Much has been said about Kirby’s record against his mentor at Alabama, as well as many from the Saban coaching tree who have gone up against their former head coach (my understanding is only Smart, Sark, and Fisher etched a win against Saban).
Quietly or not so quietly, the Smart coaching tree is starting to bloom, specifically out in Eugene:
If you’re wondering why Lanning is puffing on a cigar, it’s largely because of this:
It can be argued that the SEC just got tougher with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma, but I personally think Oregon’s path to the CFP got easier by jumping to the Big 10. Washington will likely backslide with DeBoer’s departure, ditto Michigan, so the only real team that could put up a fight against the Ducks would be Ohio State, who they face at home this season mid year. They travel to Michigan a few weeks after, so if they steal a win from the Buckeyes, I feel they coast through Michigan and get Washington at home to cap the season. Additionally, Lanning won’t have to fight a PAC-10 bias if he has a loss, so they should be in a great spot to make the field if not a top four seed with a bye.
Add to this that there’s this wrinkle on our side of the football field:
Three games against the same top tier teams? How beat up will we be heading in to the CFP, presuming we make it? I’d hate to have to play either as a four seed against an inspired Oregon team, or especially against an Oregon team if I had to play as a 5-12 team and had limited time to prep and play right after the first game.
Either way, what’s the likelihood Smart meets Lanning in this year’s CFP…and will it turn out like their first meeting again?
Oregon and Texas could each have a loss, lose their League Championship game yet be the final two standing in the playoffs…#5 v #6 in the scenario above. Yippee.
The value of the bye is overrated. The only benefit is one fewer opportunity to get players hurt and a couple of weeks to get a player healthy. All of the play-in game winners get about 10 days off before the quarterfinal games, and with no 20-hour rule, they will be able to prepare. What does suck for almost all of them is that there will be limited opportunities to get home for Christmas.
“The only benefit is one fewer opportunity to get players hurt and a couple of weeks to get a player healthy.”
Yeah, that’s nothing. 🙄
I didn’t say it was nothing. This is very different than the bye in the NFL playoffs where a team has to turn around 7 days later and play again.
Every playoff team gets a week off (and many will get 2 weeks off – those that don’t play for conference championships). Even the teams that win their first game get 10 days to prepare, so it’s almost like another bye week.
My point is that the value of the bye is overrated. My opinion may change after a few years of this, but I would still take a #5 Georgia to win a national title over a #4 Big 12 champion.
Chance of playing a team three times in one season. Hooray! They’ll tell you it’s a feature, not a bug.
Couldn’t be content with the regular season, conference championship games be damned, our newest cfp scam is running wild with charts, speculation and clickbait B.S. propping up Mickey and the thir$t for that advertising $$$$$ (and any other self-promotion) that it’s cfp committee knows whut’s best when it comes to fucking up shit….feels like I woulda’ been better off on the S.S. Minnow!
this is what they wanted and it’s horrible.
Some team is going to catch Atlanta Braves Syndrome. Bulldoze everyone in the regular season and then lose to an Ole Miss or Missouri team in the 1st playoff game.
And some team will have wild card syndrome, winning the tournament after 3-4 losses. Yippee!
This feels so much like NFL Lite that it’s disgusting. The scheduler’s paradigm should be to avoid re-matches except for the championship game and prohibit facing a team 3 times in a season. I hope all of the players are getting healthy insurance policies to off set the increased injury risk.
What this really comes down to is that any team that doesn’t win the championship game has many built in excuses:
Don’t forget Metchie and Williams.