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Thank you! thanks for reading.

Thanks, Darren. Insightful and humorous as always. Plus, I love it that you and David Marsh do not simply request comments, but that you both stick around to participate in post-article discussions. If the NCAA managed the FBS postseason, we would have a PO with a 16-team or more field. There would be no ranking show teasers. Top teams would play home games up to the semifinals on January 1st. The CBB tournament has a much larger field, and the controversy of not being one of 68 teams in the field was more about ESPN (there they go again), giving Dickie V a platform to rant from. The CBB committee discloses its metrics and the use thereof to the public. As the season progresses, you know the teams that had the top, Quad 1 wins, which are given greater value, and the teams that may look good but have played tripe. One month before the Selection Show, the CBB committee releases its top 16. If the final selections and rankings do not appear to match the early ranking and the committee's metrics, the CBB committee chair explains why, and questions are not dodged. Unlike CBB, CFB teams do not play enough games against the better teams out of conference (OOC), and also in today's mega-conferences, where in-conference schedules vary widely. There is not enough data to subjectively determine who is the 'most deserving,' 'the best, ' or any of the other nonsense fed to us by ESPN. Selectively fed to us peasants, the CFB committee hides the metrics it uses like squirrels hiding their nuts. If the sausage grinder is broken, don't expect good sausage. The PO format is FUBAR! Tony Petitti laid out the formula that reflects the reality of today's game and the quality of the participants, and was booed off the stage by folks who would have made millions more dollars this season if Tony's automatic qualifier had been used to select the teams. This includes the SEC. UVA and BYU would be in a 16-team field. So would Notre Dame, Texas, Vanderbilt, and USC. This would destroy the regular season? Teams with brutal in-conference schedules, say a 3-loss Florida and Wisconsin this season, would have had the opportunity to play their way into the field on the final weekend of the regular season. Teams are mutually canceling P4 OOC matchups. Why not. OOC, the nation's No. 1 team chomped down on three cupcakes without having to leave home. Next season, Notre Dame opens with Wisconsin in Green Bay and then hosts Rice. One 2025 PO team is on the schedule, No. 10 Miami in South Bend. The only other game against a team ranked by the committee is the regular-season finale against No. 16 USC in LA. By comparison, next season, Ohio State plays two PO teams, plus two other top 25-ranked teams in conference, and also plays at Texas. The Irish schedule is serendipitously set up for success. Why is Texas hosting Ohio State? Why is Michigan hosting Oklahoma? CBF is big business; these marquee OOC games make no business sense. The format encourages fan disappointment, not looking forward to excitement. PO expansion talks are ongoing. I'm hopeful that come January 23rd, if not sooner, CFB will have an expanded PO field in 2026-27, with Tony P holding AQ format firm. And with ESPN's teaser rankings limited. Meanwhile - Dunk the Dukes!

Time to breakup traditional conferences and go to an NFL style conf/division format. No rankings, just win your games. Get the human factor out of it. Problem is how do you set it all up. That's probably a topic for another conversation. If it did happen then ND along with TX and BYU would be in. Going to 16 games just pushes the "Why is my team left out?" further down the list. College football at the FBS level has always been behind the times. Time to move forward.

Oregon's Dan Lanning Responds to Viral Insults from Penn State AD Pat KraftWhether he would like to admit it or not, Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning now has some extra fuel for his team the next time they face Penn State after some recent viral comments from Nittany Lions athletic director Pat Kraft. Oregon Ducks On SIOregon's Dan Lanning Responds to Viral Insults from Penn...The Oregon Ducks are gearing up for the first round of the College Football Playoff against the James Madison Dukes at Autzen Stadium on Dec. 20. But in the day

Next episode of Beavisville, “Why Did We Hire THIS Guy?” So far by my estimation, every Shephard public interaction has been cringe worthy and Beavis fans seem to be nervously embracing everything he says…for now. The article/transcript of his intro presser was just awkward. Once they realize he’s not bringing 20 players from Alabama with him, the bloom will fall off quickly imo.

Great read! The only outrage is with ND and their fans, or perhaps NBC…same as every year with the first team out in every college sport. Ole Miss, TAM, OBD…all would have had cause to be outraged in the old 4 team PO. These giant, unbalanced conferences of 2025 would not have worked well at all in the 4 team format.

Darren...you are so right. Oregon would have been hosed in the four-team system, just as ND was this year. Perhaps this will speed us to 16 teams, and no byes to open the Playoffs? No. 1 plays No. 16, and so on as usual seeding takes place. Yes the G6 teams can have a slot or two, but the big babies (SEC and ND) would have had all their wishes granted. And I love your writing style!

Go 0-2 and no playoffs for you.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/nancy-armour/2025/12/09/notre-dame-football-whining-over-cfp-snub/87689944007/ Spot on.

In today's world, it is very rare to fire somebody "With Cause" unless you have ironclad evidence of significant violations. The repercussions for Michigan if they blew this, would be incredible for institution. Therefore, I have to believe that they have him dead to rights.

I was getting ready to draft a post, but basically you took the words right out of my mouth. So, I really have nothing more to say on the subject. You nailed it here.

ND is being ridiculous as they have enjoyed a favored status for decades. Generally I have enjoyed their usual post season beat down as an undeserving team. I particularly enjoyed Oregon State's 41 to 9 Fiesta Bowl win in 2001.

In October he boasted his new coach would have the top salary in the Pac-12. It came true when WSU lost their coach. But was he talking about the new Pac-12? Scott Barnes said Oregon State football coach’s pay would be ‘top of the Pac-12.’ It’s not even close - oregonlive.com Turns out No. 1 is now the new No. 6 out of 7.

Notre Dame is one of the best 12 teams, but so is Vanderbilt. Actually Vanderbilt is more worthy. But the difference is, Vanderbilt took it in stride. They had even attempted to schedule a thirteenth game to bolster their resume. Their coach said he was disappointed, but they were going to show out in their bowl. Notre Dame is like the spoiled kid that gets whatever they want, and think it's outrageous that things would ever not. I respect what they can do on the field, I'd rather see them playing Oregon, and Vanderbilt playing Ole Miss. But everybody signed off on this format. Notre Dame chooses to not be in a conference, they knew they had a three game schedule. They lost to a team that had a similar season. Now they are acting like spoiled brats. They had the right to complain about being left, but they've taken it too far. They attacked a conference that gave them full voting rights, a share of the ACC network revenue, and a lifeline in 2020 that got them into the playoff. They won't dare go after the SEC, they know that's a fight even they won't win. Alabama is the team that they should be railing against, but they dare not anger them. They might just find the SEC, and B1G questioning why Notre Dame has a seat at the table, and why they could take away revenue by making a playoff. Revenue they don't share with anybody. Keep pushing Notre Dame, keep trying your luck. You might come to find that even the luck of the Irish runs out eventually.

No team that loses 2 or more games “deserves” anything. At that point, your fate is determined by the committee. Oregon would have been in the exact same position had we lost to USC or Washington. If you want a guarantee, win your games. Furthermore, Notre Dame and the conferences designed and agreed upon this playoff format. Next year, Notre Dame is evidently guaranteed a playoff spot, if they finish in the top 12. What about Oregon or any other team from the major conferences?! Why should Notre Dame get preferential treatment? Of course you can make the case that Notre Dame is more “worthy” than some of the teams selected (e.g., Alabama) but I wouldn’t have put them in over a team with an identical record who beat them on the field…

My heart goes out to the wife and kids. I hope that Sherrone Moore can get the help that he needs.

Faulkner is going to be a head coach very soon, but if we could keep him for a couple years, that would be great. The problem that Napier had , was that he didn't want anybody to challenge him. It's why he brought most of his Louisiana Tech coaches with him to Florida. I'm no fan of Stricklin, but Scott gave Billy the resources to hire who he wanted. Contrary to popular belief, Stricklin doesn't meddle either. Napier was allowed to hire whomever he wanted. Sumrall has already hired two proven P4 assistants. I personally wanted Jedd Fisch, but I like the fire of this dude we got. My only question is how well he's going to recruit, and use the portal. I hope the boosters who were willing to give Lane Kiffin the added NIL money, will give it to Sumrall. Plus, with Sumrall, you can see he has integrity. He didn't poach one Tulane player. He even finished his job there on signing day. He had a funny post on X. " Two jobs, two phones , two recruiting classes, and zero sleep". Fingers crossed, but the more I hear from Jon, the more I like. I'm excited to see if he closed the gap on Ole Miss, since Tulane last played in Oxford back in September. If he could keep it close, I think that would be a great sign to any guys thinking of entering the portal. But ultimately, I think Ole Miss is too much. Which means Ole Miss will have back to back rematches in the playoffs. First Tulane, and then you guys.

2025 Freshmen class loaded with Ducks who are making a difference. Oregon Ducks On SIThe Three Ducks Freshmen Poised to Become Oregon’s Next S...Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks recently secured another great recruiting class in 2026, ranking No. 2 in the nation. An underrated factor in recruits flocking

Money makes the world go round. New year new payouts for playoffs. Oregon Ducks On SIThe Massive Playoff Incentives Oregon and Dan Lanning Can...It’s no surprise to college football fans that the sport is one of the most heavily funded in the country. Some of the biggest payouts come with a College Footb

A&M would've dropped to 4th in the old format after they lost to Texas.

Darren, I always enjoy your articles that you write for Our Beloved Duck Forum. Now that is a NO-Brainer! "In fact, things are totally in your control: Win more games!" Well said, Darren. Thanks for today's article!

Lots of rumors swirling.

…in the name of keeping my B1G/Oregon Ducks homer mentality in check, if the Ducks were in the same position as the Irish, I would say the same thing. The Art of Becoming a “No-Brainer” Regarding the NCAA basketball tournament, I laugh out loud (which means “LOL”) when teams on the bubble claim to be getting screwed over by the ... It's A No-Brainer: Notre Dame Deserved It, And...

Oh I’m afraid that Sumrall is going to be exactly what you guys need. Also, Buster Faulkner is going to pay huge dividends for you guys as OC! I really wanted Buster for us, but I guess I can’t complain as Bobo has certainly exceeded my expectations. I do honestly think that Buster is one of the best OC’s in the business though, and if I’m being honest, that has me very worried! I too would love to see us play Ohio State again, but I’m certainly concerned about it. We had a great comeback in that last game with them, but I’ll admit we were also very fortunate (lucky).

Charles has created a place where we can be friendly rivals. I can't say I want Georgia to win another championship, but I gotta say you guys looked really impressive on Saturday. If Kirby figures out his Alabama issue long term, it's going to be trouble for everyone else. Hopefully Sumrall can make the Florida vs Georgia game mean something again. You guys might face him if Tulane can pull off the shocker against Ole Miss. I would say your Bulldogs are the second scariest team in the field, heck the last part of the year, you looked as good as you have all year. You locked Simpson down. I'd love to see a Georgia vs Ohio State game, especially if it's anything like that 2022 classic.