2020 College Football Discussion and Pick 'Em Thread

[DINGO Joe]

I'm picking Rutgers and Penn St. for now.  Maybe do the rest later.

The Nebraska-Rutgers game isn't actually in the list, although you weren't the only one to pick it.

I missed a couple of weeks midseason, I need all the picks I can get now. 

UAB
Buffalo
USC

[DINGO Joe]

Not on the list, but the Sun Belt Championship game was canceled because of positive tests from Coastal Carolina.

Yeah. It's on the list. 

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Friday, December 18th

Conference USA Championship Game
UAB @ Marshall 7 PM EST CBSSN

MAC Championship Game at Ford Field in Detroit, MI
Ball State vs Buffalo 7:30 PM EST ESPN

Pac 12 Championship Game
Oregon @ #15 USC 8 PM EST FOX

Saturday, December 19th

Big Ten Championship Game at Lucas Oil Field Stadium in Indianapolis, IN
#14 Northwestern vs #4 Ohio State Noon EST FOX

#5 Texas A&M @ Tennessee Noon EST ESPN

Big 12 Championship Game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX
#11 Oklahoma vs #7 Iowa State Noon EST ABC

Florida State @ Wake Forest Noon EST ACCN

Washington State @ Utah 1:30 PM EST FS1

Air Force @ Army 3 PM EST CBSSN

Sun Belt Championship Game
#19 Louisiana @ #13 Coastal Carolina 3:30 PM EST ESPN

#25 Missouri @ Mississippi State 3:30 PM EST SECN ALT

Ole Miss @ LSU 3:30 PM EST SECN

ACC Championship Game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC
#3 Clemson vs #2 Notre Dame 4 PM EST ABC

Minnesota @ Wisconsin 4 PM EST BTN

Mountain West Championship Game at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, NV
Boise State vs San Jose State 4:15 PM EST FOX

Illinois @ Penn State 5:30 PM EST FS1

Michigan State @ Maryland 7:30 PM EST BTN

SEC Championship Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA
#1 Alabama vs #6 Florida 8 PM EST CBS

American Athletic Conference Championship Game
#24 Tulsa @ #8 Cincinnati 8 PM EST ABC

Stanford @ UCLA 8 PM EST ESPN2

Arizona State @ Oregon State 10:30 PM EST ESPN

[Terry the Fat Shark]

Ball State!

[GeorgiaModerate]

We're off to a roaring start with a total of 5 correct picks in the 3 Friday games.

[DINGO Joe]

I'm picking Rutgers and Penn St. for now.  Maybe do the rest later.

The Nebraska-Rutgers game isn't actually in the list, although you weren't the only one to pick it.

I missed a couple of weeks midseason, I need all the picks I can get now. 

UAB
Buffalo
USC

Ohio St
A&M
Iowa St
Utah
Army
Mizzou
LSU
Clemson
Wisconsin
Boise St
Penn St (again)
Michigan St
Bama
Tulsa
UCLA
ASU

[GeorgiaModerate]

Ohio State-Northwestern has been a sloppy but really entertaining game so far.

[7,052,770]

Does Northwestern jump up into the top 4 if they win? I think they have to.

[Santander]

Does Northwestern jump up into the top 4 if they win? I think they have to.

They lost to Sparty. No way.

[7,052,770]

Does Northwestern jump up into the top 4 if they win? I think they have to.

They lost to Sparty. No way.

By my count, 6 of the 24 teams who made the CFP in 2014-2019 lost to an unranked team [in the final poll], including 3 who lost to teams with losing records.

[Donerail]

Sean Lewis would be a tremendous fit for the Illinois job. [words]

Of course, B1G boosters are nothing if not stupid, so I'm sure they'll pass up the exciting young (er, "unproven") option for a nice safe bet like Bret Bielema.

I was right but I'm not happy about it

[Santander]

Does Northwestern jump up into the top 4 if they win? I think they have to.

They lost to Sparty. No way.

By my count, 6 of the 24 teams who made the CFP in 2014-2019 lost to an unranked team [in the final poll], including 3 who lost to teams with losing records.

Those were brand name teams who played full seasons. Let's be real here.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Starting to look like it's going to be a moot question anyway.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Meanwhile, the Big 12 championship is coming down to the wire!  Oklahoma leads 27-21 with a minute left, but Iowa State has the ball and is driving.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Five times in six years we have to deal with this playoff match-up. Thanks, I hate it here.

[NewYorkExpress]

My playoff rankings:

#1 Alabama
#2 Clemson
#3 Notre Dame
#4 Ohio State

[7,052,770]

It's almost certain to be Texas A&M getting the 4th spot at this point, given the selection committee's history.

The question is whether they'll drop Ohio State to #4 to punish their light schedule and avoid the Alabama-Texas A&M rematch or not.

[Terry the Fat Shark]

so TAMU got beaten up by Alabama, Notre Dame got beaten up by Clemson, but they will leave undefeated Cincy out.

[NewYorkExpress]

My playoff rankings:

#1 Alabama
#2 Clemson
#3 Notre Dame
#4 Ohio State

I think Notre Dame still is either the #3 or #4 seed, given their prior victory over Clemson.

[Donerail]

so TAMU got beaten up by Alabama, Notre Dame got beaten up by Clemson, but they will leave undefeated Cincy out.

Worse than that, I think, given that we know whoever they choose will be going up against Alabama. We've seen A&M get blown out and we know what would happen to Notre Dame — it's not (just) that they're undeserving, it's that it'd be terrible television. Cincy would at least be interesting.

[Santander]

so TAMU got beaten up by Alabama, Notre Dame got beaten up by Clemson, but they will leave undefeated Cincy out.

Clemson and Notre Dame split their two games. It would be a scandal to leave Notre Dame out for losing a conference championship game against a team they already beat in a conference they aren't even a member of.

[7,052,770]

so TAMU got beaten up by Alabama, Notre Dame got beaten up by Clemson, but they will leave undefeated Cincy out.

It is fundamentally unfair that a team can go undefeated and still not have even a shot at a championship, especially this year when Cincinnati was unable to schedule some high-quality non-conference games, but we really can't blame the selection committee for leaving out a team with Cincinnati's very soft resume.

If you put it to a vote of college football fans, I think an overwhelming majority would prefer an 8-team system that included 5 P5 autobids, 1 G5 team, and 2 at larges. SEC and Big 10 fans would see their conferences get extra teams in pretty often, the other P5s would be glad to have the guarantee, and the G5s would love it. Too bad college football is run by out-of-touch olds.

[7,052,770]

so TAMU got beaten up by Alabama, Notre Dame got beaten up by Clemson, but they will leave undefeated Cincy out.

Clemson and Notre Dame split their two games. It would be a scandal to leave Notre Dame out for losing a conference championship game against a team they already beat in a conference they aren't even a member of.

Notre Dame needed double overtime to beat Clemson at home without Trevor Lawrence. There's no doubt that Clemson is a much better team at full strength. I think it's possible that the selection committee will refer to popularity and prestige and leave out Texas A&M in favor of Notre Dame, but over the last 6 years they've done a pretty good of avoiding that.

[Santander]

so TAMU got beaten up by Alabama, Notre Dame got beaten up by Clemson, but they will leave undefeated Cincy out.

It is fundamentally unfair that a team can go undefeated and still not have even a shot at a championship, especially this year when Cincinnati was unable to schedule some high-quality non-conference games, but we really can't blame the selection committee for leaving out a team with Cincinnati's very soft resume.

If you put it to a vote of college football fans, I think an overwhelming majority would prefer an 8-team system that included 5 P5 autobids, 1 G5 team, and 2 at larges. SEC and Big 10 fans would see their conferences get extra teams in pretty often, the other P5s would be glad to have the guarantee, and the G5s would love it. Too bad college football is run by out-of-touch olds.

In the vast majority of seasons, there aren't even 4 teams that could legitimately claim to be the best team in the country, and never more than 5-6. Having quarterfinal games would further ruin the heritage of prestige bowls, too.

[7,052,770]

so TAMU got beaten up by Alabama, Notre Dame got beaten up by Clemson, but they will leave undefeated Cincy out.

It is fundamentally unfair that a team can go undefeated and still not have even a shot at a championship, especially this year when Cincinnati was unable to schedule some high-quality non-conference games, but we really can't blame the selection committee for leaving out a team with Cincinnati's very soft resume.

If you put it to a vote of college football fans, I think an overwhelming majority would prefer an 8-team system that included 5 P5 autobids, 1 G5 team, and 2 at larges. SEC and Big 10 fans would see their conferences get extra teams in pretty often, the other P5s would be glad to have the guarantee, and the G5s would love it. Too bad college football is run by out-of-touch olds.

In the vast majority of seasons, there aren't even 4 teams that could legitimately claim to be the best team in the country, and never more than 5-6. Having quarterfinal games would further ruin the heritage of prestige bowls, too.

There should be no such thing as a "claim" to being the best team. It should be definitively settled on the field.

For years the minority of fans who lurved the BCS claimed that the BCS always got it right in the end. Then in year 1 of the playoff, Ohio State, who didn't have a "claim" and would have gotten no consideration whatsoever under the BCS, won it and proved they were the best after all. In 2017, Alabama did it again. It's reasonable to think that it would have happened a few more times with a 4-team playoff during the BCS years.

Looking at who's been selected under the 4-team model and who just missed out, it's easy to see that an 8-team playoff would have picked up pretty much everyone with a legitimate case for deserving to play for a title, as well as making sure every P5 conference is represented, as well as at least 1 G5 cinderella each year:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Football_Playoff#Selections_by_year