Tuesdays with Gorney: 5 ideas on the primary spherical of the CFB Playoff
The primary weekend of the School Soccer Playoff has come and gone and Rivals nationwide recruiting director Adam Gorney has some ideas. Listed below are his high 5:
1. EYEBALL TEST SHOULD BE USED IN SEEDING.
As arbitrary as this may be as a result of the eyeball take a look at might be very tough and deceiving typically, the committee is simply too targeted on seeding the convention champions too excessive and never contemplating sufficient the power of schedule and simply how extremely troublesome the SEC and the Huge Ten at the moment are after growth.
Hopefully, this adjustments within the coming years. It’s unfair that the SEC runner-up (Texas) needed to host Clemson within the opening spherical however Huge 12 champion Arizona State obtained a bye although that convention is nowhere close to as troublesome to navigate because the SEC.
The identical argument might be made for Penn State, which had just one common season loss (to Ohio State) and didn’t get its second loss till the convention championship loss to Oregon.
2. BOISE STATE GETTING A FIRST-ROUND BYE IS ABSURD.
If a Group of 5 workforce needs to be in then it ought to nearly at all times be the No. 12 seed and need to play in each spherical. Which may sound harsh or unfair however let’s get actual – the Broncos have by far the simplest schedule to get to this place and may need to earn their method each step within the playoff to win all of it.
To present Boise State a bye when Texas, Penn State, Ohio State and even ACC champion Clemson need to play is ludicrous. An excessive amount of weight was given to the Broncos profitable the Mountain West – they beat UNLV within the convention championship, massive whoop – and possibly to a really sturdy efficiency in a 3-point loss to Oregon however the schedule is a joke.
The final three video games for Texas have been in opposition to Clemson, Georgia and Texas A&M. The final three for Boise have been UNLV, Oregon State (one in all its hardest matchups all season) and a 4-point win at Wyoming.
3. OREGON GOT A VERY TOUGH DRAW.
Of the 4 groups that obtained byes within the first spherical – Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State – one can argue that the Geese obtained the hardest second-round opponent.
Penn State seemed as strong as ever overwhelming SMU, Notre Dame crushed Indiana and Texas pulled away from Clemson however Ohio State seemed phenomenal in opposition to Tennessee in a sport that changed into a blowout in Columbus. There was discuss within the preseason that the Buckeyes may be the very best workforce within the nation they usually seemed prefer it on Saturday night time.
Why this draw turns into harder for Oregon – don’t you suppose the Geese would like to play Penn State once more like within the Huge Ten championship or make the most of its velocity in opposition to Notre Dame – is that Oregon has overwhelmed Ohio State as soon as this season and it’s at all times harder to beat a workforce twice.
On Oct. 12, Ohio State visited Oregon and quarterback Will Howard slid down one second to late or the Buckeyes might have gotten their discipline aim unit on to kick a possible sport winner in opposition to the Geese. Coming for revenge, Ohio State and Oregon on the Rose Bowl is shaping as much as be a traditional – and the hardest matchup for the Geese.
4. SEAN MCDONOUGH SERVED SOME HUMBLE PIE.
On Friday night time, as Notre Dame was throttling Indiana, play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough lambasted the Huge Ten – and notably the Hoosiers for getting in – whereas he thought the ACC was getting slighted.
“They should lose the belief that the SEC and the Huge Ten are clearly head and shoulders above everyone else, notably the Huge Ten,” McDonough mentioned. “The SEC has the latest (historical past), Alabama, Georgia, however the Huge Ten’s received two nationwide championships in school soccer since when, 2002? That’s 22 seasons. I don’t perceive why there’s this presumption. It appears from many who the Huge Ten, specifically, is so a lot better than the ACC or the Huge 12. I’m unsure what that’s based mostly on.
“There’s a whole lot of discuss power of schedule – effectively, you’re taking part in one another. So, in the event you simply assume, ‘Nicely, our league’s higher than everyone else, so due to this fact our power…’ What in case your league isn’t higher than everyone else? Is your power of schedule higher than everyone else?”
The following day, Penn State from the Huge Ten completely dominated SMU, 38-10, in a win that included two pick-sixes. Texas downed Clemson, 38-24, after the Longhorns have been down 7-0. The ACC is out of the playoff – and McDonough may be out of his thoughts.
5. IT’S NOT PERFECT, BUT 12 TEAMS ARE BETTER THAN FOUR.
There was debate and dialogue about whether or not Indiana and SMU ought to have made the School Soccer Playoff and whether or not Arizona State and Boise State ought to have gotten first-round byes and about all of the blowouts on Saturday however having 12 groups continues to be far superior to solely having 4.
Having the outdated days of the Energy 5 conferences and solely 4 spots by no means, ever made sense. Groups obtained screwed out of the playoff so typically. I do really feel for the SEC groups – Alabama, Ole Miss, to some extent South Carolina – about not getting in however in one other sense all three of them blew it at one level this season.
Twelve may be the proper quantity or not precisely good nevertheless it’s undoubtedly higher than 4.
