(01-16-2019 02:08 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  You either rank them or you don't. Autobids are just attempts by fans to increase the shot their favored team makes it.

Or a way to ensure that a conference champ doesn’t get screwed by the “eye test”. For instance UGA has no business being in the discussion this year for a four team playoff after both losing twice and getting blown out by 20+ but the committee would have put them in over Ohio State who was a conference champ with one fewer loss had ND or OU lost a second game. Even then if those losses are close it’s arguable that UGA didn’t deserve it over either team. But the eye test totally knew UGA 2018, Alabama 2013, Michigan 2006, and others were all clearly the best teams that were somehow left out but magically the eye test was proven dead wrong in the bowls! What a joke.

It’s not hard to envision similar scenarios playing out in an eight team field and a soft autobid keeps bias from selecting just the schools with media narratives.

Now I do think that these autobids for P5 champs should have a minimum ranking to be used so that it’s merely a tiebreaker for similar resumes and not a golden ticket for a team ranked outside the top 15 that potentially lost 1/4 to 1/3 of its regular season.