Soccer, sports and politics (R)

I'm not a Husky, I'm a grad of another UW; a school that could go undefeated year after year and not be included because ... reasons.

I think the entire system is ridiculous. A small group of people vote on who gets to make the playoffs. Good thing people can't be bribed!

Using your argument the Sounders should be in the playoffs every year, regardless of their record, simply because of their past history. If that sounds ridiculous, then so is giving the SEC a spot just because of history.

If an SEC team is included, that means either two undefeated teams were left out (FSU and Liberty, more on that below), or they chose a team that lost at home to an excluded top team with the same record and still left out an undefeated team. Alabama lost at home to Texas by 10 points and they have the same record. As such, choosing Alabama over Texas would be laughable, just as choosing Georgia over Alabama would be laughable. Oregon has an argument that they only lost to one team, a team with an unbeaten record, and lost only by 3 points each time. They don't deserve to be in, but neither does any SEC team. At least Oregon didn't lose by double digits!

Having an unbeaten team not included for the championship simply shows how stupid the system is. Conference champions should determine who makes the playoffs, all 10 of them, not a small group of people voting. You still have the issue of Notre Dame and the other independents like Liberty. Either force them to get a conference (but would conferences accept some of them?) or figure out a way to include the next best or two or six best teams (as much as I think "power rankings" are a ridiculous way to choose the teams, there isn't a reasonable and fair alternative if independents exist). Maybe only include them if they go unbeaten.

 

I don't see how Bama is out. Knocked off #1 and Saban is a CFB favorite.

I got:

Bammy
Michigan
TX
Huskies. Oddsmakers had them as a 9 pt dog vs Oregon even tho they beat them in the regular season. Strange line.

An onteresting thing flashed on Iowa-Michigan game & not sure I've heard this before. Ferentz's son was the OC at Iowa and was under heavy pressure to like, score some points. So the AD said to keep your job you have to average 25 ppg. They averaged under that. He was canned.

Someone had a ppg tracker

https://brianferentzpointstracker.com/

 

I'm guessing a fair number of conference champs will nonetheless be left out because ... reasons. It will still be a ridiculous system where a small number of people pick who makes the playoffs based largely on reputation and influence.

The Big 12 champ beat the SEC champ at the SEC champ's home by double digits. There's no question which one should be left out.

 

Could you imagine the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS ... deciding its champion by having a [edit: baker's dozen] of people pick 4 teams to compete in a playoff format, with the understanding that they don't have to pick division winners, teams with the best records, etc?

It's complete nonsense.

 

But you could still have a situation where the committee decides not to include a division winner because they decide a 2nd or 3rd place team from another division is more "worthy".

And you are right, the college teams don't play each other which is why every conference champion should be included. Liberty could finish the year as the only undefeated team in the country (if a 1-loss team wins the "playoff"), yet with no chance in hell of having had the chance to compete in the playoffs. It's simply ridiculous.

And I just looked at who the committee is made up of - not exactly a non-partisan group of people. It includes an AD from the 5 big conferences, but not so much the smaller conferences. The system is completely rigged to begin with.

 

But in basketball ALL the conference champions make the playoffs [edit: tournament champions that is, which is another thing altogether].

It's already devalued when undefeated teams have no chance of even competing for the national championship. Either that or stop calling it a national championship.

 

Exactly! Trust me, it's not easy to do, but I care about fairness.

The NFL has 8 divisions. Let's have 13 people decide on which 4 teams should make the playoffs, and it's ok to have two teams from the same division because they were good in the past!

 

You're cheerier than usual today!

 

I haven’t seen much of that, especially on this site. Pretty much every knowledgeable fan of the league knows MLS is well below the level of La Liga or Ligue 1. That doesn’t mean the league hasn’t increased in quality over the years, or that you can’t enjoy following it.

 

Why are you posting on a MLS forum?

NISA is the independently owned league of choice.

 

Wait, the "Politics and Current Events" Forum is now the "MLS" Forum?

Good to know.

 

Ain't he your cousin!?!

 

Wait, what?

I get plenty of posters who get deeply hurt and insulted if I tell them so.

To that I say that Peter Nowak and team mates would kick the ever-living sh!t out of today's fire team.

Or that the Bolivians in the early dcu teams would curbstomp today's dcu team.

Not seeing much improvement, TBH.

 

You mean some of the best teams in the league’s history would beat some of the worst teams in the league’s history?

Galaxy-brain thinking here.

 

Leaving aside the fact that those hypotheticals are impossible to prove, you’re comparing the best teams in the league in one era to some of the worst teams in the league in another. That doesn’t seem like the most useful metric.

And regarding people who insist MLS is at the same level as a top 5 European league, I’d love to see those posts if you can find them. Was that in the MLS forum?

 

What's my prize for guessing the final 4?
And if FSU goes undefeated, can they claim a national championship?

College Football Playoff rankings, Dec. 3:
#1 Michigan
#2 Washington
#3 Texas
#4 Alabama
#5 Florida State
#6 Georgia