2023 College Football Season

[gr8daynegb]

Looks like Luke Fickell, coach of Cincinatti, is set to become the next coach at Wisconsin. A total surprise to nearly eveyone, especially us Badgers fans. The odds on favorite was interim coach Jim Leonhard. Leonhard was the hometown boy, having grown up in Wisconsin and played for the Badgers. But I can see the desire to bring someone in from outside with a new perspective. Things had gotten stale in Madison. The offense had little creativity, the QB Mertz never really progressed, and penalties and mistakes were all too common. Let's hope it all works out!

I'm cautiously optimistic. The program needed somebody fresh and contemporary, which Fickell is. But G5-to-P5 hires don't have the best track record recently.

Same here.  Being that Fickell has big Ten roots and experience has me being optimistic.  My own personal preference was Leonard as he is a UW guy but with his youth and NFL experience felt he had a good shot to help UW football evolve into the current NCAA landscape.  With Chryst they were slowly, but surely, heading towards irrelevancy.

Do feel UW, like Nebraska, know with UCLA and USC joining in conference in 2024 they have to get their acts together.  Just a hunch but think ESPN and other sports experts will consistently keep picking Michigan, Ohio St, USC, and maybe Penn St to be the cream of the crop. Nebraska hopes that hiring right coach will get them back to that discussion as they believe they are a Ohio State/Alabama level when things are right program.  Those same experts will have UW finishing no better than 5th(guessing lumped in with Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue, UCLA level of teams).

UW won't be an Ohio St, Notre Dame, Alabama type program where their fans think it's their birthright to be in the national title picture.....but UW is on the level that they could be in that discussion some years and should almost always be a top 25 program.

Do hope they made right choice here

[triplemultiplex]

College football is all about who you can recruit.  That's the primary reason why certain schools dominate the Cartel League.  The inertia of success gets more studs to pick them so they keep winning and become annoying to fans of other teams.  Not to mention more boring, lopsided games they might as well not even play because one side is effectively a minor league pro team and the other is guys who couldn't land a scholarship at a dominant program.

UW thinks Fickell is a guy who can get people to come to Madison and play.  We'll see.  Wisconsin has only ever had one NFL-caliber quarterback in my lifetime and that's what you need to realistically compete.  Otherwise you're just another Big10 proving ground for future NFL linemen.

At the end of the day, I can't help but feel like it's futile to try and chase that dragon.  Even if it succeeds, then what?  Now you're the jerk-ass team everyone hates because they are in the mix all the time and everyone is bored of it.  You're the dork flying the colors of the team that usually wins and sports media swoons over even though you didn't go to school there.

[Roadgeekteen]

Conference championship games are set:

CUSA: North Texas vs Texas-San Antonio
PAC-12: Utah vs Southern Cal
MAC: Toledo vs Ohio
Big 12: Kansas State vs TCU
Sun Belt: Coastal Carolina vs Troy
Mountain West: Fresno St vs Boise St
American: Central Florida vs Tulane
SEC: LSU vs Georgia
ACC: Clemson vs North Carolina
Big Ten: Purdue vs Michigan

Georgia is in the playoff win or lose, though probably not seeded #1 if they lose.
Michigan is probably in win or lose.
TCU and Southern Cal both need to win to get in.

Ohio State and Alabama are teams not playing who could back in if other teams lose.

UCF-Tulane winner gets the G5 bid, to either the Orange or Cotton Bowls.
Clemson-UNC winner to the Orange Bowl.
Kansas State to the Sugar Bowl if they win and probably also if they lose.
Utah to the Rose Bowl if they win and probably also if they lose.
Ohio State to the Rose Bowl unless they get in the playoff then it's Penn State.
If LSU wins they go to the Sugar Bowl, if they lose it's Alabama or Tennessee.

I would put 12-1 TCU over 11-1 Ohio State unless TCU gets blown out. USC needs to win however. Bama should not get in the playoffs under any circumstance, even if all top 4 teams lose they would still be behind 1 loss UGA/Michigan/TCU and 1 lose tOSU.

[Halian]

* Halian ughs at Utah beating USC

* Halian also ughs at Ohio State and/or Alabama being poised to weasel back into the playoff

* Halian also also ughs at conference expansionism, but that train has sailed

* Halian yays at post 100… it only took him almost ten years wtf

[Hunty2022]

* Halian ughs at Utah beating USC

* Halian also ughs at Ohio State and/or Alabama being poised to weasel back into the playoff

* Halian also also ughs at conference expansionism, but that train has sailed

You just joined the 100 post club! 

[Halian]

* Halian ughs at Utah beating USC

* Halian also ughs at Ohio State and/or Alabama being poised to weasel back into the playoff

* Halian also also ughs at conference expansionism, but that train has sailed

You just joined the 100 post club! 

Edited accordingly

[US 89]

* Halian also also ughs at conference expansionism, but that train has sailed

I think someone got their analogies mixed up here... 

[hbelkins]

* Halian also ughs at Ohio State and/or Alabama being poised to weasel back into the playoff

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tOSU deserves to be in before Bama, and there's no reason either of them should get in ahead of TCU just because of one loss today.

[NWI_Irish96]

It should be Georgia-Michigan-Ohio State-TCU

It will be Georgia-Michigan-TCU-Ohio State

[Alps]

It should be Georgia-Michigan-Ohio State-TCU

It will be Georgia-Michigan-TCU-Ohio State

It should be Georgia-Michigan-TCU-Clemson, IMO. I would take an 11-2 conference champion over an 11-1 team that didn't even compete in the championship.

[Roadgeekteen]

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. TCU
4. Ohio State

Alabama is closer to Washington and Clemson than the playoffs.

[KCRoadFan]

I saw that Deion Sanders, fresh off a 12-0 season at Jackson State, will be taking over next year as the new coach at Colorado, who went 1-11 this season. Any chance he could lead them back to their late 80's/early 90's glory days? What do you think?

[Halian]

* Halian also ughs at Ohio State and/or Alabama being poised to weasel back into the playoff

tOSU deserves to be in before Bama, and there's no reason either of them should get in ahead of TCU just because of one loss today.

IMO, neither of them should be in, since neither of them even played for their conference's championship, let alone won it.

[hbelkins]

^^^

Ohio State-Michigan was the de facto B1G championship game.

I don't really care who's in and who's out, except Alabama's out, which makes me happy. Heard that Saban was basically begging in the media yesterday for Bama to be in.

Only game I'll be watching is UK-Iowa in the Music City Bowl.

[oscar]

I don't really care who's in and who's out, except Alabama's out, which makes me happy. Heard that Saban was basically begging in the media yesterday for Bama to be in.

I listened to his sales pitch on ESPN. Much as I would've liked to see Alabama replace Ohio State, I wasn't convinced his pitch would do the trick, as it didn't.

But I was delighted to watch Utah convincingly knock the University of Spoiled Children out of playoff contention on Friday night, even though that opened the door for Ohio State to back into a playoff berth.

[NWI_Irish96]

It should be Georgia-Michigan-Ohio State-TCU

It will be Georgia-Michigan-TCU-Ohio State

It should be Georgia-Michigan-TCU-Clemson, IMO. I would take an 11-2 conference champion over an 11-1 team that didn't even compete in the championship.

As an ND alum/fan, I can tell you that ND flat ran right over Clemson and ND isn't even that good. No way Clemson is one of the four best teams.

The playoff is supposed to take the four best teams.

[skluth]

^^^

Ohio State-Michigan was the de facto B1G championship game.

I don't really care who's in and who's out, except Alabama's out, which makes me happy. Heard that Saban was basically begging in the media yesterday for Bama to be in.

Only game I'll be watching is UK-Iowa in the Music City Bowl.

Yup. I'm mostly happy Alabama is out. I agree it should be Clemson instead of OSU. The football championship should be the best four teams from four different conferences, preferably the Power 5 but if a Cincinnati or Boise State plays balls out all year and wins their conference without losing any games I won't lose sleep over a non-Power 5 team not being in.

[Roadgeekteen]

^^^

Ohio State-Michigan was the de facto B1G championship game.

I don't really care who's in and who's out, except Alabama's out, which makes me happy. Heard that Saban was basically begging in the media yesterday for Bama to be in.

Only game I'll be watching is UK-Iowa in the Music City Bowl.

Yup. I'm mostly happy Alabama is out. I agree it should be Clemson instead of OSU. The football championship should be the best four teams from four different conferences, preferably the Power 5 but if a Cincinnati or Boise State plays balls out all year and wins their conference without losing any games I won't lose sleep over a non-Power 5 team not being in.

Clemson had a bad loss to an alright team, a close loss to an alright team, and a ton of unimpressive wins from a weak conference. Did you have an issue with National Championship winning Georgia making the playoffs last year?

[NWI_Irish96]

^^^

Ohio State-Michigan was the de facto B1G championship game.

I don't really care who's in and who's out, except Alabama's out, which makes me happy. Heard that Saban was basically begging in the media yesterday for Bama to be in.

Only game I'll be watching is UK-Iowa in the Music City Bowl.

Yup. I'm mostly happy Alabama is out. I agree it should be Clemson instead of OSU. The football championship should be the best four teams from four different conferences, preferably the Power 5 but if a Cincinnati or Boise State plays balls out all year and wins their conference without losing any games I won't lose sleep over a non-Power 5 team not being in.

There's no major US sport, college or professional, that doesn't let non-champions into its playoff. I don't know why college football should be different.

I want to see the four best teams. Ohio State and TCU are clearly among the four best teams. Clemson, Kansas State and Utah are not.

[hbelkins]

^^^

Ohio State-Michigan was the de facto B1G championship game.

I don't really care who's in and who's out, except Alabama's out, which makes me happy. Heard that Saban was basically begging in the media yesterday for Bama to be in.

Only game I'll be watching is UK-Iowa in the Music City Bowl.

Yup. I'm mostly happy Alabama is out. I agree it should be Clemson instead of OSU. The football championship should be the best four teams from four different conferences, preferably the Power 5 but if a Cincinnati or Boise State plays balls out all year and wins their conference without losing any games I won't lose sleep over a non-Power 5 team not being in.

There's no major US sport, college or professional, that doesn't let non-champions into its playoff. I don't know why college football should be different.

I want to see the four best teams. Ohio State and TCU are clearly among the four best teams. Clemson, Kansas State and Utah are not.

The problem is that the college football playoff selection process is highly subjective. So is the NCAA basketball tournament selection process. You don't get that with the pro system, which goes on W-L records.

I've never understood why mid-major basketball conferences like the OVC have conference tournaments. You can have a great team that runs away with the regular season championship and could possibly make a deep run into the NCAA tournament, but it gets upset in the conference tourney by a team with a .500 record, and that team gets the bid to go be a 16-seed against Kentucky or Duke or North Carolina, while the conference regular season champ is left begging for an NIT bid.

As long as playoff participants are selected by a subjective process and not on something quantifiable, there will always be questions and disgruntled coaches and fans.

[NWI_Irish96]

^^^

Ohio State-Michigan was the de facto B1G championship game.

I don't really care who's in and who's out, except Alabama's out, which makes me happy. Heard that Saban was basically begging in the media yesterday for Bama to be in.

Only game I'll be watching is UK-Iowa in the Music City Bowl.

Yup. I'm mostly happy Alabama is out. I agree it should be Clemson instead of OSU. The football championship should be the best four teams from four different conferences, preferably the Power 5 but if a Cincinnati or Boise State plays balls out all year and wins their conference without losing any games I won't lose sleep over a non-Power 5 team not being in.

There's no major US sport, college or professional, that doesn't let non-champions into its playoff. I don't know why college football should be different.

I want to see the four best teams. Ohio State and TCU are clearly among the four best teams. Clemson, Kansas State and Utah are not.

The problem is that the college football playoff selection process is highly subjective. So is the NCAA basketball tournament selection process. You don't get that with the pro system, which goes on W-L records.

I've never understood why mid-major basketball conferences like the OVC have conference tournaments. You can have a great team that runs away with the regular season championship and could possibly make a deep run into the NCAA tournament, but it gets upset in the conference tourney by a team with a .500 record, and that team gets the bid to go be a 16-seed against Kentucky or Duke or North Carolina, while the conference regular season champ is left begging for an NIT bid.

As long as playoff participants are selected by a subjective process and not on something quantifiable, there will always be questions and disgruntled coaches and fans.

Conference tournaments would make far, far less money if the NCAA bid weren't on the line.

Things have become less subjective than they used to be. There is a metric called strength of record, which is essentially how hard it was to achieve your record against your schedule. The top four teams in that metric were the four teams selected for the playoff.

[skluth]

This year may be the perfect year to go back to the one game championship. There's a clear #1 and #2. Just have TCU play Ohio State at one of the semifinal sites and repurpose the other semifinal game. It's too late now but it would work if they had this programmed from the start. Just have a provision if there are only two undefeated Power 5 schools, the NCAA Championship will be played between those two schools. Reinforces the NCAA Football slogan of "Every Game Counts."

[thspfc]

Clemson over Ohio State? Pfft. Pick the 4 best teams.

I never liked conference tournaments in college basketball. The idea that a team could still earn an NCAA bid even if they lost every single regular season game really puts me off. Make the games matter. Give the autobids to regular season conference champions and start the NCAA tournament immediately after the regular season is done.

[ilpt4u]

This year may be the perfect year to go back to the one game championship. There's a clear #1 and #2. Just have TCU play Ohio State at one of the semifinal sites and repurpose the other semifinal game. It's too late now but it would work if they had this programmed from the start. Just have a provision if there are only two undefeated Power 5 schools, the NCAA Championship will be played between those two schools. Reinforces the NCAA Football slogan of "Every Game Counts."

TV $$$ says that will not happen. The Conferences wouldn't get as much $$$ without the playoff tournament, because they would have one less game airing in the inventory. "Every Game Counts?"  More like "Every $$$ Counts"  That is the NCAA slogan

Exactly why they are in a big hurry to grow the FBS Playoff Tournament to 12 teams, because extra tournament game inventory = more TV $$$

Precisely why it is an absolute farce any time they mention the term "Student-Athlete"

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

So how many autograph selfies of me, with my TOSU diploma & the National Championship Trophy do I need to have for the Ohio roadmeet (starting at TOSU campus) in April?