Penn State is a good team. They've really played well lately. They are Conference Champions, and have beaten the Buckeyes.


They have a legit claim.


However, even though this Conference Champion has a legit claim, giving teams a playoff birth BECAUSE they are a conference champion is problematic.


Seriously, what if Florida somehow beat Bama yesterday in their championship game?

Bama would not have won their conference, and a 3-loss Florida would now get in the playoffs?

Uh,, no way.


On the flip side:

Going strictly by overall record is problematic too. Washington's out of conference schedule was absolutely ridiculous. If the committee puts a lot of stock in overall records, then schools are going to start going back to scheduling a bunch of SCRUB schools to play instead of big time matchups.


Why would teams like Ohio State and Oklahoma want to schedule each other with a strong potential for a loss,, when teams like Washington and Florida can schedule a bunch of scrubs and finish with a terrific overall record.


They really need to go to an 8 team format. That is enough to get legit Conference champions in the playoffs, and 2 or 3 of the other top teams at-large.


No more than 8 though, IMO. At 8 teams, records will be held down to about 2 losses at most. Once you get past 8, there are 3-loss teams littered throughout the bottom half of the top 20. 3-loss teams are too much,, and should not be in Championship playoff formats.

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