Playoffs
Folks, we have weekly updated and explained bowl projections by Jason Kirk. We'll also look at the College Football Playoff (and FCS playoffs and others, from time to time) with a little broader view than breathless horse race coverage.
Seven years in, has the Playoff improved on the BCS?
Let’s see if the Playoff has fixed the flaws of its much-derided predecessor.
A Guide to One-Loss Playoff Stress
Take a deep breath, and remember everything’s going to be okay. (Probably.)
The College Football Playoff Committee is about to have a very bad time
Good luck with that system you built for normal seasons, voters!
Bad Idea Time: a Playoff spot in exchange for a vaccine
Here’s an idea that wouldn’t backfire: tying postseason eligibility to a school’s medical research success.
Imagine the Playoff arguments if CFB had no non-con games
For no reason at all, let’s imagine a September-less CFB season.
The BIRTHDAY MADNESS bracket: Here is the best birthday of them all
We asked the internet to make five-person teams of people who share birthdays. Then we asked the internet to vote on these teams.
How to claim a national championship
Hoops is used to having a definitive champ. In 2020, it doesn’t. The college football internet can be of assistance on this.
All the ways one Oklahoma punt might’ve changed history
Oklahoma punted on a chance to beat Georgia in the Rose Bowl. Let’s consider how the world might’ve been different.
BIG CAT EYES
LSU learned to mold and channel its natural chaos, and then unleashed it on the way to a national title.
Dynasty Mode: The 7 ways CFB dynasties end
Let’s pick a metric that gives us a list of dynasties, and then let’s find some common threads.
Yup, Alabama lives in our heads rent-free
Given all the Crimson Tide have accomplished under Nick Saban, it’d be absurd to pretend they shouldn’t.
How Clemson saves QB runs for when they’re needed most
Clemson’s careful about when they ask the quarterback to run, but it’s still a powerful card in their deck.
2019 bowl season’s 50 finest moments, ranked by The Top Whatever
Each week or so, The Top Whatever ranks all the college football things that must be ranked. This edition ranks the entire 2019 season’s postseason.
THIS DECADE IN SCHADENFREUDE: Ohio State fans vs. ESPN
Your periodic journey through the most infuriated sectors of the college football internet visits an old friend.
The Plus-One system would’ve been better than the Playoff
Or at the very least, far more college football.
2019’s CFP field is loaded, compared to 2014-2018
In most years, there’s a clear dropoff between the top team or two and the rest.
Bad Idea Time: Replace all bowl ties with randomized bids
Conference ties are a pain. Merely getting rid of them is not enough.
Every year, Ohio State is the Playoff’s biggest controversy: 2014-2019
Season after season, the Buckeyes end up right in the middle of the CFP debate.
5 ways to improve college football’s Selection Sunday
The ESPN show will remain three hours long regardless, so we might as well have some more fun with it.
Fun ways to replace conference title games with Playoff games
The best way to expand the Playoff is to let it absorb something else college football went a long time without.
How to actually enjoy talking about the Playoff
Everyone talks about it all the time, but that doesn’t have to mean it’s exhausting.
How Playoff rankings actually work: short and long versions
The committee’s rankings release every Tuesday in the latter half of the season.
How to tell if your CFB season has an unusual number of contenders
It probably doesn’t, but here are two charts to check just in case.
Bad Idea Time: the Undefeateds-Only Playoff
Since it’s impossible to craft a perfect College Football Playoff system, let’s ponder the actual benefits of trying something silly.
So it’s October, and your conference is (probably) already out of the Playoff
The four-team era introduced a new early-season pastime: circling like vultures over the likeliest power conference to miss out.
Put 8-5 Wisconsin in the Playoff, you cowards
Increasing access would not mean letting terrible teams win national titles. But if it did, that’s cool too!
Notre Dame’s schedule strength is pretty much always fine
Check the numbers.
13 things FBS should learn from FCS
The lower half of Division I does a bunch of things that could make the upper half better.
2 teams dominating CFB for years at a time is not new
The only thing that’s new: we now have a setup that ensures they meet.
Notre Dame’s lost 8 straight big bowls. Let’s rank them
When the Irish get to New Year’s Six-caliber games, they lose.
History shows every CFP expansion plan will still anger everyone
We’ll probably add more games and rounds soon, but college football will always find ways to infuriate people.
21 years of telling undefeated non-powers they aren’t worthy
These Nobodies never actually got the chance to compete for titles, but if they did beat a Somebody, there was always an excuse.