My Owlss are taking it to UCF.

[Utah]

No G5 deserves a spot in the playoffs. UCF would barely be a bowl team with our schedule, yet some would argue that UCF should get a shot over a two loss Utah team. 

Nope. 

[Larry B]

There seems to be some sort of “national attention curse” that strikes some teams. They just don’t seem to play well after getting recognition.

Utah has been a team with this curse in the past. It makes me nervous for Saturday.

[EagleMountainUte]

ASU is a good team that is inconsistent. USC had a 20 game home win streak going that snapped. Now it was battered USC team but still impressive win in my books. 

They don’t turn the ball over much and they have two players that can punish you with big plays. Utah offense needs to keep rolling. 

[Anonymous]

Weren’t 2/3rd ASU’s players freshmen last year?

[Utah]

 I think that was Arizona. 

[Anonymous]

Ahhh…good call.

[PlainsUte]

Used to be called the SI curse.  After a team or player appears on a cover of Sports Illustrated they were doomed to fail the next week.   Not sure anyone reads magazines anymore, so dunno if it holds today.

[ironman1315]

Now Temple is getting beat.

[ironman1315]

Of course now that I type it, they drive right on down the field.

[MotherJabubu]

So UCF gives up 700 yards to Temple’s offense, gets nearly doubled up on TOP 39-21.. but magically Temple gets double the flags and triple the penalty yardage, well above their season average, and loses. *thinking*

[Chidojuan]

On a positive note, UCF is probably the 2nd whiniest team in FBS, second to TDS, so if they win out, and win in a NY6, then they’ll make a lot of noise and it might be an impetus to expand the playoff when the current setup expires.  We’re 4 years into the 12 year contract.

[Utah]

Why would they get the NY6 Bowl if they win out? Their schedule is essentially the same as North Dakota State’s. Why shouldn’t North Dakota State get the NY6 Bowl? 

Why not Fresno State or Utah State? 

Hell, why should UCF get that bowl over any two loss P5 school? There are probably 30+ P5 schools that would go undefeated with that schedule. Why should Utah get punished by NOT getting a NY6 invite but UCF be rewarded for not playing Washington, WSU, USC, Oregon, Colorado, etc? 

I can’t wait for the P5 to split off to end all this nonsense. G5 is a lower league and there isn’t a single G5 team that could go with 0 or 1 loss in a P5 schedule. To put them in a NY6 Bowl is silly and to even discuss them in the playoff…it’s ludicrous. 

[Chidojuan]

I agree it’s ludicrous.  The highest rated G5 gets a NY6 berth automatically now.  If they get in, and win, then they’ll continue to whine about not going to the playoffs.  Maybe it falls on deaf ears, maybe they adjust the 12 year contract.

[Utah]

Sad face. They gave a good effort. 

[Duhwayne]

Was an adjunct at Temple in a prior life.

UCF is not number 9. Let them play anyone in the the top 20. Preferably the Dollar Tree bowl or equivalent.

[Utah]

What they should do is take the G5 team that played in a NY6 Bowl and the next year have them switch schedules with a team ranked 15-25. 

So, next year, UCF’s plays Stanford’s schedule and Stanford plays UCF’s. 

After a couple years of that, G5 teams will shut their mouths. 

[Stone]

This approach would work better in a professional league (as done in some soccer leagues) because college players have a defined time limit on playing. But regardless, I would love a system where team could advance to on a year to year basis. The reality is that there are P5 schools that are worse than G5 schools. Let G5 schools have the opportunity to play into a P5 league (and the associated perks) and put P5 schools at risk of being demoted. You would essentially need to rank all schools at the end of the year and promote/demote some. At least then a G5 school could prove it on the field and advance via merit, instead of being stuck in a caste system.

[Stone]

I’ll engage on this again, because I think it is an interesting debate.

To summarize, I prefer an 8-team playoff, with auto bids for all P5 champs, three at large, with one of the three at large being a G5 team (all at large selected by committee). I think this makes for a more fun season for all FBS teams and fans. So that is my primary reason for wanting it: it would be more fun for all.

The other reason why I think that system is better is because otherwise there is effectively no way for a G5 team to ever qualify. They can only play who they can play. A system that ensures they cannot qualify for the playoff before they have even played a game is not just un-fun, it is unfair because there is effectively nothing those schools can do to qualify. Due to their conference affiliation, G5 schools can never play a schedule that would be hard enough in the eyes of some. And yet every G5 school would jump at the chance to join a P5 conference and the benefits associated with them.

Put this in a different context: a system where *anyone* can be president, but only if they can demonstrate an excellent education (i.e. SOS); but only Ivy League schools are considered an excellent education and certain people are excluded from Ivy League schools. Those excluded people can get all the education they can, but because they are excluded from Ivy League schools, they can never be president. Or a situation where *anyone* can participate in an election, but just so long as you are a certain race…oh, nothing you can do to change your race, well, sorry.  That is essentially what the playoff is today: *any* team can play in the playoff, so long as your SOS is strong enough…oh, there is nothing you can do to improve your conference schedule, well, sorry.

If you want to put G5 schools in a different division and say they are not part of the playoff system, fine, at least that is facially honest. The BCS and the current playoff are classic monopoloy/cartel systems where there are predetermined losers and winners before the first ball is snapped every season. I prefer a meritocracy where every team legitimately has a shot to play their way into the playoff. One can say that UCF (or Utah in 04 and 08) would never have survived a P5 schedule, maybe so, but that is just speculation because they do not have the opportunity to play that schedule, despite the fact that they would willingly jump at the chance to join a P5 conference and do so.