So three obvious questions:

[Rotonda Jim]

With all four games pretty much being blowouts, I want to mention that IU lost by only ten points. That was as close as any of the other four games, but I know that there will be the naysayers who say that IU did not belong but they are wrong. You can take away Love's 98 yard run and might notice that the stats were equal and that is with the full admission that IU was beaten to a pulp. I will also point out that if the truth is told, OSU would rather still be playing right now in place of a win over Michigan and a loss to Tennessee, but for those who disagree with that, please remember that IU beat Michigan this year and OSU did not. So I now have three questions about what we have seen.
First, are twelve teams in the playoffs too many?
Second, could someone tell me why the four winners had home field? Was there a formula? Could someone tell me what it is and if not, shouldn't all games be on neutral fields?
Third, where will the Hoosiers end up in the final poll. I am hoping for seventh or eighth.

 

[TMFT]

With all four games pretty much being blowouts, I want to mention that IU lost by only ten points. That was as close as any of the other four games, but I know that there will be the naysayers who say that IU did not belong but they are wrong. You can take away Love's 98 yard run and might notice that the stats were equal and that is with the full admission that IU was beaten to a pulp. I will also point out that if the truth is told, OSU would rather still be playing right now in place of a win over Michigan and a loss to Tennessee, but for those who disagree with that, please remember that IU beat Michigan this year and OSU did not. So I now have three questions about what we have seen.
First, are twelve teams in the playoffs too many?
Second, could someone tell me why the four winners had home field? Was there a formula? Could someone tell me what it is and if not, shouldn't all games be on neutral fields?
Third, where will the Hoosiers end up in the final poll. I am hoping for seventh or eighth.

I think we’ll end up ranked around 10-12. Don’t think 7-8 is possible.

I think 12 is a good number, if for no other reason than OSU lost to Michigan and ND lost to NIU. Upsets do happen.

And I was so glad to see UT get wrecked. I don’t care about the IU score because we got whipped overall, but every single thing the media said about us applies to an SEC darling as much or more.

 

[Harry Hondo]

Final score was just a 10 point loss, but it took two last minute touchdowns, so perhaps a bit deceiving that it appears to be a “close” game? ND defense probably felt they had it won and let up a bit and the IU offense felt no pressure, since they were so far behind. Do it when it counts and you can win!

I think 12 teams is fine for now, however I’d like to see a change in how they are chosen. I do not think Boise State and Arizona State deserved a top 4 seed and bye.

Since the top 4 got a bye they rewarded 5-8 with home field. The home field was a push by some to play some of these on campus and this was their solution.

IU will not pass any of the 8 teams left, since they didn’t make it past the first round. Just won’t happen.

 

[Big Red Crimson Buffalo]

With all four games pretty much being blowouts, I want to mention that IU lost by only ten points. That was as close as any of the other four games, but I know that there will be the naysayers who say that IU did not belong but they are wrong. You can take away Love's 98 yard run and might notice that the stats were equal and that is with the full admission that IU was beaten to a pulp. I will also point out that if the truth is told, OSU would rather still be playing right now in place of a win over Michigan and a loss to Tennessee, but for those who disagree with that, please remember that IU beat Michigan this year and OSU did not. So I now have three questions about what we have seen.
First, are twelve teams in the playoffs too many?
Second, could someone tell me why the four winners had home field? Was there a formula? Could someone tell me what it is and if not, shouldn't all games be on neutral fields?
Third, where will the Hoosiers end up in the final poll. I am hoping for seventh or eighth.

1. You could make arguments about teams “not belonging” going all the way back to the CFP 4 team era. Many semi-final games from 2014 and on that wee complete blowouts including ND and OSU who got trounced in their matchups. So, this whole debate about “belonging” based on scores is just nonsense. You “belong” based on what you did in the regular season. What happens in 10 days if some of these quarterfinal games end up as blowouts? Can we start the conversation again about who “belonged?”.
2. I’d personally go one of two ways. Either expand to 16 teams to quiet this noise and make them all bowl games at neutral fields or limit this to 8 teams. The conference champions from the conference tournaments and the runner up.
3. Playing 1st round games at home fields feels cheap to me. Supposedly you reward the higher seed but seems like a huge advantage based on what we saw this year. We don’t do this in basketball. Why not reward the higher seeds by allowing them to host games at their home courts? Like the NIT?
4. How do they pick seeds? After the conference champions and the auto byes, feels like it is pretty arbitrary. But most likely it is brand name influenced and that probably needs to change.

 

[UTFO]

1. You could make arguments about teams “not belonging” going all the way back to the CFP 4 team era. Many semi-final games from 2014 and on that wee complete blowouts including ND and OSU who got trounced in their matchups. So, this whole debate about “belonging” based on scores is just nonsense. You “belong” based on what you did in the regular season. What happens in 10 days if some of these quarterfinal games end up as blowouts? Can we start the conversation again about who “belonged?”.
2. I’d personally go one of two ways. Either expand to 16 teams to quiet this noise and make them all bowl games at neutral fields or limit this to 8 teams. The conference champions from the conference tournaments and the runner up.
3. Playing 1st round games at home fields feels cheap to me. Supposedly you reward the higher seed but seems like a huge advantage based on what we saw this year. We don’t do this in basketball. Why not reward the higher seeds by allowing them to host games at their home courts? Like the NIT?
4. How do they pick seeds? After the conference champions and the auto byes, feels like it is pretty arbitrary. But most likely it is brand name influenced and that probably needs to change.

First, Lane Kiffin can eat shit. He lost at home to UK and he's one of those "born on third base" types. Geeze, I wish my dad was a ubiquitous D coordinator in the NFL....

Second, just the sight of those confederate looking jerseys Ole Miss wears makes me want to mow them all down w a flurry of musketballs and leave them with some gauze and bone saws to treat themselves.

Third, it's intellectually dishonest to suggest IU didn't belong and then say a 3 loss team like Ole Miss should get in. It doesn't matter what "vibe" any got re IU: they were a 1 loss team in the BT (who had the undisputed #1 and #2 teams in the country a present imho).

Fourth, the one thing we couldn't do Fri night, we did. We didn't compete on enough plays. Burke was way off. Hated to see that too. We basically gave twats like Kiffin ammo to spout their BS.

 

[Army88]

With all four games pretty much being blowouts, I want to mention that IU lost by only ten points. That was as close as any of the other four games, but I know that there will be the naysayers who say that IU did not belong but they are wrong. You can take away Love's 98 yard run and might notice that the stats were equal and that is with the full admission that IU was beaten to a pulp. I will also point out that if the truth is told, OSU would rather still be playing right now in place of a win over Michigan and a loss to Tennessee, but for those who disagree with that, please remember that IU beat Michigan this year and OSU did not. So I now have three questions about what we have seen.
First, are twelve teams in the playoffs too many?
Second, could someone tell me why the four winners had home field? Was there a formula? Could someone tell me what it is and if not, shouldn't all games be on neutral fields?
Third, where will the Hoosiers end up in the final poll. I am hoping for seventh or eighth.

Interesting post:
1. 12 is too many. Under the current setup, a first round team could have to play 4 post season games (conference championship losers could play 5 games this year)! If for no other reason, those schools may suffer from over exposure. I realize basketball goes through this every year, but disrupting 4 weeks in December/January seems like a disruptive process (I would try my best if IU had won). The Home game was a lucrative idea (since the ncaa hogged the gate $$$) for the ncaa, but needs an overhaul.
2. Answered by Harry H
3. Unless Boise State or Arizona State shock everyone, they will stay at #8. There could be an argument IU jumps Tennessee (for their game at OSU), but the sec bias makes that unlikely.

 

[Rotonda Jim]

Interesting post:
1. 12 is too many. Under the current setup, a first round team could have to play 4 post season games (conference championship losers could play 5 games this year)! If for no other reason, those schools may suffer from over exposure. I realize basketball goes through this every year, but disrupting 4 weeks in December/January seems like a disruptive process (I would try my best if IU had won). The Home game was a lucrative idea (since the ncaa hogged the gate $$$) for the ncaa, but needs an overhaul.
2. Answered by Harry H
3. Unless Boise State or Arizona State shock everyone, they will stay at #8. There could be an argument IU jumps Tennessee (for their game at OSU), but the sec bias makes that unlikely.

There are only 135 schools playing big-time college football. They all are coached by guys who have earned their stripes. All are capable. So it comes down to the players. The truth is that the teams with the most 3, 4, and 5 star players win championships and big-time media coverage. Of course, tradition helps here, but getting those kids and retaining them might be the hardest part of a coaches job. Cignetti took a big step this year at IU without a single 4 or 5 star guy and only a few 3 star guys. Getting a handful of fours and fives is the next step, but our lack of tradition makes that a big hill to climb. His 2025 class is ranked at 43, right in the middle of the Big Ten. How do you do better? Therein lies the mountain

 

[BradStevens]

There are only 135 schools playing big-time college football. They all are coached by guys who have earned their stripes. All are capable. So it comes down to the players. The truth is that the teams with the most 3, 4, and 5 star players win championships and big-time media coverage. Of course, tradition helps here, but getting those kids and retaining them might be the hardest part of a coaches job. Cignetti took a big step this year at IU without a single 4 or 5 star guy and only a few 3 star guys. Getting a handful of fours and fives is the next step, but our lack of tradition makes that a big hill to climb. His 2025 class is ranked at 43, right in the middle of the Big Ten. How do you do better? Therein lies the mountain

In this era?

Money.

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

Interesting post:
1. 12 is too many. Under the current setup, a first round team could have to play 4 post season games (conference championship losers could play 5 games this year)! If for no other reason, those schools may suffer from over exposure. I realize basketball goes through this every year, but disrupting 4 weeks in December/January seems like a disruptive process (I would try my best if IU had won). The Home game was a lucrative idea (since the ncaa hogged the gate $$$) for the ncaa, but needs an overhaul.
2. Answered by Harry H
3. Unless Boise State or Arizona State shock everyone, they will stay at #8. There could be an argument IU jumps Tennessee (for their game at OSU), but the sec bias makes that unlikely.

The NCAA has no role in the CFP nor do they get any revenue from it.

 

[turney333]

Final score was just a 10 point loss, but it took two last minute touchdowns, so perhaps a bit deceiving that it appears to be a “close” game? ND defense probably felt they had it won and let up a bit and the IU offense felt no pressure, since they were so far behind. Do it when it counts and you can win!

I think 12 teams is fine for now, however I’d like to see a change in how they are chosen. I do not think Boise State and Arizona State deserved a top 4 seed and bye.

Since the top 4 got a bye they rewarded 5-8 with home field. The home field was a push by some to play some of these on campus and this was their solution.

IU will not pass any of the 8 teams left, since they didn’t make it past the first round. Just won’t happen.

whether or not Boise/ASU were deserving of the bye, the bigger issue is that Texas/PSU will have had an easier path to the Semifinals than #1 overall Oregon.

 

[CraigHo]

The only people talking about how great homefield advantage was were the homefield teams and the ESPN idiots. A late night game with 20 degree temps favors the home team and I think that point is proven. I for one don’t believe any team that finishes in the top 12 deserves to play a game in shitty South Bend.

 

[Bucket Getter]

The NCAA has no role in the CFP nor do they get any revenue from it.

When it looked like IU had a chance to host, the athletic department sent out ticket pricing and followed that up with an announcement that prices were set by the CFP, not IU. The SEZ suite tickets were set at $500 vs $156 for the regular season games. If the NCAA didn’t get a large chunk of that increase, who did?

 

[iueyedoc99]

There are only 135 schools playing big-time college football. They all are coached by guys who have earned their stripes. All are capable. So it comes down to the players. The truth is that the teams with the most 3, 4, and 5 star players win championships and big-time media coverage. Of course, tradition helps here, but getting those kids and retaining them might be the hardest part of a coaches job. Cignetti took a big step this year at IU without a single 4 or 5 star guy and only a few 3 star guys. Getting a handful of fours and fives is the next step, but our lack of tradition makes that a big hill to climb. His 2025 class is ranked at 43, right in the middle of the Big Ten. How do you do better? Therein lies the mountain

Cig actually had 3 4* this year. Ones in the portal now. Just FYI.

 

[Crossblock]

1. You could make arguments about teams “not belonging” going all the way back to the CFP 4 team era. Many semi-final games from 2014 and on that wee complete blowouts including ND and OSU who got trounced in their matchups. So, this whole debate about “belonging” based on scores is just nonsense. You “belong” based on what you did in the regular season. What happens in 10 days if some of these quarterfinal games end up as blowouts? Can we start the conversation again about who “belonged?”.
2. I’d personally go one of two ways. Either expand to 16 teams to quiet this noise and make them all bowl games at neutral fields or limit this to 8 teams. The conference champions from the conference tournaments and the runner up.
3. Playing 1st round games at home fields feels cheap to me. Supposedly you reward the higher seed but seems like a huge advantage based on what we saw this year. We don’t do this in basketball. Why not reward the higher seeds by allowing them to host games at their home courts? Like the NIT?
4. How do they pick seeds? After the conference champions and the auto byes, feels like it is pretty arbitrary. But most likely it is brand name influenced and that probably needs to change.

If You play the first round games at neutral sites throughout the Country, You may be putting a strain on fans on a budget. Do I spend my money traveling to a first round game half way across country or do I bet on my team making a second round New Years Day Game. At least with Home Field You have the Home Crowd able to make their normal arrangements for transportation and accommodations without taking things way beyond normal budget.

 

[Bucket Getter]

If You play the first round games at neutral sites throughout the Country, You may be putting a strain on fans on a budget. Do I spend my money traveling to a first round game half way across country or do I bet on my team making a second round New Years Day Game. At least with Home Field You have the Home Crowd able to make their normal arrangements for transportation and accommodations without taking things way beyond normal budget.

Seems to work out ok in basketball. Smaller venues to be sure, but the most passionate fans still travel. I wonder if there’s a way to determine a neutral site that is roughly halfway between the two competing schools? Obviously Lucas Oil would have been a great site for IU-ND. OSU-Tenn in Louisville or Lexington? Clemson-Texas in Atlanta? SMU-PSU in Memphis? Probably never happen, but I’d bet my last dollar the games would have been more competitive.

 

[CC Mac]

I lost all respect for Herbstreit after his comment about IU the other day.
Him,Howard and Saban all have agendas and should be told to stop trashing teams on air.
But we are talking about ESPN and their agenda aligns with those three clowns.
McAfee is the most objective,yeah he likes Cig and has been an advocate of IU but he doesn’t trash other teams while doing it.
The other three will give IU credit but it’s always followed with a but…
Two of them are Big Ten guys and can’t accept IU catching up with the rest of the league and Saban cannot hide his SEC bias.
A good announcer etc,is supposed to be unbiased but those 3 just can’t do it,sad.

 

[Walt542]

I think some of the bias will die down when IU builds more winning seasons together and wins against some more ranked teams. It was just too easy to put them down this year when they were all so envious of what Cig did in his first year here and was such a surprise.

 

[Big Red Crimson Buffalo]

I lost all respect for Herbstreit after his comment about IU the other day.
Him,Howard and Saban all have agendas and should be told to stop trashing teams on air.
But we are talking about ESPN and their agenda aligns with those three clowns.
McAfee is the most objective,yeah he likes Cig and has been an advocate of IU but he doesn’t trash other teams while doing it.
The other three will give IU credit but it’s always followed with a but…
Two of them are Big Ten guys and can’t accept IU catching up with the rest of the league and Saban cannot hide his SEC bias.
A good announcer etc,is supposed to be unbiased but those 3 just can’t do it,sad.

There is no unbiased “journalism” anymore. The days of Walter Cronkite simply reporting the facts are over. News reporting is largely just op-ed pieces from politics all the way down to sports. Everything is slanted toward the author’s biases.

 

[red hornet]

There is no unbiased “journalism” anymore. The days of Walter Cronkite simply reporting the facts are over. News reporting is largely just op-ed pieces from politics all the way down to sports. Everything is slanted toward the author’s biases.

"And that's the way it is"

 

[Big Red Crimson Buffalo]

I think some of the bias will die down when IU builds more winning seasons together and wins against some more ranked teams. It was just too easy to put them down this year when they were all so envious of what Cig did in his first year here and was such a surprise.

Well, that and Cig is like Knight in that he’s outspoken and the media hates that. They want a villain.
To me, it’s a good thing. IU wasn’t ever mentioned because it was non-existent.
Now we have a guy drawing attention and that’s good for the program.

 

[UTFO]

There is no unbiased “journalism” anymore. The days of Walter Cronkite simply reporting the facts are over. News reporting is largely just op-ed pieces from politics all the way down to sports. Everything is slanted toward the author’s biases.

There is a serpent eating itself component, though.

Blaming the journalists is like blaming the cartels for America's coke "issue".

It's likely a piss poor reflection of us and our values, sad to say.

I blame Obama.

 

[4IUSox2]

Mad respect to Rick Neuheisel on his show this morning. Didn’t name names, but basically called out in general, ESPN announcers, the whinny SEC coach, and their media mouthpieces incessant bitching along with their overwhelming conflict of interest with ESPN covering the entirety of the playoffs. Felt it would be much less so, if other networks had a stake in the CFP too. Also noted how neither the ACC, nor Miami, has been whining about their lot of being left out.

His barely listenable, whiny both in tone and topic partner, who thinks he’s funny, went to Bama.

 

[Crusty The Baker]

I lost all respect for Herbstreit after his comment about IU the other day.
Him,Howard and Saban all have agendas and should be told to stop trashing teams on air.
But we are talking about ESPN and their agenda aligns with those three clowns.
McAfee is the most objective,yeah he likes Cig and has been an advocate of IU but he doesn’t trash other teams while doing it.
The other three will give IU credit but it’s always followed with a but…
Two of them are Big Ten guys and can’t accept IU catching up with the rest of the league and Saban cannot hide his SEC bias.
A good announcer etc,is supposed to be unbiased but those 3 just can’t do it,sad.

That’s showbiz…

 

[BradStevens]

I think some of the bias will die down when IU builds more winning seasons together and wins against some more ranked teams. It was just too easy to put them down this year when they were all so envious of what Cig did in his first year here and was such a surprise.

This. We need to knock off some Top 10 teams to earn respect.

Alvarez and Snyder did it. Hoping Cig can.

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

Mad respect to Rick Neuheisel on his show this morning. Didn’t name names, but basically called out in general, ESPN announcers, the whinny SEC coach, and their media mouthpieces incessant bitching along with their overwhelming conflict of interest with ESPN covering the entirety of the playoffs. Felt it would be much less so, if other networks had a stake in the CFP too. Also noted how neither the ACC, nor Miami, has been whining about their lot of being left out.

His barely listenable, whiny both in tone and topic partner, who thinks he’s funny, went to Bama.

Childers went to MTSU and is getting his masters online from Bama.