Play-offs expanding to 12 teams

[TheMoody1]

[TheMoody1]

[appdaze]

ie seen they are discussing the 16 tea a lot as well, where each conference got an auto bid and then some at larges I wouldn't count out more changes before 2026 as the SEC continues their pull away.

[AppStFan1]

ie seen they are discussing the 16 tea a lot as well, where each conference got an auto bid and then some at larges I wouldn't count out more changes before 2026 as the SEC continues their pull away.

It looks to be 12 but I wish it would be 8. If you win the title and don't get a bye you could play 17 with the playoff and a title game. I hope they drop it to 11 regular season games but I'm sure they won't. Just glad we get a true playoff though where an undefeated G5 will get a chance and we will find out if the 3rd SEC team is better than a Pac-12 champ like many believe. It will be interesting.

[1ASU78]

2026. The SEC will have 4 divisions. They will have a 3 game play off. Division champs play and the winners play for the championship. All big time NFL style hoopla.

[Yosefus]

So your saying there's a chance..

[AppWyo]

So your saying there's a chance..

That is all App needs...

[Howard Street Hooligan]

Need to quit scheduling schools like A&M then. We have to go undefeated and games like that will only make that exponentially harder.

[AppStFan1]

So your saying there's a chance..

That is all App needs...

Now we can have one. We have never really had one before but now it can happen. If we went 12-0 this year and they had the 12 team field we would be a lock to get in. If the schedule is hard enough then 11-1 could get our champ in. This is why I rather get rid of FCS teams and play P5, even if on the road, because it would give us the type of schedule that one loss would not eliminate us anymore. I know we want the home games for the gate but 11-1 with 2 P5 as opposed to 1 and a FCS would not kill us.

[Rick83]

So, what I'm seeing as their model is the top 6 ranked conference champions (so 5 P5s and 1 G5) and then the top 6 non-conference champion teams. With the decimation of the AAC, we're actually looking at a pretty good shot at getting in. The top 4 teams would get byes and the 5 thru 12 teams would play the first round. This could be big for us. Think about how this will help with our recruiting. They are going to see if it can be implemented by 2024 or 2025.

[AppWyo]

Need to quit scheduling schools like A&M then. We have to go undefeated and games like that will only make that exponentially harder.

We need both FCS, and A5 games. FCS games to fine tune things and not forget where we came from and the A5 games to stay nationally relevant. We do not want to be like Georgia Southern was when they were an I-AA independent, play an easy schedule, then git a bid to the playoffs and run some type of offense that no one knows how to defend to win. Just like Ric Flair said, "To be the man, you have got to beat the man! Whoooooo!"

[Howard Street Hooligan]

Need to quit scheduling schools like A&M then. We have to go undefeated and games like that will only make that exponentially harder.

We need both FCS, and A5 games. FCS games to fine tune things and not forget where we came from and the A5 games to stay nationally relevant. We do not want to be like Georgia Southern was when they were an I-AA independent, play an easy schedule, then git a bid to the playoffs and run some type of offense that no one knows how to defend to win. Just like Ric Flair said, "To be the man, you have got to beat the man! Whoooooo!"

A5? We need to go undefeated to make the playoff so scheduling the top tier P5 schools make no sense. Schedule the middle of the road P5 schools if you can.

[appvette]

Need to quit scheduling schools like A&M then. We have to go undefeated and games like that will only make that exponentially harder.

We need both FCS, and A5 games. FCS games to fine tune things and not forget where we came from and the A5 games to stay nationally relevant. We do not want to be like Georgia Southern was when they were an I-AA independent, play an easy schedule, then git a bid to the playoffs and run some type of offense that no one knows how to defend to win. Just like Ric Flair said, "To be the man, you have got to beat the man! Whoooooo!"

A5? We need to go undefeated to make the playoff so scheduling the top tier P5 schools make no sense. Schedule the middle of the road P5 schools if you can.

We don't necessarily need to go undefeated. If we go 11-1 this year and UNC and TAMU both are top 10 schools, we're likely in.

[Rick83]

Need to quit scheduling schools like A&M then. We have to go undefeated and games like that will only make that exponentially harder.

We need both FCS, and A5 games. FCS games to fine tune things and not forget where we came from and the A5 games to stay nationally relevant. We do not want to be like Georgia Southern was when they were an I-AA independent, play an easy schedule, then git a bid to the playoffs and run some type of offense that no one knows how to defend to win. Just like Ric Flair said, "To be the man, you have got to beat the man! Whoooooo!"

A5? We need to go undefeated to make the playoff so scheduling the top tier P5 schools make no sense. Schedule the middle of the road P5 schools if you can.

The playoff model that's been published has the top 6 rated conference champions getting in and then the remaining top 6 ranked non-champions. SO...with the AAC being decimated....the Sun Belt should become the top G5 conference...SO...if we win the SBC there's a really good chance we'll make the playoffs. Am I the only one interpreting the changing landscape this way? This is a huge deal for App...think about the recruiting aspects...am I wrong on this? Also, they're tying to implement this new format as early as the 2024 season, but definitely 2026.

[AppInDC]

I interpret it that way too. Going undefeated would be great and a huge boost to hopes but I have never felt it was a prerequisite for the NY6 either. App was super close to Boise and Memphis in the rankings in 2019 even with the GA Southern loss. Even with a blemish, we were one Boise loss and one Memphis loss away from potentially being in a big bowl.

The ranking committee regularly says strength of schedule is important. Cincy didn't make the playoff last year just because they went undefeated but because they had good out of conference wins like Notre Dame. App took care of business in 2019 against UNC and South Carolina so that's another reason we were so close.

To get a bid in the current system, the only two requirements for us are to win the conference and to finish ahead of the AAC, CUSA, MAC, and MWC champ. In the new system, we still need to win the conference but be among the top six conference Champs. May sound the same but depending on what happens, we could leapfrog even P5 Champs. 2020, Coastal and Cincy would have beat out Oregon.

I say schedule whoever will play us and if we lose, then it's not the end of the world. Paramount goal should always be to win the division and the conference and let the chips fall where they may.

[bigdaddyg]

So if we play 2 FCS and a 6-6 type P5 and an average G5 for non-conference and then maybe drop a conference game and end up 11-2 (with a CCG win) we would be the highest rated G5 champ at probably 35th in the rankings? I can't see it. I think we probably still need to get a marquee win to get ranked decently.

[spacemonkey]

My hope is the AAC, MWC, MAC and Sunbelt will make their own end of season alliance to pit our highest rated teams against each other during the SEC, BIG playoffs.

I think both of them will go to a 4 team play-off. If the Sunbelt, AAC, MAC and MWC could build something AND GET PAID for the last spot it would be a win win. A G5 championship and a shot at the title. With those three conferences we should have a coast to coast viewing audience.

Just a thought.

I really like the cross over games at the end of the year. Play conference play starting in week 2...(Using week zero for OOC and Week 1 for OOC) Have a scheduling agreement with the AAC to pit our top 2 rated teams against each other and every other game be your closest team from the AAC (IE Charlotte or ECU for us if not in top 2). My belief is it would draw a lot of eyeballs and a lot of money. The team that survives that should be a lock for the playoffs and the G4 Champ.

[spacemonkey]

The 6-6 could have the conferences going back to 10 teams. The old ACC with 9 teams, their champ would probably make a top 6 and the old Big East champ would have probably made the top 6.

[bigdaddyg]

They are going to get carried away with thing and teams will end up playing what, maybe 16 games? It will be more of an attrition thing more than being competitive. Imagine a couple of the teams who survive 12 games, a CCG then a first rounder all against probably top 20 competition. More than likely the final 4 and 2 are out of the usual tiny group anyway because they will have the depth to overcome injuries. The last thing App would need is to play a 7-2 (at that time) near the top of their conference P5 in week 10 especially if we roll in there 8-1 or 9-0. A double digit loss and we fall off the radar.

[hapapp]

I interpret it that way too. Going undefeated would be great and a huge boost to hopes but I have never felt it was a prerequisite for the NY6 either. App was super close to Boise and Memphis in the rankings in 2019 even with the GA Southern loss. Even with a blemish, we were one Boise loss and one Memphis loss away from potentially being in a big bowl.

The ranking committee regularly says strength of schedule is important. Cincy didn't make the playoff last year just because they went undefeated but because they had good out of conference wins like Notre Dame. App took care of business in 2019 against UNC and South Carolina so that's another reason we were so close.

To get a bid in the current system, the only two requirements for us are to win the conference and to finish ahead of the AAC, CUSA, MAC, and MWC champ. In the new system, we still need to win the conference but be among the top six conference Champs. May sound the same but depending on what happens, we could leapfrog even P5 Champs. 2020, Coastal and Cincy would have beat out Oregon.

I say schedule whoever will play us and if we lose, then it's not the end of the world. Paramount goal should always be to win the division and the conference and let the chips fall where they may.

Under the current system we have to do more than finish ahead the other G5 conference champs. Under the current system you don't have to be a conference champ. You just have to be among the top 4 teams in the country. The new system would clearly provide us a better chance than the current one.