into the playoffs simply because playing in 4-5 fewer games (~50%)means less wear and tear, less of a potential for injury, less a potential for an upset (see Florida yesterday), and fresher legs. It puts the ACC and SEC teams at a competitive disadvantage. I’ve seen a few coaches and journalists talk about that fact but not nearly enough. It’s pretty much the equivalent of the NFL allowing a team that played somewhere between 8-12 games into the playoffs to play against teams that played 16. Your body takes such a beating over the course of a season. I get that this year is unique but the fact remains that three conferences decided to play close to a normal number of games.
It also sets up a little controversy if both USC and OSU win their championships. How do we know OSU is better than USC? Because they started higher in the preseason rankings? The PAC has been mediocre year after year but the B1G looks like garbage this year. Maybe I’m just partial because USC is our rival and I do respect them (and it’s more fun when we’re both good) but at least their league didn’t change rules to get them into the conference championship.
Exactly why if the CFP committee is going to let OSU in (they’re going to beat Northwestern) then the ACC and SEC should just cancel their championship games.