These are the numbers that will mark the school football playoffs: 11, 10, nine and seven.
Eleven matches for ACC teams. Ten for Big 12 and SEC Nine for Big Ten, seven for pac-12, only if things happen as planned.
In any year, the ultimate challenge for the playoff variety committee is to gather a few dozen points of knowledge, pass them through protocols, make applicable individual comparisons, and establish the four most sensible. But it’s not a year, it’s the strangest normal season in the history of school football.
As a result, this year’s playoff debate promises to be the ultimate in the history of the playoff format. The central fear focuses on the key comparisons that committee members will make among candidates: what will the panel that is worthy of achieving national standing be like?semi-finals when the merits of groups and conferences may not be constantly weighed?
“The task of the committee is for the 4 most sensible groups based on the schedules established at each conference. That’s why we have this committee of thirteen experts,” Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock told USA TODAY Sports.
“Needless to say, there will be demanding situations this year. We will see what those demanding situations are and triumph over them. But the committee’s basic project has not changed. Regardless of the season, the committee will be the most sensible 4 groups founded on the protocol. “
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The procedure has already been strained due to the widespread elimination of games outside the conference, which according to the first hierarchical order of the Power Five leagues. The few left-left intersectional games didn’t come with two Power Five conferences.
More importantly, the abandonment of the game outside the conference eliminated two key protocols from the variety committee: face-to-face effects and opposite effects to regular opponents. relative strength from one league over another. Research can be replaced by guesswork.
“Committee members have been watching the games since the start of the season,” Hancock said, “they’ll be ready. “
But there is no greater challenge facing the committee than the variable number and type of matches played in the Power Five league.
These 10 games for The Big 12 organizations come with an intersectional setting opposite to an opponent of the five organization or the football championship subdivision. (Not that the less difficult schedules helped the 12 Big, who lost three games to the Sun Belt. ) The same number in the SEC applies to convention sets.
The SEC and ACC groups will play the same number of war games in the league, but the ACC will have a non-conference game. As with the big 12, CCA groups will face intersceding matches from the Group of Five or the FCS.
Starting this month, Big Ten will play nine convention games. The Pac-12 will play a seven-game schedule starting in early November.
In total, there will be no uniform schedule on Power Five: leagues are scheduled to play the same number of games in general or the same number of league games, but no two meetings play the same number of games and convention games. In the normal gaming season, ACC and SEC play the same number of championship games, eight, while Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 play nine.
Again, this is only if the groups are going to complete a full schedule. As early as September, several ACC and Big 12 groups had one or more games postponed or canceled due to COVID-19 issues.
However, these leagues were built in additional weeks to allow rescheduling of the games. Big Ten and Pac-12 will have the same luxury: Big Ten groups will have weeks off between October 24 and December 19, when the league will host their championship weekend, while Pac-12 will take place with no opening dates from November 6.
“If you have two undefeated groups and one of them has played eight games and one of them has played five games, then I think you want to pay more attention to the team that played the most games,” said former Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer. . Member of the parent of the 2017-20 committee.
Even the most productive case, where the team plays its total number of games, even if the total varies on the FBS, complicates the general variety procedure. The worst case, where groups play even fewer games than expected, can simply turn the variety procedure into a guessing game in which committee members extrapolate the effects of shortened seasons.
Since there are as many matches outside the conference as usual, some of the teams used through the committee, such as face-to-face effects and opposite effects to regular opponents, will have limitations this year. the calendar will also be different, Hancock said.
“As for the difference in the number of matches played between the teams, well, the committee has effectively controlled almost every single season. They were differences of one or two parties; this year may be more. We’ll have to see about that, however, the committee will be ready. “
The difference in matches played can simply stir the waters enough to create a street to the semi-finals for a Group of Five team, even if the deck is well stacked enough as opposed to outdoor systems at primary conferences. So far, if the Florida medium remains undefeated on a 10-game calendar, the Knights would claim to have achieved more than one Power Five champion on a six- or seven-game calendar.
The diversity of this year’s playoff race has already driven calls to increase the diversity of playoffs to six or eight teams (the 12-year playoff contract makes the 2025-2026 season bigger). expanding this year’s championship at an assembly Wednesday with the playoff control committee, but his proposal was not approved, Hancock said.
The argument for rapid timely expansion for the upcoming playoffs is that launching a wider network is the only way for groups not to be penalized or promoted for betting less or more games as a result of COVID-19.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense now because we have groups that have a schedule of 12 games, so they can play 10 games,” said Stanford coach David Shaw. “Some have a calendar of eight games, they can play six. we have some at our convention that have a six-game calendar or a seven-game calendar, technically, and can play five or four. “
“The playoff committee is going to have a difficult task to do. I don’t envy them. I know you’re conscientious human beings, and I know you’ll do your best. But ultimately, we’re going to have to grow up because that’s the only thing that makes sense.
It would not be the playoffs without debate, but it is imaginable to go through the week-to-week debate about ratings without finishing the questionable procedure: there has been little or no controversy about the 4 most sensitive in each of the beyond two. In the 2020 playoff race, the controversy will be almost unimaginable to avoid.
“I think there will be a difference of opinion anyway, ” said Beamer. “I don’t think everyone in the country can say, “These are the 4 smart groups that are there. These are the best 4”. I think that’s going to happen. “
Follow Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY colleges journalist, on Twitter @PaulMyerberg