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Frightening Playoff Committee Mock of 2008 Season

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I'm Ron Burgundy's picture
October 15, 2014 at 12:22pm
22 Comments

OK, sorry if we're all beating the playoff scenario thing to death but I find this very interesting and relevant to how this season very well COULD play out. And I don't like it.

http://www.si.com/college-football/2014/10/10/mock-college-football-playoff-selection-committee

Now, this article focuses on how members of the media pretended to be the committee and determine the 4 playoff spots using the 2008 season.  Before you say hey they're just a bunch of media hacks (you'd be right), I read elsewhere that the actual committee themselves met and mocked this and came out with the exact same 4 teams.

A very quick primer on what they had to choose from in 2008:

A trio of 1 loss Big 12 teams in the same division that all beat each other (hello, SEC West 2014) - Texas (beat Oklahoma in reg season), Oklahoma (eventual conf champ), and Texas Tech (got smoked by Oklahoma but upset Texas)

1 loss SEC champ Florida who beat 12-0 Alabama (who was #1 most of the season). Of course leaving a 12-1 Alabama team.

1 loss PAC 10 champ USC who crushed a 10-2 Ohio St. team during the non-conference but got upset by an 8-4 Oregon State team. (Sounds like 2014 Oregon to me)

1 loss Big 10 champ Penn State whose lone marquee win was a November road win @ Ohio St.

ACC champ was Va Tech with multiple losses and not in the running at all.

Honorable mentions were two very good non p5 unbeatens in Boise State and Utah.

Anyway, the article goes in some good detail about how they use certain methodologies to individually vote on teams and arrive at a "consensus" of sorts. And here's what they (and the actual committee) picked:

1. Florida
2. Oklahoma
3. Texas
4. USC

5. Penn State
6. Alabama

So there you have it.  Every season is different and there's a lot of football to be played, but that 2008 scenario is eerily similar to what is happening this year. The SEC West is probably getting even more attention than the Big 12 south did that season, and they managed to get 2 teams in.  Also Penn State's season is the same season we're hoping to have.  Get our big win on the road against a higher ranked team (MSU) that's only loss was at the hands of a PAC 12 team who is in line to be their champ (Oregon).

Anyway, sorry again because I know some people are beyond tired of the playoff speculation, but I thought this was, if nothing else, at least an interesting view at how the committee will approach this. And if you thought there was no way the SEC West will get 2 teams in, it is a real possibility depending on how everything plays out.

 

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