(12-24-2019 12:06 PM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  Why not have a provision in place whereby if any team that is undefeated and makes the Top 25 rankings has a spot secured in the playoff? That would be a nice bone to throw in the direction of independent schools.

Because the system will be determined based on the balance of power in college football at the time the negotiations happen. Because the PAC, XII and ACC are likely to demand autobids for P5 champs, 5+3 or 5+2+1 is more likely than straight-8. Whether we see 5+3 (maybe with a guarantee for a top-10 G5 champ) or 5+2+1 depends on how much stroke the G5 can swing.

The non-Notre Dame independents have ZERO stroke. So they get--nothing, except theoretical eligibility for the two or three at-large bids. (BYU *may* have the SOS to snag an at-large if they do undefeated.)

(12-26-2019 12:19 PM)FloridaJag Wrote:  A 16 team playoff solves the independent qestion.

10 conference champs + the 6 best of the rest.

16 is the way to go.
Autobids for each P5 DIVISION champ (10)
6 at large bids.

Any crappy P5 division champ will just get slaughtered by the #1 seed. The G5 will average a little over one at large bid per year, and there are plenty of openings for independents.

The CCG week would be eliminated and replaced by round 1 of the playoff.

(12-26-2019 02:34 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(12-24-2019 12:06 PM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  Why not have a provision in place whereby if any team that is undefeated and makes the Top 25 rankings has a spot secured in the playoff? That would be a nice bone to throw in the direction of independent schools.

Because the system will be determined based on the balance of power in college football at the time the negotiations happen. Because the PAC, XII and ACC are likely to demand autobids for P5 champs, 5+3 or 5+2+1 is more likely than straight-8. Whether we see 5+3 (maybe with a guarantee for a top-10 G5 champ) or 5+2+1 depends on how much stroke the G5 can swing.

The non-Notre Dame independents have ZERO stroke. So they get--nothing, except theoretical eligibility for the two or three at-large bids. (BYU *may* have the SOS to snag an at-large if they do undefeated.)

I doubt they get nothing. It will at least be a more equitable share of the CFP money relative to what the G5 is making.

Hopefully a shared access point if they go undefeated. There may be more independent schools in the future (Texas?) that will want some kind of protection.

My motto has always been K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid. If you can’t explain the playoff system to a 4th grader, then it’s too complicated.

There are several systems that are quite simple and logical. I don’t agree with having a “straight 8” format, but I would grant that it meets the K.I.S.S. criteria. The 5-3 and 5-1-2 formats also meet the K.I.S.S. standard.

However, when you start throwing in exceptions and additional rules (e.g. this champ needs to be in the top 12 or this independent gets in because they’re undefeated or this team gets in with 1 loss but can’t get in with 3 losses, etc.), then *that* is when you get a subpar system. The desire for exceptions and rules that are intended to create a “better” or “fairer” playoff end up creating more chaos.

The playoff format itself shouldn’t (and almost certainly won’t) be as complicated as this forum thinks it will be. Now, how the money is split could be a very complicated matter, but that is an issue outside of the playoff format itself. Even with respect to the money, there won’t be radical changes to the calendar other than just adding a week or two at the end. The regular season length doesn’t need to change, conference championship games don’t need to change, bowl dates don’t need to change... nothing needs to change other than adding another round to the end of the season, which can be easily accommodated if/when the NFL shifts its playoffs to February. Any playoff expansion would purely be an addition to the current system - no one is losing a single dime from reducing the regular season or eliminating conference championship games.

Keep It Simple Stupid!