What do the early preseason college football polls tell us about college football (CFB) and the CFB Playoff in 2026-27? Are we CFB fans going to see more nonsense after all the changes that have occurred in our favorite sport? Our own Mr. FishDuck had to take a pause from his gaming fun at Pinco to share his apprehension about ...

Unbelievable...Same SEC Stuff, Different Day

Thanks Jon, the jury is in, the verdict: Pollsters are prejudiced by favoring the SEC. Another win for the prosecutor Mr. Joseph!

Thank you, Mr. Smith. And another tip of the hat to my much-needed and much-appreciated editor, Mr. Fischer.

Preseason rankings are profitable. They are superfluous, but they make money. Thus, in today's world of college football ...

Greg Sankey pulled the automatic qualifier 16-team playoff format out from under B1G commish Tony Petitti.

However, Greg and the SEC went to nine conference games, certain that the B1G would support a 16-team field with five automatic and eleven at-large bids, the format favored by the SEC, ACC, B12, G6, the Domers, and every journalist without a lick of business sense (100 per-cent.)

Tony - 👍👌😁😍 Greg - 🤬🤬🤬🤬

SEC trying desperately to maintain the illusion that, on an even playing field, they actually were that much more dominate than any other conference.

When in reality they have ran a successful "ad campaign" (anchored by Paul Fawnbaum) in addition with "creative" (cheating) roster building; and the actuality of competing on an even playing field is shattering that illusion of dominance top to bottom.

May not be "noble", but I am so here for it all?

GO DUCKS! & The B1G!

Great article Jon, and more proof that regardless of performance on the field...that the National Champion is from the Big-10 for the third year in a row, and B1G teams beat SEC teams, and showed our new depth-- yet none of it matters when the polls come out.

This round is another victory for the B1G imo.

The SEC (and ACC) just injected a whole bunch of losses into the mix by going to 9 game conference schedules in 2026 without an ironclad SOS formula being part of the mix. Everything else is pretty much status quo.

To date, I see little evidence that SOS is directly impactful in an objective way. It seems like the SOS logic remains the same…SEC teams will be on the bubble at 9 wins, all others at 10 wins. Number of losses will directly impact the weekly polls, which in turn seems to ultimately influence the playoff committee imo.

Number of wins is still king.

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by JabbaNoBargain

"Mr. Fischer"? I see what you did there.

53 minutes ago, jrw said:

"Mr. Fischer"? I see what you did there.

"Heavy on the Mister."

Yes, Jon and other guest writers submit the articles in an email, and then I take it from there. I load it into WordPress, add the formatting, and sometimes tweak a few sentences for clarity and then go search for pictures. So yeah...I serve as a copy editor-light.

As I recall...you are a writer/editor, and anytime you or ANYONE has something to say...write it up and email it to me. I'll publish it!

SEC is 2-7 in the playoffs the last three years against other P4 opponents. Both wins from Texas in the '24-'25 playoff against Clemson and ASU.

The SEC hasn't beaten a BIG opponent in that stretch.

1 hour ago, mikethehiker said:

SEC is 2-7 in the playoffs the last three years against other P4 opponents. Both wins from Texas in the '24-'25 playoff against Clemson and ASU.

The SEC hasn't beaten a BIG opponent in that stretch.

Yep, since they can't cheat anymore, the B1G is objectively and subjectively the best conference.

Thanks Jon. Of course, you are "preaching to the choir". This article would never fly south of the Mason-Dixon.

The only thing I don't like about "Plan" is all of the automatic qualifiers. It feels no different than saying the SEC is the best, therefore they should have had all the teams they were trying to argue and whine into the field this last playoff.

The Plan calls for two automatic qualifiers for the ACC. They barely got one in this last year, and that only because the the committee reversed their half season long putting ND in front of Miami. If it was up to ND, the ACC would not have had any qualifiers...

And I am FINE with that... if they don't deserve it. I do think that Miami deserved it, but did a SECOND team?

If we were in the Plan, the ACC would have their two highest ranked teams when other teams could have deserved it more.

I don't think the SEC or the B1G deserve 4 automatic qualifiers if the top 4 teams in the Big 12 are ranked higher. Yeah, Yeah... but anything can happen. Two G6 teams were qualifiers this year because both were ranked higher than the ACC Champion. Anything can happen.

6 minutes ago, Jon Sousa said:

Thanks Jon. Of course, you are "preaching to the choir". This article would never fly south of the Mason-Dixon.

The only thing I don't like about "Plan" is all of the automatic qualifiers. It feels no different than saying the SEC is the best, therefore they should have had all the teams they were trying to argue and whine into the field this last playoff.

The Plan calls for two automatic qualifiers for the ACC. They barely got one in this last year, and that only because the the committee reversed their half season long putting ND in front of Miami. If it was up to ND, the ACC would not have had any qualifiers...

And I am FINE with that... if they don't deserve it. I do think that Miami deserved it, but did a SECOND team?

If we were in the Plan, the ACC would have their two highest ranked teams when other teams could have deserved it more.

I don't think the SEC or the B1G deserve 4 automatic qualifiers if the top 4 teams in the Big 12 are ranked higher. Yeah, Yeah... but anything can happen. Two G6 teams were qualifiers this year because both were ranked higher than the ACC Champion. Anything can happen.

Understood, friend John Sousa. Here's my pitch for a 4-4-2-2-1-3 format. Perhaps 4 if the G6 held a playoff where the top teams would have a chance to win a title.

I do not want to see millions of ACC and B12 fans 'disenfranchised.' I do not want to see the bottom half of the Power 4 go away. The Automatic Qualifier PO format assures at least two teams in the field payday for the ACC and the B12.

After the ACC settlement with Clemson and FSU, Miami keeps all of the 2025-26 PO money. $20 million plus travel expenses. Why not buy a QB?

More money would have flowed to the B12, and the ACC would have benefited from eyes on the prize with Miami and UVA in the field.

IMO, there are not enough CFB games against top drawer teams to sort the wheat from the chaff, simply on wins and losses. However, IMO, Notre Dame or BYU should have been in the PO instead of 3-loss Bama. Indiana would have faced a much tougher Rose Bowl opponent in Notre Dame.

Even in the NFL, there is no perfect PO format. Division champs with a losing record can knock out teams with better records. But with this exception, teams that win games make the PO field. But, no NFL team plays an FCS opponent.

The other reason I favor the AQ format is that there is no reason not to schedule better OOC games.

Thanks for the comment.