College Football 2016 Thread

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 3:44 pm

i have a stupid question. How do bands and cheerleaders travel to games?

FCS is smaller so it works there. But is it possible to fill huge stadiums for a 16 team tournament? Can Alabama cheerleader girl criss-cross the country for 4 weeks straight?

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 3:53 pm

Not in response to anyone in particular, but this is why I can't take college football too seriously. It's all having your cake and eating it too. Having everyone play 12-13 teams and letting a computer decide which team is the theoretical champion makes perfect sense to me, given the constraints involved in having so many teams and so few games. Having a winner take all tournament like the state high school federations do it, with like 5 or 6 rounds, also makes perfect sense to me. In the current FBS that would mean like 48 or 64 teams. Everything in the middle seems like a bit of a waste to me, especially when you throw in the dynamic of the various conferences all pulling in their own direction.

Post by **brian** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 3:54 pm

degenerasian wrote:i have a stupid question. How do bands and cheerleaders travel to games?

FCS is smaller so it works there. But is it possible to fill huge stadiums for a 16 team tournament? Can Alabama cheerleader girl criss-cross the country for 4 weeks straight?

If you play 12 of the 15 games on-campus they would all sell out easily.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 4:14 pm

brian wrote:Even in a 16-team field it's not as if the bowls have to cease to exist anyway. Could either leave the structure as it is now with the semifinals being "bowl" games. Other bowl games could be played for teams who qualify and there wouldn't be competition those weeks with the playoff. Imagine a world with a 16-team playoff.

First, as much as I appreciate the history of the Army-Navy Game make them play that shit in the regular season so it doesn't play havoc with the bowl/tournament selection process. Have it the week before the conference championship games if they want.

Dec. 10 - 8 games (Round 1) at campus sites
Dec. 17 - 4 games (Quarterfinals) at campus sites
Dec. 17 to Jan. 2 - Various bowls played by whomever want to license and host a bowl as it is now.
Dec. 31/Jan. 1 - Semifinals.
Jan. 10/11 - Title game as usual.

If you want to make it 8 games, then fine. Just have a three-week layoff between the quarterfinals a week after the conference title games and the semifinals.

Absolutely. I get kind of tired of trotting out this argument every year and I'm a little busy today, so I didn't lay it out, but ABSOLUTELY this would be the way to go. Because the worst held secret in college athletics is that bowl games in random sites are sparsely attended. The bowl industry spews a bunch of shit about how it helps the local economy, which is all nonsense. They are hugely expensive for the universities, which are forced into buying ticket blocks that they rarely sell out.

The first two rounds being hosted at the higher seed ensures a tremendous crowd and tightens up a lot of the travel costs (because, duh.)

The major problem comes back to the bowl conglomerate/cartel. It's one thing to tell the Rose Bowl that the consolation is the B1G Champ vs. USC. With conferences going 3 and possibly 4 deep in a 16 team playoff, you completely screw those bowls/venues in off years. Not to mention the Cotton an all the other wannabe CFP bowls that don't want their off year bowl being water down.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 4:49 pm

brian wrote:
degenerasian wrote:i have a stupid question. How do bands and cheerleaders travel to games?

FCS is smaller so it works there. But is it possible to fill huge stadiums for a 16 team tournament? Can Alabama cheerleader girl criss-cross the country for 4 weeks straight?
If you play 12 of the 15 games on-campus they would all sell out easily.

Should we really bother playing #16 vs Alabama AT Alabama? Seems pointless.

Post by **brian** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 5:36 pm

degenerasian wrote:
brian wrote:
degenerasian wrote:i have a stupid question. How do bands and cheerleaders travel to games?

FCS is smaller so it works there. But is it possible to fill huge stadiums for a 16 team tournament? Can Alabama cheerleader girl criss-cross the country for 4 weeks straight?
If you play 12 of the 15 games on-campus they would all sell out easily.
Should we really bother playing #16 vs Alabama AT Alabama? Seems pointless.

#16 would likely disagree. As would the tens of millions who would watch it.

Post by **brian** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 5:38 pm

Just think about how awesome a weekend of round of 16 games would be. Friday, kick the first game at 11 a.m., then 2:30 p.m. then 6 p.m. then 9:30 p.m. Then do it all again Saturday.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 5:58 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: Because the worst held secret in college athletics is that bowl games in random sites are sparsely attended. The bowl industry spews a bunch of shit about how it helps the local economy, which is all nonsense. They are hugely expensive for the universities, which are forced into buying ticket blocks that they rarely sell out.

I don't mean to change the subject, but why the hell are there so many bowl games? As NLFC notes, the third-tier ones are usually sparsely attended and costly for the universities. Is it that much of a financial windfall for the host cities? I know they are said to be recruiting tools, but does a kid really care that a school he's considering went to the Poulin Weed-eater Bowl? And, as a fan, why is it a big deal for your 6-6 team to go to Pawnee, Indiana and play another 6-6 team?

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 6:02 pm

it's just to provide relevance and keep college football important. A team that's 3-5 can lose interest pretty fast. Give them a bowl birth to play for and they'll try. Heck 5-7 teams have been in bowl games.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 6:14 pm

I mean... kinda.

The reason there are so many shitty bowls is Disney/ABC/ESPN. They own the rights to 90 percent of these crap bowls. And with so many people with downtime and the proclivity to watch any game on TV that day, they do well enough by cable standards to make it worth it.

That, by far, is the biggest driver of the proliferation of shitty bowls.

In addition to that, coaches and ADs a) get to go on some silly boondoggle trip, where particularly the AD staff get wined and dined (including their families... It's a vacation for them.) b) coaches and ADs can go 6-6 and be "bowl eligible" and call it a successful season.

As is widely known, even teams making it to big time bowls routinely eat over a $1 million when you add the fucked up ticketing schemes, travel and other logistics in. And, as I said before, the Bowl Game Economic Boost is just as fallible as the New Stadium version. Particularly when you factor in the sliding scale of "the shittier the bowl, the more regional the teams that get invited."

It's all bullshit. The other group that I'm not getting into are the executives that run the individual bowls. Those guys get paid mountains of cash for basically a couple weeks of work. Rich get richer.

Post by **Shirley** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 6:23 pm

I heartily endorse Brian's posts here. A small 8 or 16 team tournament is totally workable and fair.

I have no real problem with the P5 getting auto bids to an 8-team tournament, but I also get the argument that it would be unfair - and possibly illegal - to the other conferences.

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 7:37 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: It's all bullshit. The other group that I'm not getting into are the executives that run the individual bowls. Those guys get paid mountains of cash for basically a couple weeks of work. Rich get richer.

The title is outdated now, but the book "Death to the BCS" has a great section about the total scam that bowl games are.

Another reason coaches like going to bowls, regardless of how shitty they are, is because it gives them an extra 2 weeks of practice.

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 7:39 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote:It's one thing to tell the Rose Bowl that the consolation is the B1G Champ vs. USC.

The Rose Bowl should just be the permanent site for the Championship game. Its the most iconic venue, why go anywhere else? (I know, I know....$$$$$ reasons).

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 8:04 pm

DaveInSeattle wrote:
Nonlinear FC wrote: It's all bullshit. The other group that I'm not getting into are the executives that run the individual bowls. Those guys get paid mountains of cash for basically a couple weeks of work. Rich get richer.
The title is outdated now, but the book "Death to the BCS" has a great section about the total scam that bowl games are.

Another reason coaches like going to bowls, regardless of how shitty they are, is because it gives them an extra 2 weeks of practice.

I'd argue that's the main reason coaches like bowl games. It's great for U.K. To get an extra month of practice.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 8:05 pm

Shirley wrote:I heartily endorse Brian's posts here. A small 8 or 16 team tournament is totally workable and fair.

I have no real problem with the P5 getting auto bids to an 8-team tournament, but I also get the argument that it would be unfair - and possibly illegal - to the other conferences.

Just so many games. I know lower levels do it but they cap rrgular season games at ten in most cases. And you aren't putting that horse back in the barn.

Post by **Shirley** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 8:32 pm

A_B wrote:
Shirley wrote:I heartily endorse Brian's posts here. A small 8 or 16 team tournament is totally workable and fair.

I have no real problem with the P5 getting auto bids to an 8-team tournament, but I also get the argument that it would be unfair - and possibly illegal - to the other conferences.
Just so many games. I know lower levels do it but they cap rrgular season games at ten in most cases. And you aren't putting that horse back in the barn.

Even with a 16 game tournament, you're talking about 8 teams in the country that would play more games than they already do. And with Brian's proposed schedule, the season isn't really any longer, from a calendar perspective. And a lot of that extra time is during winter break anyway.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Mon Dec 05, 2016 8:57 pm

Pay em and I'm cool with it!

EnochRoot · Post by **EnochRoot** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 6:42 am

Well, damn.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 7:21 am

EnochRoot wrote:Well, damn.

Word is, USF is eyeing...Lane Kiffin!

EnochRoot · Post by **EnochRoot** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 7:27 am

govmentchedda wrote:
EnochRoot wrote:Well, damn.
Word is, USF is eyeing...Lane Kiffin!

I just hope whomever the hire is isn't a Leavitt:Holtz::Taggart:?

Skip Holtz tore down everything Leavitt built up, and at the worst possible time, too.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 10:07 am

govmentchedda wrote:
EnochRoot wrote:Well, damn.
Word is, USF is eyeing...Lane Kiffin!

UH is going after him too, I believe.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 10:53 am

I believe it was Santayana who said, Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 11:52 am

sancarlos wrote:
Nonlinear FC wrote: Because the worst held secret in college athletics is that bowl games in random sites are sparsely attended. The bowl industry spews a bunch of shit about how it helps the local economy, which is all nonsense. They are hugely expensive for the universities, which are forced into buying ticket blocks that they rarely sell out.
I don't mean to change the subject, but why the hell are there so many bowl games? As NLFC notes, the third-tier ones are usually sparsely attended and costly for the universities. Is it that much of a financial windfall for the host cities? I know they are said to be recruiting tools, but does a kid really care that a school he's considering went to the Poulin Weed-eater Bowl? And, as a fan, why is it a big deal for your 6-6 team to go to Pawnee, Indiana and play another 6-6 team?

Or you could be like UNM and continually play in the New Mexico bowl. The shittiest of them all!

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Sat Dec 10, 2016 4:09 pm

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/807021401311952896

Good shit.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sat Dec 10, 2016 4:50 pm

::peruses social media, sees Army/Navy game is on::

::turns on TV, bombarded with maturbatorial patriotic commercials::

::game returns to action. Donald Trump is in the booth::

::cringes::

Oy vey.

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Dec 10, 2016 5:14 pm

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Sat Dec 10, 2016 11:32 pm

My favorite part of the army navy game is that all the players look normal sized(if buffer). I assume there is a) no room for 6 foot 7 330 pound humans in the military and b) 6 foot seven 330 pound human beings get recruited to go to non military academies.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Mon Dec 12, 2016 8:13 am

11 year streak for Mount Union falls in the semifinals. Mary Hardin-Baylor (14-0) will play Wisconsin-Oshkosh for D3 championship.
http://www.ncaa.com/news/football/artic ... s-after-11

Post by **brian** » Mon Dec 12, 2016 10:43 am

wlu_lax6 wrote:11 year streak for Mount Union falls in the semifinals. Mary Hardin-Baylor (14-0) will play Wisconsin-Oshkosh for D3 championship.
http://www.ncaa.com/news/football/artic ... s-after-11

And beat by a girl no less. For shame.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Mon Dec 12, 2016 4:36 pm

So, things apparently aren't going so hot for Butch Jones at Tennessee.

In the past few weeks, 247Sports has talked to dozens of former and current coaches, players and administrators at Tennessee. We have worked to take the temperature of a place again trending down on the national and SEC landscapes.

The bottom line: Doubt always existed regarding Jones, but it’s now rushing in waves.

.....

Those close to Jones paint the picture of a good man with good intentions — but one who struggles with insecurity.

...

“Certain guys had more of a voice than they deserve,” a source close to the team said. “Certain guys would become team captains even though they didn’t earn it. When that happens, it dissolves trust the rest of the team has in you.”

...

“The culture is a disaster,” said someone who works in the football building.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Mon Dec 12, 2016 5:29 pm

brian wrote:
wlu_lax6 wrote:11 year streak for Mount Union falls in the semifinals. Mary Hardin-Baylor (14-0) will play Wisconsin-Oshkosh for D3 championship.
http://www.ncaa.com/news/football/artic ... s-after-11
And beat by a girl no less. For shame.

My first thought was, "Wow, 'Mary Hardon Baylor'? Jeez, considering what went on at Baylor, that's an ironic-sounding name."

Post by **brian** » Mon Dec 12, 2016 5:34 pm

Noticed DIII has a 32-team tournament now, which surely must wreak havoc on such horrible academic schools as Washington University, Johns Hopkins and the like.

Post by **brian** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 7:27 pm

Here's a weird story for you.

(It involves espionage at a Power 5 school.)

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 11:16 pm

Apparently the dude used to work with a guy on louisvilles staff too. So even if a lot of schools disregarded it, I'm guessing Loserville had a look see.

rass · Post by **rass** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 7:27 am

#wakeyleaks

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 7:49 am

"be ready for some punts"

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 2:39 pm

Lane Kiffin hired as head coach at Florida Atlantic University.

Clearly a fine seat of higher learning.

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 11:15 pm

only 16K follow the athletic department FB page

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Sat Dec 17, 2016 6:54 pm

You sure see a lot of surprising results in bowls. Some teams don't show up, while others play their best. A couple weeks ago, San Diego State gave up 63 points to the Colorado State Rams. Today, they whipped Houston in an upset, 34-10. But, I'm sure the coaching situation in Houston had something to do with that result.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 12:28 pm

OK. I know the reasoning, but it's bullshit. McCaffery and Fournette both to skip bowl games.