Jon Joseph No. 1 Share Posted March 3 Dennis Dodd has revised his 2024 Top 25 in light of Nick Saban, hanging it up, Jim Harbaugh returning to the NFL, Kalen DeBoer taking Saban's place at Alabama, Jedd Fisch moving to UW, with Brent Brennan the new HC at AZ, Cam Ward committing to Miami, and other "minor" differences in CFB since Michigan took down UW for the 2023/24 title. College football rankings: Georgia, Ohio State, Texas lead top 25 entering spring practices for 2024 season - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM The Bulldogs remain in the top spot, but the Buckeyes are lurking after making a splash this offseason A few thoughts on Dodd's recent Top 25. Is Dodd unaware that CBS is no longer the SEC's broadcast partner? Dodd has eight SEC teams in his Top 25, six B12 teams, five B1G and ACC teams, and one Independent, Notre Dame. Georgia is ranked No. 1, no surprise, with Tennessee being the lowest ranked of the eight SEC teams at No. 15. The SEC only plays eight conference games, However, No. 5 Alabama plays No. 1 Georgia, No. 8 Missouri, No. 10. LSU, No. 13. Oklahoma, and No. 15. Tennessee. Will Alabama and its 2024 SEC opponents all finish with fewer than two losses? In 2023 Oklahoma with two defeats was the playoff committee's No. 12 ranked team and would have missed a 12-team playoff field in favor of No. 23 Liberty. The eight-ranked SEC teams will be competitive but they will defeat one another. The SEC could have eight teams ranked in the AP Poll preseason 2024 Top 25, but in the committee's final poll, I do not see six SEC teams being ranked in the Top 10. Dodd has No. 16 Clemson as his highest-ranked ACC team and, Utah at No. 12 as his highest-ranked B12 team. Clemson would be seeded No. 3 in the 2023/25 12-team playoff format with Utah seeded No. 4, but no other ACC and B12 teams would be in the 12-team field. The ACC and the B12 both would be better off with 2 guaranteed spots in the proposed 14-team playoff. the possible format come 2026. TCU coach Sonny Dykes calls the B1G and SEC 3-3-2-2-1 and three at-large teams proposal with the B1G and SEC champs receiving the top 2 seeds and 1st round byes, "Preposterous." I'm not certain that B12 Commissioner Brent Yormack will agree with Sonny. Two birds in the hand ... Dood's biggest movers: No. 9. Penn State is up seven spots; No. 11. Michigan is down eight spots; and No. 22. Miami and No. 25 Virginia Tech were not ranked in Dodd's first release. OBD remains at No. 4. Extrapolating from this ranking, Dodd's 12-team playoff would have one G5, ACC, B12, and Independent in the field. Two B1G teams and six SEC teams with three SEC teams hosting three of the four 1st-round playoff games. Oregon hosting Missouri would be the only B1G team hosting a 1st-round game. If this were to happen, you can bet that B1G Commissioner Tony Petitti would be 'encouraging' the SEC to play nine conference games. However, it won't happen. The B1G and SEC will both have at least three teams in the playoff field in 2024, lending weight to the proposed 3-3-2-2-1 and three-at-large teams model. Query. Is the B1G/SEC 14-team playoff proposal designed to produce Sonny Dykes-like responses, dissenting votes from the ACC, B12, and perhaps a number of the G5 conferences, and give the Power 2 a reason to hold a Power 2 post-season tournament? This would force Notre Dame to join the B1G or less likely, the SEC and accelerate the breakup of the ACC. ESPN has offered $1.3B for exclusive playoff broadcast rights through the 2031 season. Less than what was expected. How much less postseason revenue would the B1G and the SEC receive if the Power 2 held its own 'playoff?' 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 2 Share Posted March 3 I agree Jon, in that the SEC teams will beat each other up, and the final top 10 will be quite different from what he is projecting Pre-season. Second...a No. 4 in the nation projection for Our Beloved Ducks? Another top-five prediction, and not something we have seen in a long time--if ever. 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicroBurst61 No. 3 Share Posted March 4 Unbalanced, in-conference scheduling affecting perceived strength of conference has been a point of frustration for me since the advent of the BCS era. They need to STOP IT now, regarding the unbalanced scheduling of conference games. Maybe, in the past, when comparing the ACC, BIG12, or the now defunct PAC to the other in-conference SOS, there was a noticable difference in level of competition top to bottom. However, with the conferences realigned and continuing to realign, the in-conference schedules for ALL teams in the B1G and SEC are now going to be weighted to where the eventual champions will have played 4-5 ranked teams EACH SEASON, if not more. (Exactly what the TV execs wanted from the changes in college football!) To have the advantage of most all teams in your conference having one less loss simply because you feel "entitled" to that extra, patsy non-conference game, Has and Will severely skew that perceived perception. Don't believe me? Just look how the SEC gets pimped out each year going into the last week or two of the season (more so than the regular ESPN pimpin', as they cover their "investment"). All the talk shifts on how they "finish strong" each year and SEC teams should be given preference, when playoff selection time comes, to other conferences teams that pickup a first or second loss that last two weeks. Would they be so cocky if HALF of their conference all had another loss in the win/loss column? If our (old) conference taught us anything is that any other conference member can rise up and "bitecha inda azz", usually when you least expect it. Conference familiarity, rivalries, and simple timing of when a conference match is played all factor into wins or losses as much as onfield personnel do. Why should one conference get to skew their perceived strength by NOT playing on an even playing field with that extra conference game? Because...of that, precisely..."perceived" strength. It has worked for them for most of this century so probably will have to be dragged, kicking, screaming, and protesting how "unfair" this "parity" thing has become! At least we can be Proud that OBD Earn their accomplishments(along with a few heartbreaks) through a gauntlet of a nine game conference schedule, bloody noses and all! GO DUCKS! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author No. 4 Share Posted March 4 More Dennis Dodd. 24 Things for Spring: College football teams, names, storylines you need to know entering the 2024 season - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM From expanded conferences to Ohio State going all in, there's plenty to watch and follow this spring Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Sousa No. 5 Share Posted March 5 I think that at the end of this next season, I would prefer to come in at #5. That way, we get to host at AUTZEN against a beatable 1st round opponent. Winning that, in the wings will be the 4 rated team, instead of a 1-3. The only downside is having to play 3 games to win the championship. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author No. 6 Share Posted March 5 On 3/5/2024 at 1:46 PM, Jon Sousa said: I think that at the end of this next season, I would prefer to come in at #5. That way, we get to host at AUTZEN against a beatable 1st round opponent. Winning that, in the wings will be the 4 rated team, instead of a 1-3. The only downside is having to play 3 games to win the championship. John, great thought. I know it's (ridiculously) complicated but finishing ranked fifth in the committee's final ranking will most likely bring with it a 7 or lower playoff seed. In 2024 and 2025, the 8 seed is the cutoff to host a 1st round game. The top 4 seeds will in all likelihood be the champions of the B1G, SEC, ACC, and B12. This at best would push the No. 5 ranked team to the 7th seed; lower if the B1G/SEC champ and another B1G/SEC team were ranked in the top 4. For example, taking the 2023 final ranking, both Bama and Texas would have been ranked in the top 4, with one of the 2 being seeded 5th. On two occasions, in the 4-team playoff, both Michigan and Ohio State were ranked in the top 4. THIS is one of the key reasons why the format in 2026 will be changed from 2024/25. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Ducky No. 7 Share Posted March 5 Funny. I didn’t see os or wsu on the list. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
