I think either Baylor or TCU will also make it this year if one of them goes undefeated. Whether we pass them or not doesn't matter. There won't be two SEC teams. ND (and Pac 12 champ) only have a chance over a 1 loss conference champ, not over an undefeated/untied conference champ.
Proof that somebody from ESPN gets it
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I think either Baylor or TCU will also make it this year if one of them goes undefeated. Whether we pass them or not doesn't matter. There won't be two SEC teams. ND (and Pac 12 champ) only have a chance over a 1 loss conference champ, not over an undefeated/untied conference champ.
I would not say always.
Given that these mega conferences play only play like 60-65 % of its member schools who you play within the conference, is very important.
More than ever football is more about individual teams and brand names and less about conference affiliation. With the exception of the SEC and even they admit the SEC East is not good, but their contenders all reside in the strength of the conference and will go head to head.
Big 12 plays a round robin so even though they have bad teams all the good ones still have to play each other.
The fact is Iowa will only play 1 of what many people consider 4 out of the top 5 teams in their conference and that would not be til the title game.
When conferences were smaller was much easier for a team to wrap themselves in the "strength" of the conference. Now not so much.
1 loss Notre Dame, Alabama, would trump an undefeated Iowa, a 1 loss Oklahoma could zoom up the rankings because they would have beaten 3 of the top 15 in the last month. Not sure if they pass an undefeated Iowa, but the schedule will help them.
Clemson probably a lock. .
At the end of the day you can only play who is in front of you. Road wins against Northwestern/Wisconsin, are good wins.
Its just unfortunate that most of the Big 10 west could not beat anyone outside the Big 10 West this year. Northwestern beating Penn State would be a nice shot in the arm. Hope that Wisconsin does not stub their toe against anyone in the Big 10 west or lose to Maryland/Rutgers.
All this said at the end of the day, teams are gonna lose and fall out of contention. A lot would have to go wrong for Iowa should they run the table not to get in. Just like last year 5 conferences compete for 4 spots. This year Notre Dame is added to the mix, but their shot and the Pac 12 shot will come down to the head to head end of November.
Pitt, Stanford and Duke were all pretty good OOC wins for the Big 10 West off the top of my head. A mediocre Minnesota team held TCU to their lowest point total all year, I believe. Show me three better OOC wins for any other division out there. Really, I haven't looked but I doubt there are three better OOC wins in any other division, at least not too much better for sure.
Also, the Big 10 West champ plays Big 10 East champ so cross division W/L shouldn't matter too much.
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Which makes it even harder to pass the undefeated winner. Maybe I'm missing your point.
Ok so you think it would be an SEC team, Clemson, a Big 12 team, an us. I agreed with that logic a week ago. But the more I thought about it, the more I think no way they leave a 1 loss ND out. Now that we started out behind them, I'm even more convinced. Why start them off that high unless you want to make sure they get in? Iowa jumping ND the final week to steal the last playoff spot will absolutely never happen.
HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
I don't think Iowa will come out of the conference with an undefeated season. We may lose one of the remaining West games, or we would likely get beat in Indianapolis, or both. However: If we go 13-0 and win the BT, we will be in real danger of NOT getting a place in the top 4, for the reasons we have all talked about. We would be the hot seat of discussion when it comes to the top 4; the attacks would be horrendous from the main stream sports media talking heads. It would be: The BT is DOWN and Iowa lucked out in a bad year; therefore, we need two SEC teams, a B Twelve Team, An ACC team, or a PAC 12 team and/or Notre Dame to play for the national championship. Bet on it, boys, bet on it. Follow the $$.
No, if we beat tOSU by 1 point, we just beat the defending national champs and we have a better win than any other team in the final four and we are an undefeated Big Ten champion. We're in.
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Actually it would be a win over number 3. Alabama can get a win over number 2.
Motigerhawk
Well-Known Member
Let's go out and score 60 a game on these weak sticks we have left on our schedule. Shred their BS explanations on the field.
Everyone in the podcasts say they think we are rated where we should be, then talk for a half an hour about why Baylor, TCU, and Alabama shouldn't be in front of us. Who are the 3 teams behind us that should be ahead of us then?
I think we are ranked about where we are in terms of we are maybe the 9th best team in the nation. But that's not how rankings should work. If the best team loses a game, they shouldn't be ranked number 1. If you want to rank teams based on how good you think they are reguardless of record, why not just have the preseason top 4 play for the national title? ND had their shot to beat Clemson and they lost. Sorry about your luck. Maybe everyone else will lose and you can sneak in. If not, you're out. Same with Alabama.
I think we are ranked about where we are in terms of we are maybe the 9th best team in the nation. But that's not how rankings should work. If the best team loses a game, they shouldn't be ranked number 1. If you want to rank teams based on how good you think they are reguardless of record, why not just have the preseason top 4 play for the national title? ND had their shot to beat Clemson and they lost. Sorry about your luck. Maybe everyone else will lose and you can sneak in. If not, you're out. Same with Alabama.
