re: Saban: CFB Playoff is why players are skipping bowl games

quote:

---

He's not wrong about the impact of the CFP on the bowl. Expansion would further impact them.

---

What I like about Saban is that he's always thinking 3 steps ahead. He could be saying that "if" we are going to have a playoff, we should expand it to more teams so that more games are relevant. If/when we go to 8 teams, that increases the chances that his team will be included even during an off year when Bama may have 2 losses. He could also be saying...frick the playoff format, let's go back to the "eyeball test" method of picking the final 2 teams. I don't know about expansion having a greater impact because 8 teams would be relevant instead of 4. Ask yourself this question...Would Vegas have moire $$ in play, right now, with 8 teams on the board? Washington is at ~15:1 so the #8 would still be a good team and getting heavier odds. I'd take Michigan if I was getting 20:1 but you wouldn't get those odds on Michigan. I'm thinking Michigan would probably be closer to 6:1 or somewhere between OSU & Clemson.

One thing is certain...if there is a way for the NCAA to make more money, we will eventually get there. I can guarantee that this bowl skipping trend has the NCAA very concerned. Bowl sponsors won't put up $$ if the star players don't play. Fans won't attend the bowls if the star players don't play. Saban sees the longer term impact and players skipping bowls will only get worse, Next year it will be players skipping games after November. Remember when everyone was debating whether, or not LF7, should even play this season? I read lots of opinions from other SEC fans/media saying that he shouldn't play. I'm sure that some of those same people are now publicly criticizing him for not playing.

quote:

---

he's the best overall coach in the nation
he's the best recruiter in the nation
he has the best roster in the nation
his team is more consistent than any other in the nation
he's the best program 'CEO' in the nation

the more games played, the more likely it is that a true competitor to saban will lose to an inferior team, making the next matchup with bama even more favorable to bama; whereas such upsets are far less likely for bama.

the more layers you add to the playoff system, the more advantageous it is for saban.

john wooden won 10 titles in 12 years at ucla. geno auriemma is the only other coach to match the number of titles won by wooden. women's sports suffer from a lack of parity and the field is much, much easier in women's sports once a program has become dominant. john wooden was twice the coach auriemma is. saban is better than both. turn the playoff into a 16 team format and saban would likely break wooden's record of 10 in 12 years.

he is so far inside everyone's head, even when he gives an honest opinion, people think he's scheming them. saban is correct here.

JMO but the 4 team playoff is a good idea but the semifinals need to have been played this past Saturday, roughly two weeks after the CCGs at the home site of #1 and #2. That way the losers can enter the conventional bowl matchups and the winners wait for the title game in early January - which would be a 'bowl game' the same as it was in the BCS era. It also puts a premium on making it to #1 or #2, making the regular season more important. This would restore some more importance to the bowls, and would guarantee each playoff team two more games as well as keeping the regular season records extremely important and mitigate situations where the committee drops a conference champ and rewards a team that doesn't win its division like this year with PennSt and OSU, who would now have to travel to Clemson.

---

I love this post.


Having the early, experimental years of the playoffs with the same teams, may turn out best in the long run. With Bama, Clemson, and Ohio State all returning so soon, the fans are less likely to travel to semi games. The ticket prices are below face value on the aftermarket. There's also too many competing entertainment options during New year's to attract a large semifinal traveling crowd. They're waiting for the finals.

Bring it back to the home stadiums of the top 2 teams, a couple weeks after the conference championships, and rotate the NCG between the ny6 bowls.

If they refuse to change it, but do go to 8 teams, they'll probably do that at home stadiums.

Can someone tell me how skipping a bowl game suddenly became worse than skipping an entire senior season?

tia

quote:

---

I think the man is never satisfied

---

That's true for most highly successful people. I admire Saban for that but I suspect that his family probably doesn't. I liked Miles in his early years because I thought that he could achieve the same success without being like Saban. After 2011, I realized that Miles couldn't hang with Saban and it was only a matter of time before we would be looking for a new coach. Urban may be the only guy that can hang with Saban but he already quit once.

quote:

---

2010 Bama and Michigan State say you're a moron. That was a helluva significant game for both programs

---

No, it wasn't.

quote:

---

Can someone tell me how skipping a bowl game suddenly became worse than skipping an entire senior season?

---

Seriously?

For starters, when you skip your senior year, you no longer occupy a scholarship slot on the roster. Stanford will recruit to fill McCaffrey's spot and will have 8 months to game plan for the next game without him. Now they go into a game they probably would really like to win, minus a critical player they have depended on all year, now with less depth.

quote:

---

For starters, when you skip your senior year, you no longer occupy a scholarship slot on the roster...Now they go into a game they probably would really like to win, minus a critical player

---

So they won't have a major player for their meaningless bowl game. They get to replace a senior with a true freshman? Awesome.

I actually remember when leaving after your junior was frowned upon when it was first allowed. Now we just accept it, and even justify it with BS. I predict that in the near future we will look at juniors who are leaving early sitting out bowl games, and we won't even bat an eye.

he's right

And hurry up offenses cause injuries, doncha know?

Saban is just subtly trolling certain players that made ill-advised choices out of high school.

Young athletes should never kowtow to the wishes of an angry in-state fanbase. Those choices are likely to be rued later.