Silver Lining to CFP selections for Sun Belt

[APPARJ]

No Sun Belt team will ever deserve to be in the CFP. It is foolish to think App State would ever make the top 8.

App State will be able to compete for a national title when the G5 league is able to form it's own championship system. I hope that comes ASAP because it will be awesome.

Until then, talk of App State in this playoff is pure insanity.

In a four team playoff, you are correct. If they go to eight, there is absolutely no reason to believe that App, or another Sun Belt team could not crack the top 8.

It will never happen and here are four reasons.

1.) A Sun Belt team has not and never will play the kind of schedule that would be deserving of a top 8 ranking. Has a Sun Belt team every finished the year in the top ten?

2.) The powers that be will do everything they can to make sure only P5 teams make the top 8 (and rightfully so.)

3.) This is a "name" game. TCU doesn't draw as much as OSU so all things being ALMOST equal, OSU is a better pick for a playoff. In baseball, the tie goes to the runner. Here, a tie goes to the school with the most powerful name. I'm not offended by this reality but it's a reality that App State simply does not live within. All of us know this and shouldn't be hurt by it in the least.

4.) It's only a matter of time before this playoff becomes a P5 only party where G5 teams are not eligible no matter what season they had... which is why they should and will split off to form their own post season process in the near future.


One day App State will compete for a title. It just won't be against P5 schools.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Has a Sun Belt team every been in the top 25 at any time or earned a vote in the Top 25 while a member of the SB?

[appst89]

No Sun Belt team will ever deserve to be in the CFP. It is foolish to think App State would ever make the top 8.

App State will be able to compete for a national title when the G5 league is able to form it's own championship system. I hope that comes ASAP because it will be awesome.

Until then, talk of App State in this playoff is pure insanity.

In a four team playoff, you are correct. If they go to eight, there is absolutely no reason to believe that App, or another Sun Belt team could not crack the top 8.

It will never happen and here are four reasons.

1.) A Sun Belt team has not and never will play the kind of schedule that would be deserving of a top 8 ranking. Has a Sun Belt team every finished the year in the top ten?

2.) The powers that be will do everything they can to make sure only P5 teams make the top 8 (and rightfully so.)

3.) This is a "name" game. TCU doesn't draw as much as OSU so all things being ALMOST equal, OSU is a better pick for a playoff. In baseball, the tie goes to the runner. Here, a tie goes to the school with the most powerful name. I'm not offended by this reality but it's a reality that App State simply does not live within. All of us know this and shouldn't be hurt by it in the least.

4.) It's only a matter of time before this playoff becomes a P5 only party where G5 teams are not eligible no matter what season they had... which is why they should and will split off to form their own post season process in the near future.


One day App State will compete for a title. It just won't be against P5 schools.

I don't disagree too much with what you say. But just for grins, say App beats Clemson and runs the table next year. That would be enough to be the top ranked G5 champion, in my opinion. Under the current setup, that would give us a New Year's Day game, probably the Peach Bowl, and in an 8 team scenario would be good enough to at least get some consideration for the playoff.

I absolutely agree with your 4th point. The P5 is going to do their own thing very soon and there will be another level created yet again.

[AppSt94]

I don't know that being 12-0 would be good enough to be ranked ahead of another G5. Marshall was 11-0 and the knock on them was their CUSA schedule was weak. So how would a 11-0 SB record be perceived? Beating Clemson would help our case but unless we are just blowing the doors off everyone then we may still have the same problem as Marshall.

[Rick0714]

8 Team playoff using the top 7 bowls. Rotate bowls so each has a Nat Champ game each 7 years. Payouts are the same for each bowl except the LOSER gets the highest payout except for the Nat Champ game, that way each team, win or lose, makes more money than the current system. 5 P5 champs (however that conf decides a champ, their choice), highest ranked G5, and 2 at-large.

Ex: Lets just say each bowl pays $10M and normally goes $4M to loser and $6M to winner, now if you lose first game, you get $2M more. If someone wins first round and loses 2nd, they get $10M total. If you win 1st two and lose Nat Champ, you get $12M and if you win you get $14M. Everybody gets more money and that's ALL ANYONE seems to care about anyway.

I reposted because I still think this is a do-able scenario because everyone gets what they want ...money. I don't see how anyone could say FSU was the weakest of anything. They were the only team in the conversation that played 12 games against P5 competition, and they won. OSU's loss against VT was the worst of the bunch. Big 12 was a bit overrated this year but I still think the conference was better than the Big 10. Only two head-2-head's was Iowa St beating Iowa and WVU beating Maryland.

[APPARJ]

No Sun Belt team will ever deserve to be in the CFP. It is foolish to think App State would ever make the top 8.

App State will be able to compete for a national title when the G5 league is able to form it's own championship system. I hope that comes ASAP because it will be awesome.

Until then, talk of App State in this playoff is pure insanity.

In a four team playoff, you are correct. If they go to eight, there is absolutely no reason to believe that App, or another Sun Belt team could not crack the top 8.

It will never happen and here are four reasons.

1.) A Sun Belt team has not and never will play the kind of schedule that would be deserving of a top 8 ranking. Has a Sun Belt team every finished the year in the top ten?

2.) The powers that be will do everything they can to make sure only P5 teams make the top 8 (and rightfully so.)

3.) This is a "name" game. TCU doesn't draw as much as OSU so all things being ALMOST equal, OSU is a better pick for a playoff. In baseball, the tie goes to the runner. Here, a tie goes to the school with the most powerful name. I'm not offended by this reality but it's a reality that App State simply does not live within. All of us know this and shouldn't be hurt by it in the least.

4.) It's only a matter of time before this playoff becomes a P5 only party where G5 teams are not eligible no matter what season they had... which is why they should and will split off to form their own post season process in the near future.


One day App State will compete for a title. It just won't be against P5 schools.

I don't disagree too much with what you say. But just for grins, say App beats Clemson and runs the table next year. That would be enough to be the top ranked G5 champion, in my opinion. Under the current setup, that would give us a New Year's Day game, probably the Peach Bowl, and in an 8 team scenario would be good enough to at least get some consideration for the playoff.

I absolutely agree with your 4th point. The P5 is going to do their own thing very soon and there will be another level created yet again.

Realistically, App State beating Clemson and running the table would get us into the top 25 and a sweet Bowl, for sure. That said, TCU was a really great football team and they just got screwed for not having a OSU-type heavyweight name. App State won't push a P5 school out because of a victory over one good ACC team.

I don't know why people want a G5 school at the table in a 8-team playoff scenario. It would be such a joke. Northern Illinois made the Orange Bowl on a fluke a couple of years ago and Florida State had their second string in the entire second half.

We just need to wait until the P5 gets what they want, an all P5 league, and we can go about taking care of our business.

[ASUGoose]

I don't know that being 12-0 would be good enough to be ranked ahead of another G5. Marshall was 11-0 and the knock on them was their CUSA schedule was weak. So how would a 11-0 SB record be perceived? Beating Clemson would help our case but unless we are just blowing the doors off everyone then we may still have the same problem as Marshall.

A 13-0 Marshall team absolutely gets the G5 bid over a two loss Boise St. team. If App runs its table next year they absolutely beat out any G5 conference champ with 2 losses.

[APPARJ]

In 2011, Houston beat one P5 team (an unranked UCLA) and ran the table going into the CUSA championship game vs. Southern Miss ranked 7th in the country. They lost to Southern Miss and dropped 11 spots to 18th and played in the "Ticket City Bowl".

Great G5 teams and great P5 teams should not compete in the playoffs with each other.

On the other hand, I would LOVE to play schools like Southern Miss, Houston, SMU and Tulane in a G5 playoff system.

[appst89]

No Sun Belt team will ever deserve to be in the CFP. It is foolish to think App State would ever make the top 8.

App State will be able to compete for a national title when the G5 league is able to form it's own championship system. I hope that comes ASAP because it will be awesome.

Until then, talk of App State in this playoff is pure insanity.

In a four team playoff, you are correct. If they go to eight, there is absolutely no reason to believe that App, or another Sun Belt team could not crack the top 8.

It will never happen and here are four reasons.

1.) A Sun Belt team has not and never will play the kind of schedule that would be deserving of a top 8 ranking. Has a Sun Belt team every finished the year in the top ten?

2.) The powers that be will do everything they can to make sure only P5 teams make the top 8 (and rightfully so.)

3.) This is a "name" game. TCU doesn't draw as much as OSU so all things being ALMOST equal, OSU is a better pick for a playoff. In baseball, the tie goes to the runner. Here, a tie goes to the school with the most powerful name. I'm not offended by this reality but it's a reality that App State simply does not live within. All of us know this and shouldn't be hurt by it in the least.

4.) It's only a matter of time before this playoff becomes a P5 only party where G5 teams are not eligible no matter what season they had... which is why they should and will split off to form their own post season process in the near future.


One day App State will compete for a title. It just won't be against P5 schools.

I don't disagree too much with what you say. But just for grins, say App beats Clemson and runs the table next year. That would be enough to be the top ranked G5 champion, in my opinion. Under the current setup, that would give us a New Year's Day game, probably the Peach Bowl, and in an 8 team scenario would be good enough to at least get some consideration for the playoff.

I absolutely agree with your 4th point. The P5 is going to do their own thing very soon and there will be another level created yet again.

Realistically, App State beating Clemson and running the table would get us into the top 25 and a sweet Bowl, for sure. That said, TCU was a really great football team and they just got screwed for not having a OSU-type heavyweight name. App State won't push a P5 school out because of a victory over one good ACC team.

I don't know why people want a G5 school at the table in a 8-team playoff scenario. It would be such a joke. Northern Illinois made the Orange Bowl on a fluke a couple of years ago and Florida State had their second string in the entire second half.

We just need to wait until the P5 gets what they want, an all P5 league, and we can go about taking care of our business.

I want us to aspire to the highest level we can attain, whatever that may be under the scenario in place at the time. It may be unrealistic, or at least highly improbable, for us to think about a spot at the table, but if that isn't what we're shooting for then we're no better off than we were in FCS.

[AppSt94]

I don't know that being 12-0 would be good enough to be ranked ahead of another G5. Marshall was 11-0 and the knock on them was their CUSA schedule was weak. So how would a 11-0 SB record be perceived? Beating Clemson would help our case but unless we are just blowing the doors off everyone then we may still have the same problem as Marshall.

A 13-0 Marshall team absolutely gets the G5 bid over a two loss Boise St. team. If App runs its table next year they absolutely beat out any G5 conference champ with 2 losses.

Really? Are you sure about that? Marshall was 11-0 going into the WKU game and was still behind a 2 loss Boise St. team.

[Saint3333]

These kind of discussions are dangerous. A second FBS season that gets us to any bowl will certainly exceed my expectations. Six wins will not guarantee a bowl for us our fanbase has to prove we can travel with fans if we want to receive an invite. Look at Texas St. This year.

[appst89]

These kind of discussions are dangerous. A second FBS season that gets us to any bowl will certainly exceed my expectations. Six wins will not guarantee a bowl for us our fanbase has to prove we can travel with fans if we want to receive an invite. Look at Texas St. This year.

There's nothing dangerous about discussing a completely hypothetical situation. Nobody is saying we are going to be 12-0 or even 8-4, for that matter. The only way there's any danger at all is if the players and coaches are talking about it. Nothing fans discuss is dangerous.

[Saint3333]

Any fan setting expectations of that magnitude is dangerous. Someone will take those posts to heart and next year state something to the effect of how can we lose to "X" I thought everyone was predicting 11-1. Just the nature of message boards.

[appst89]

Any fan setting expectations of that magnitude is dangerous. Someone will take those posts to heart and next year state something to the effect of how can we lose to "X" I thought everyone was predicting 11-1. Just the nature of message boards.

But no one is setting any expectations. It was a discussion of what would have to happen for a G5 team to play on New Year's Day. To go from there to say someone is setting expectations is a stretch too big even for a message board.

And even if someone did say, "We're going 12-0 next year," there's nothing dangerous about that. Stupid? Probably. Dangerous? Not even close.

[JTApps1]

So whats the over under on how many years it will take to expand the playoff? I doubt the NCAA will drop the requirement to have 12 teams since ever other conference already meets that mark. Could be wrong though.

[Saint3333]

Any fan setting expectations of that magnitude is dangerous. Someone will take those posts to heart and next year state something to the effect of how can we lose to "X" I thought everyone was predicting 11-1. Just the nature of message boards.

But no one is setting any expectations. It was a discussion of what would have to happen for a G5 team to play on New Year's Day. To go from there to say someone is setting expectations is a stretch too big even for a message board.

And even if someone did say, "We're going 12-0 next year," there's nothing dangerous about that. Stupid? Probably. Dangerous? Not even close.

89 you know how these things go, I agree they shouldn't be but I'd bet good money these type of discussions will be misconstrued at some point next year.

[EastHallApp]

If OSU leaps two more deserving Big XII teams to get into this playoff then all hell will break loose, and rightfully so, in my opinion.

Disagree. People who just don't like OSU and/or the Big Ten might feel that way, but realistically those last three teams were very close and I don't see how anyone who saw the B1G championship game could argue that OSU wasn't at least a credible choice.

Credible choice or not, I disagree with looking at what they did yesterday. What happened to body of work? TCU beat four top 25 teams and their one loss was on the road to #5. Baylor and OSU both beat three top #25 teams. Baylor's lone loss was on the road to a good WV team. OSU lost at home to a decent Va Tech. If the committee is going to keep bumping the undefeated, defending National Champs down for winning against their schedule then they are looking at body of work. So why look at what OSU did yesterday as a cause to move them up. TCU beat a higher ranked team than OSU yesterday.

One, because margin of victory matters. And two, because OSU was playing their first game since losing JT Barrett and needed to show that they wouldn't drop off too much without him.

Fair enough but if you are saying that the best team in the Big is 59 points better than the second best then what does that say about the league?

Well, what does it say about the SEC that one of the teams in their championship game lost at home to a team that went 1-7 in the Big Ten?

But I agree the Big Ten wasn't very good. It was definitely worse than every other P5 league other than arguably the ACC. But the committee doesn't pick leagues, it picks teams. Just like when App was winning titles - the CAA was a better league than the SoCon, but App was still the best team.

[APPARJ]

Any fan setting expectations of that magnitude is dangerous. Someone will take those posts to heart and next year state something to the effect of how can we lose to "X" I thought everyone was predicting 11-1. Just the nature of message boards.

But no one is setting any expectations. It was a discussion of what would have to happen for a G5 team to play on New Year's Day. To go from there to say someone is setting expectations is a stretch too big even for a message board.

And even if someone did say, "We're going 12-0 next year," there's nothing dangerous about that. Stupid? Probably. Dangerous? Not even close.

89 you know how these things go, I agree they shouldn't be but I'd bet good money these type of discussions will be misconstrued at some point next year.

I'm going to go on record before this gets out of hand:

I am NOT predicting an 11-1 record. Period.

[AppSt94]

Fair enough but if you are saying that the best team in the Big is 59 points better than the second best then what does that say about the league?

Well, what does it say about the SEC that one of the teams in their championship game lost at home to a team that went 1-7 in the Big Ten?

But I agree the Big Ten wasn't very good. It was definitely worse than every other P5 league other than arguably the ACC. But the committee doesn't pick leagues, it picks teams. Just like when App was winning titles - the CAA was a better league than the SoCon, but App was still the best team.

We are probably going to have to agree to disagree on this because I contend that they most certainly picked league over team in this situation. TCU and Baylor are both better teams than OSU and proved it over the entire season. They were punished for being in a conference that did not have a championship game. I agree that OSU looked good against Wisconsin but I don't feel it was enough to push a team down from 3 to 6.

I think that we can all agree that the SEC was the stepchild of the SEC. But Alabama went 5-1 against the west.

[Saint3333]

They picked TV viewers. If it had been Texas instead of TCU/Baylor, OSU would be sitting at home.