2021 Other Bowl Games Thread

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Pompous Elitist said:
Would a two loss Alabama get in over Notre Dame? I don’t know. Why not just put them away and out of the tournament rather than play them twice, risking injuries and so on.

I have a hard time swallowing the idea Georgia wasn’t trying. I mean, I suppose it’s possible there was some gentleman’s agreement or conspiracy but not probable. I think Alabama is probably the better team. We’ll see, though. Georgia is clearly really good.
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I don’t mean that Georgia didn’t try. I just think Georgia went out there with a specific defensive scheme/game plan that was designed to not show Alabama certain things for that game. If they won, great, if they lost, that’s not the most important game anyway. Similar to what I’m sure Minnesota was thinking with their offensive game plan against BG. Georgia was locked in, win or lose. Now, I have pondered why not beat Alabama and eliminate them? Well, once Oklahoma State lost, I feel like that locked Alabama in too, even if they had lost to Georgia. We will never know, but I think the committee would have taken a two loss Alabama over ND.

I watched every Georgia game this year. I’m a Dawg fan too (born and raised in GA and currently live in Smart’s hometown) along with being a die hard Gopher. All I can tell you, is the defensive scheme and effort against Alabama in game 1 was “different” from what you saw tonight. I could be wrong on my train of thought, but not much else explains why Georgia didn’t attack Alabama the way A&M, Florida and Auburn did. Georgia has superior personnel to those three teams who gave Alabama fits. We will find out on 1/10/22.

On a side note, I sure wish PJ could get just one kid like Nakobe Dean to commit to Minnesota. It would be so much fun to watch a player like that in Maroon and Gold. Hoping PJ gets us there.
 
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This is why Minnesota was supposed to beat Iowa, play in the CCG, beat Michigan. Avoiding last night’s madness.
 


My 2 cents…Cincy showed they belong as #4. They could have made it closer if it wasn’t for a few near misses in the red zone (I think it was 3x with only 3 points?) and the last TD it seemed like they kind of gave up. Georgia, wow! That team was dominant. How in the hell did they lose to Bama? Michigan I think if they make that fourth down conversion we might have had a bit of a different game as you could see the wind come out of their sails. BiG did not represent well in this one. I was happy to see new blood but that was not what I expected. Michigan has a very good D line and Oline and Georgia made both look terrible. Watched Hutchinson and he didn’t do anything and often he was just one on one and couldn’t get through. Impressive. Gotta go Dawgs because well, Bama is Bama and you have Darth Saban on the sideline and all.
 



UpAndUnder43 said:
Ohio St should blow the doors off Utah
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Really? I just don’t see this game like that. Utah is probably going to be the most physical team Ohio State plays all year and I can’t see any scenario where OSU “wants this game” more than Utah does. Couple that with the opt outs for Ohio State and I think the Utes win this game. Will be interesting but I took Utah in my pick’em.
 

NotAFanOfBecky said:
My 2 cents…Cincy showed they belong as #4. They could have made it closer if it wasn’t for a few near misses in the red zone (I think it was 3x with only 3 points?) and the last TD it seemed like they kind of gave up. Georgia, wow! That team was dominant. How in the hell did they lose to Bama? Michigan I think if they make that fourth down conversion we might have had a bit of a different game as you could see the wind come out of their sails. BiG did not represent well in this one. I was happy to see new blood but that was not what I expected. Michigan has a very good D line and Oline and Georgia made both look terrible. Watched Hutchinson and he didn’t do anything and often he was just one on one and couldn’t get through. Impressive. Gotta go Dawgs because well, Bama is Bama and you have Darth Saban on the sideline and all.
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Cincy was no worse than ND every other year, the Elite SEC teams are just better than everyone.
 




Anytime I've expected OSU to blow the doors off someone this year, they haven't.

Oregon, Michigan, Nebraska.
 


GophersInIowa said:
After the NC game on the 10th, there will have been 24 CFP games since it started. Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ohio St and Clemson will have won 23 of them.
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There are small handful of dominant powerhouses in every division of football, not just FBS. It takes a decade or two to get any change at the top. I feel the CFP has further concentrated that power.
 





GophersInIowa said:
After the NC game on the 10th, there will have been 24 CFP games since it started. Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ohio St and Clemson will have won 23 of them.
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Yes, and this is why calls to expand the FBS playoffs are silly. There are two, maybe three, teams in the country each year that are head and shoulders above the others. Expanding the playoffs likely leads to the same end result we have now and would diminish what is special about FBS football. Our current system allows half of the teams participating in bowls to end their season with a win, allows more even post-season matchups, and doesn't focus all attention on the eventual championship.
 

cjbfbp said:
Yes, and this is why calls to expand the FBS playoffs are silly. There are two, maybe three, teams in the country each year that are head and shoulders above the others. Expanding the playoffs likely leads to the same end result we have now and would diminish what is special about FBS football. Our current system allows half of the teams participating in bowls to end their season with a win, allows more even post-season matchups, and doesn't focus all attention on the eventual championship.
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What you see is true if they expand the playoff to 12 with no automatic bids.

if they expand to 8 or 12 I hope they have objective criteria to make the playoff.

Auto bids for conference champs in an objective formula (created before the season like hockey) top 20 until there aren’t anymore.


In fact, an expanded playoff would enhance the importance of the regular season if done correctly.
Anyone who watched the SEC title game has to realize it was a completely meaningless result. One of the most important games of the season and The game only mattered if Georgia won.
 

cjbfbp said:
Yes, and this is why calls to expand the FBS playoffs are silly. There are two, maybe three, teams in the country each year that are head and shoulders above the others. Expanding the playoffs likely leads to the same end result we have now and would diminish what is special about FBS football. Our current system allows half of the teams participating in bowls to end their season with a win, allows more even post-season matchups, and doesn't focus all attention on the eventual championship.
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Can't it still do that?

Would also have likely given a team like Cincy a chance to win a (first round) game in the playoff. For whatever that's worth?
 

How is it even possible to miss a field goal by that much? He was an entire set of goalposts to the right.
 

So Penn St gets picked ahead of several more deserving teams, then has a bunch of their top players sitting out.
 

That player for Arkansas made a mighty impressive interception there.
 


Gophers_4life said:
Can't it still do that?
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No. In a playoff system only one participating team ends its season with a win. Even if you win a game, you end the season on a down note unless you're the champ.

That last game is the final memory of the season that carries through the next 8 months. That game can set you up for a long period of optimism or pessimism.

The current FBS system is unique in sports and I think it is worth preserving
 

ESPN currently making excuses for SEC bowl performance saying they've had more opt outs than the other conferences. Ironic because they're currently calling a game of an SEC team vs a Big Ten team that not only has several opt outs, but shouldn't be in the bowl to begin with.
 


Word said:
ESPN currently making excuses for SEC bowl performance saying they've had more opt outs than the other conferences. Ironic because they're currently calling a game of an SEC team vs a Big Ten team that not only has several opt outs, but shouldn't be in the bowl to begin with.
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I'm looking forward to Fox openly being in the tank for the Big Ten.

ESPN v Fox Sports is going to be a big time media battle and college football rights to the two biggest conferences will be the center of it all.

In a couple years there will only be Big Ten games on ESPN / ABC when they are playing the SEC out of conference (😂) or in a bowl game. Fox will use their Big Ten exclusivity to ensure FS1, FS2, FS8, and BTN are in every home and a centerpiece of their streaming platform.
 

cjbfbp said:
No. In a playoff system only one participating team ends its season with a win. Even if you win a game, you end the season on a down note unless you're the champ.

That last game is the final memory of the season that carries through the next 8 months. That game can set you up for a long period of optimism or pessimism.

The current FBS system is unique in sports and I think it is worth preserving
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It can still largely be preserved, even with the top 12 teams in a playoff. And I think it will be.

You bring up a fair point, and we can agree to disagree.
 

Word said:
ESPN currently making excuses for SEC bowl performance saying they've had more opt outs than the other conferences. Ironic because they're currently calling a game of an SEC team vs a Big Ten team that not only has several opt outs, but shouldn't be in the bowl to begin with.
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Purdue had more talent sitting out than TN. Florida, Missouri & Auburn all lost to non P5 teams. Keep doing your thing ESPN.
 




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