7. Ole Miss
Look @ the schedule. Best win is @ Oklahoma. Most suspect out of the SEC teams.

8. Bama
I don't think going 1-1 vs Georgia in Georgia should hurt them. Losing to FSU should.

9. Texas
I don't think much of their chances. But beating Oklahoma, Vandy & TxA&M while losing by a TD to OSU has got to count for something.

10. Miami
A hold my nose pick. Win vs Notre Dame. Beat FSU (that beat Bama), beat Florida (that beat Texas). If we aren't going to hold those loses against Bama & Texas, then it should count in favor to the Canes that they won those games.

11.Tulane
Best from the group of 5

12. James Madison
I heard they get in cause they are ranked higher than dook. Whatever.

Left out

Notre Dame
The games vs the Aggies & Hurricanes turned into elimination games. Different result in either & the Irish are in the playoff & the loser is going bowling

Oklahoma
Texas & Ole Miss were their elimination games. A reverse result in either.......Win vs Bama was tough to manage around & Sooner fans would have reason to complain. But the SEC conference schedule is to erratic to evaluate. You get A&M & Ole Miss who gets a gaudy record vs a weak slate. Then OU, Bama, & Texas who play a higher class of opponent during the season. You might as well draw names from a hat & get just as credible a ranking.

Vanderbilt
Two games they played vs a potential playoff team weren't really close if you watched them.

BYU
Dominated in the 2 games vs Texas Tech 63-14. Proves they weren't at this level.

Your take is completely reasonable. I don't believe I would change any position of any team by more than one slot.

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

I challenge anybody to sit down & try to come up with a sure fire, argument proof ranking of the 6 SEC teams that finished behind Georgia.

I was already sitting down and while nothing stops people from arguing (as is evident here), I think I can make a reasonable guess as to how the Committee would rank those six teams

Mississippi
Texas Agricultural and Mechanical
Oklahoma

(This is how the Committee had them ranked last week. None of them played. Nothing shoulld change.)

Alabama

(Was behind the others. Got whupped. But will probably get a playoff spot)

Texas
The Cornelius Vanderbilt University

(I have no idea how a team with three losses, including Florida, and three near-losses, one at Kentucky and one at Mississippi State, was ranked above Vandy, but that's how it was last week and nothing should change here, either. )

*****************
How is 5-7 MSU going to a Bowl, even the Spoiled Mayonnaise Bowl, anyhow? What happened to eligibility requirements? Does this mean the Gamecocks could have had that "honor" if we'd beaten Clemson, then?

Huh.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

(This is how the Committee had them ranked last week. None of them played. Nothing shoulld change.)

I'm going to stop you right here because this point you keep harping on. This is what the ND AD kept bringing up. Respectfully, you are both wrong.

From the beginning of this playoff system, the committee has stated each week's poll has no bearing on the last one. They take the season as a whole as has been played up to that point. Then everything is "rebooted" the next week. Because beating LSU back in October when they were ranked #4 is a lot different than beating them, after Thanx when they are coach shopping. So beating the Tigers back then may have meant a lot & jumped you a few spots. But it is going to get re-evaluated in December & weighed properly. And then, what was a strength of your credentials becomes the weak point on your resume.

And that is so important in this modern age of college football. Because we don't know what these teams are on Labor Day thanks to the transfer portal. Waiting til the end to make a final judgement on these teams eliminates the fantasy guesses & undue influence from pre season polls.

So I've said it before and I will say it again: Previous polls are worth diddly-squat. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. Confederate dollars. Blockbuster video stock. There is absolutely no obligation for the committee to allow last week's opinion to influence this week's.

Those previous polls are designed to get sports radio talking. To give ESPN programming something to show. They are often ranked wrong on purpose just to get fans riled up. And when the final one comes out, it gets fans buzzing because something flipped that they weren't expecting. And/or someone feels snubbed.

So reasoning x team should remain in front is a bogus argument, because no one's ranking was ever set in stone pending a loss. Instead of thinking X was ranked coming into Saturday, you need to be thinking nobody was ranked coming into Saturday.

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

But it is going to get re-evaluated in December & weighed properly.

It did get re-evaluated in December. Last week was December. Nothing has changed. Nothing should change. Why would anybody re-re-evaluate anything?

There is absolutely no obligation for the committee to allow last week's opinion to influence this week's.

"Obligation"? No. There's no legal contract involved. Just common sense.

Makes more sense than "they wuz lying to get talk radio talking" conspiracy theories, IMO.

(Was there a danger that if the Committee had ranked the teams differently last week, nobody would have been talking? Seems dubious. Polls change when events change. Indiana beat Ohio State, so teams that lost to indiana [Oregon] look better and teams that lost to Ohio State [Texas] look worse. But they're not going to re-rack the whole thing significantly.)

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

It did get re-evaluated in December. Last week was December. Nothing has changed. Nothing should change. Why would anybody re-re-evaluate anything?

Because Indiana was an unbeaten that had one single big win. Now they have 2. That changes how Indiana looks and how you view Oregon's loss.

Georgia had a loss vs Bama. Now they have a win too. That changes how people view any losses to UGa.,

Bama was a potential 2 loss conference champion that handed Georgia their only losses. Now they are a 3 loss team w/o a trophy. ha changes how people view any contest w/Bama.

They are all dominos that affect all that they touch when they fall.

And I can't believe you can't get this. They told all of us, from the get go, all regular season polls would be "torn up" each week. If you and the Irish AD chose to ignore that, it is your fault. You are going into McD's at noon knowing they said they stop selling breakfast @ 1100 perplexed you can't get a McGriddle.

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

They told all of us, from the get go, all regular season polls would be "torn up" each week. If you and the Irish AD chose to ignore that, it is your fault.

Aren't you the man who tells us that the NCAA is deeply awful and should not exist? Who claimed in you previous post that the Committee (allegedly) puts out fake rankings just for ****s and giggles? Now you're relying on an obvious CYA statement as a "they told us" to justify expectations of wild swings that seem deeply unlikely to happen.

The only game relevant to Ol' Piss, the Aggies and OU was Georgia-Alabama. Georgia won. Good for them. Good for Lane Kiffin's ex, whose loss to Georgia doesn't look so bad any longer. But Mississippi was already ranked above the other two, and seems hardly likely to jump Oregon, whose loss to Indiana was likewise diminished by IU's Saturday triumph.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma's victory over Alabama doesn't look so good now that Bama was exposed, I'd agree. But to extrapolate from that that the Sooners are going to drop behind not one, not two, not three, but FOUR schools, including the very same Alabama team that was just exposed as a fraud and both Tulane and James Madison (who probably couldn't even beat James Monroe High in Brooklyn, who are powered by Vinnie Barbarino, Juan Epstein, Freddy "Boom-Boom" Washington and Arnold Horshack, even if Mrs. Kotter has to coach the team when Gabe's "away"), IMO bespeaks the sort of critical thinking that keeps lotteries and Ponzi schemes in business.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

Aren't you the man who tells us that the NCAA is deeply awful and should not exist? Who claimed in you previous post that the Committee (allegedly) puts out fake rankings just for ****s and giggles? Now you're relying on an obvious CYA statement as a "they told us" to justify expectations of wild swings that seem deeply unlikely to happen.

I'm not justifying anything, dude. I want the system torn up completely. I'm not defending them. I'm saying your assertion the committee is beholden to base each week's ranking on last week's is bogus. It is a lie.

You want to repeat what I say, then include this.......

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

This is why I like automatic bids & why people in power hate them. Because when you allow vague criteria to be your guide, you allow people in power to select their preferences instead of giving people who earn their spots their due.

I told you before how this whole thing was set up. There isn't any firm structure for the selection process. When title week ends, the committee, supposedly, picks the most worthy 12 and seeds them. They have to pick the best ranked conference champions, the highest ranked Group of 5 team & can apparently pick a 2nd group of 5 champ if a Power 4 conference champion isn't ranked. As far as I know, that is it. There is no other guidelines, no computer data, nothing they have to adhere to in making their choices. You can keep circling back to last week if you want, as much as you want, it is still a flat lie that had to be any consideration.

But hey, let me save you the round trip. Why don't I just give you a link to the rules so you can see it for yourself?

NCAA
CFP Selection Committee

Now, do we see anything in the rules that states any previous ranking has to be given any consideration when they do the current week's ranking?

I love this. Cause, chess lover, now I got you in checkmate. You are going to have to do one of 3 things..........1. Admit you were wrong & I'm right, 2. Continue to argue and thus prove what I said that you are not strong enough to admit you are wrong, or 3. Hide and say nothing, thus proving I'm right.

Which will you choose?................

[Amazin69]

Guess what, dude?

The Bracket already came out, yesterday afternoon.

I'd like to say I had already seen it and knew I was right and you were wrong, but I honestly had no idea. I also don't know why you were arguing that Oklahoma was going to be dropped when you (judging from your remarks about the Notre Dame AD) apparently knew that wasn't the case. But whatever floats your boat, I guess.

ETA: Apparently you seem to have thought that I was arguing about legal technicalities or something, even though I expressly said I wasn't.

All I did was respond to your post when you said that Oklahoma was going to be kicked down past FOUR teams, including an Alabama that was embarrassed on Saturday night. I pointed out that Oklahoma being left out (in favor of TEXAS????) was extremely unlikely to happen, given the standings heading into Saturday. (Because I was too polite to call your prediction "****ing stupid".)

Apparently you've just been playing some bizarre game of "Well, it COULD have!" all this time, which is as far off-topic as Alabama is from Zimbabwe. Of course anything COULD HAVE happened. The Committee could have put James Madison at #1, followed by Johns Hopkins, Washington and Lee, William and Mary, Franklin and Marshall, Marshall Field, the US Marshals, the US Postal Service, and the Coast Guard Academy. But logic told me that wasn't going to happen, just as logic told me Oklahoma wasn't going to drop four notches.

Instead of acknowledging that I was right and you were wrong (wrt Oklahoma's fate), you apparently spent your entire Sunday arguing an entirely different point that I never gave one micron of an iota of a scintilla of a fraction of a **** about. To quote Edwin Starr, "Good God, Y'all!"

Hope you had fun.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

Guess what, dude?

The Bracket already came out, yesterday afternoon.

I'd like to say I had already seen it and knew I was right and you were wrong, but I honestly had no idea. I also don't know why you were arguing that Oklahoma was going to be dropped when you (judging from your remarks about the Notre Dame AD) apparently knew that wasn't the case. But whatever floats your boat, I guess.

ETA: Apparently you seem to have thought that I was arguing about legal technicalities or something, even though I expressly said I wasn't.

All I did was respond to your post when you said that Oklahoma was going to be kicked down past FOUR teams, including an Alabama that was embarrassed on Saturday night. I pointed out that Oklahoma being left out (in favor of TEXAS????) was extremely unlikely to happen, given the standings heading into Saturday. (Because I was too polite to call your prediction "****ing stupid".)

Apparently you've just been playing some bizarre game of "Well, it COULD have!" all this time, which is as far off-topic as Alabama is from Zimbabwe. Of course anything COULD HAVE happened. The Committee could have put James Madison at #1, followed by Johns Hopkins, Washington and Lee, William and Mary, Franklin and Marshall, Marshall Field, the US Marshals, the US Postal Service, and the Coast Guard Academy. But logic told me that wasn't going to happen, just as logic told me Oklahoma wasn't going to drop four notches.

Instead of acknowledging that I was right and you were wrong (wrt Oklahoma's fate), you apparently spent your entire Sunday arguing an entirely different point that I never gave one micron of an iota of a scintilla of a fraction of a **** about. To quote Edwin Starr, "Good God, Y'all!"

Hope you had fun.

[monkeyman576]

It sounds like Notre Dame opted out because they are afraid of being embarrased in their bowl game because of NFL hopefuls not participating as much of anything. But if I were the CFP I would ban Notre Dame from next years playoffs.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by monkeyman576

It sounds like Notre Dame opted out because they are afraid of being embarrased in their bowl game because of NFL hopefuls not participating as much of anything. But if I were the CFP I would ban Notre Dame from next years playoffs.

My bad. Most of those refusing weren't bowl eligible to begin with.

[David Watts]

What do y'all think about the new deal saying if Notre Dame finishes the season ranked in the top 12 they make the CFP? Shouldn't there be a clause saying if ranked 12 or better they get in, unless their QB gets hurt prior to the end of the season

[Ragnar]

Originally Posted by monkeyman576

It's petty and childish to boycott the bowl games when the CFP selection doesn't go your way. I would be embarrased if I was a Notre Dame fan or player. This isn't an undefeated team, they loss their first two games of the season, and Texas A&M, a team they lost to, lost to Texas, and Miami, a team they lost to, lost to SMU and Louisville.

Notre Dame is being punished for not playing in a conference championship game, which is how it should be in my opinion. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

I don't think it's childish. Miami leapfrogged them on a week neither team played. So they think they were wronged. You think fans will be embarrassed that they don't want to participate in the gummy bear bowl? Oh wait, the Pop Tarts bowl!!! Are you kidding me? That's like being given a consolation prize of a bag of marshmallows. They're going to tell you to shove them up your A...

BTW, I'm a Rutgers fan.

[Cobra Mgr]

When I heard it I was mad & now here the next day I'm still hot. ND's AD had the nerve, the audacity to get mad at the ACC for promoting Miami for the playoff @ the Irish's expense. Every AD in the ACC should have dialed Pete Bevacqua & tore him a new one.

YOU'RE NOT IN THE ACC FOOTBALL CONFERENCE YOU DOLT!!!!!!!!!!

To borrow from Stephen A, THE UNMITIGATED GALL to claim the relationship received permanent harm because the ACC sought to take care of one of its committed own. Not one of commitment @ their convenience like Notre Dame. The frikkin' nerve!!!!!!!!!

This is another example why the ACC letting the Irish in as a part time member was stupid and short sighted. The Irish are users. They want influence. They want power. With out responsibility. Look @ how they treated the Big East football conference (remember when that was a thing?). They joined the BE for everything but football. And when those schools saw themselves losing power & influence in the football world, did they step up & help their conference brothers? No. They kept their Irish eyes on Irish matters.

And now that the ACC is losing their football influence, anyone from Notre Dame getting the cavalry going? Course not. Let the schools bicker with one another & implode from within.

And it infuriates me!! That the ACC allows themselves to be used like that. The Irish have withheld the best they have to offer while the ACC has given their best to them. They even let them influence them to bring in Stanford & Cal. Two schools that bring nothing to the table as far as monetary media value. But the schools let them in to placate the Irish. They want to act like they run the ACC while doing nothing to address the problems of the ACC.

And now they want to complain when the ACC looked after one of their own? The Irish don't want to be associated w/ACC football, so why would ACC football act like they are associated w/them?????

It's like Notre Dame is some hooker the ACC has been paying & foolishly fell in love with. The ACC actually tried to put a ring on it, & the Irish said they want to continue to see other clients. But hey, the ACC can continue to wine & dine them & buy their rent, lease them a luxury car. And in return, the Irish will give them a little nooky, nooky for their troubles. But now they want to complain that the ACC bought their own kid a new car. The Irish had a chance to take on the ACC's last name, refused, but act like they can tell the ACC how to treat their own kids? Just because the ACC happened to get their kid a better car than hers?

F! U! HO! You ungrateful, privileged, gold-diggin' harlot!

And shame on the ACC for falling in love w/the stripper. I don't care how good the lap dance is, you know the dancer probably has daddy issues, is working to feed an addiction & should be on some kind of psychological drug treatment. You saw what the Irish did to the Big East. They watched them go defunct. And they will gladly siphon off every penny you got & leave you homeless while they are on to the next John.

Lane Kiffin was made for South Bend...................

........What is Antwaan Randle El up to?...........

..........As far as all of the bowl skipping.........I've tried to tell ya the bowls mean nothing. No one starts the season hoping to make it to Hawaii, Jacksonville or San Diego. It's the playoffs, period. Making a bowl game means little on the recruiting trail now. Your best players don't want to risk an injury & their audition for the next level. The fans don't view it as a success. And the rest of the players look at it as a consolation prize, not a reward.

That is why earlier I said the playoff should be expanded and bowls eliminated. In most college team sports, approx 20% of the teams make the playoffs. In football, just 7%. Thirty-two participants gets the percentages more in line with the rest of the NCAA..........

........I don't get Ole Miss' reasoning for not allowing Lane Kiffin to coach the team meshes w/letting his assistants headed to LSU stay on campus. If they were afraid of advertising LSU & their players being recruited by Lane while he was still there, how is that fear not present if Charlie Weis Jr & his assistants are still in Oxford?.............

.......Basketball school doesn't matter.......I've heard UNC football fans say the team hasn't won an ACC title since 1980 because the powers that be are too concerned w/basketball. Indiana won the Big T1e8n, Texas Tech won the Big 12ish, & dook won the ACC. NO MORE EXCUSES!.................

......I'll of course watch, but not one 1st round game in the playoff looks interesting to me. I almost always pull for the underdog. So go JMU & Tulane.........

........Fernando Mendoza might do something @ the next level..........

[David Watts]

Still wish all the teams not in the Big10, Big 12, ACC and SEC would say screw it and form their own post season playoff. Play the championship game on a Saturday afternoon or evening, even if it means going up against the NFL.

Another idea that I think would make the bowl games more interesting would be if college football had a NIT type playoff involving teams that don't make the CFP. Don't make the CFP and want to whine about it, you better darn well win your NIT games.

[Cobra Mgr]

Big 12ish Commish calls ND AD's behavior egregious.

And he makes a good point. The COVID year, everyone was going conference only. Irish was about to have a lost year. And the ACC stepped up for them and allowed them a one season football membership that ended up getting them into the playoff.

Ungrateful equine apertures.

[monkeyman576]

The bowls don't mean anything if you're Alabama, Georgia, or Ohio St. If you're Washington State, Utah St, or Colorado State, the bowls mean something.

[ezpkns34]

As someone who went to a mid-tier ACC school, seemingly more recently than others posting in here (just a guess, not a shot or anything!), I can confirm that students of these schools view bowls solely as an excuse for a road trip over the holidays with friends and to get drunk somewhere else




Also, if ND wants an auto-bid to the CFP, then they should look into joining a conference. It's not rocket science