Random Thoughts: CFB playoff madness

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

While it’s basketball season, football keeps making headlines, especially at the college level, so this week’s edition of Random Thoughts centers around the college game, plus a bit of high school, the NFL and a non-football note.

Notre Dame/CFP rankings

So after getting snubbed by the College Football Playoff selection committee, Notre Dame said thanks but no thanks to any bowl invitation.

Right now, I’m kind of stuck between “good for them” and “it’s not a great look for them” and I think both are correct to some degree. It makes sense why the school is upset – they were seemingly on a path to a playoff spot and had the rug yanked out at the last second. Notre Dame is a big television draw and no doubt, ESPN was counting on that viewership for a non-playoff game, which apparently was going to be the Pop Tarts Bowl vs. BYU. On the other hand, it projects a “taking my ball and leaving” vibe and it cheats any players that had one game remaining of the final game experience. There’s also the missed extra practices, but that probably isn’t a huge deal in this situation.

I do agree with Notre Dame on this point – what is the point of the weekly rankings show? Obviously, it’s all television drama and money, but they have a point.

Too many teams

Having said all of that, who else isn’t a fan of the 12 team field? Who else think 12 teams is too many and is clunky?

With all due respect to these schools and what they did to get to this point, does anyone think James Madison or Tulane will actually win a playoff game, much less compete for a national championship? I don’t say that to belittle these schools, but it’s a valid question. There have been years when even four teams seemed like too many. Now it’s 12?

The 12 team format is indeed clunky, although I will admit I like first round games being played on a campus. Otherwise, it feels weird. Some teams wait about two weeks to play their first playoff game while others wait nearly a month. A national championship game six weeks away? Clunky.

Flag planting

Can we stop with the flag planting please? Apparently, there was a scuffle or near scuffle after Friday’s Conference USA Championship Game over – you guessed it – flag planting, or attempted flag planting. Please stop with this practice. It serves zero purpose other than to start a fight.

Recruiting rankings

I feel like I’m on a roll today. I have to chuckle each year when I see or hear the term “recruiting rankings.” I’m talking about college football of course. Here’s the thing – those rankings were basically meaningless before the transfer portal became a thing and they’re completely meaningless now. Do some people not realize this?

Domination

While watching the St. Henry/Hillsdale state championship football game, I heard the announcers point out that nine of 10 football-playing MAC schools have won a football state championship at one point or another. Name one other conference that can boast that claim. I’ll wait.

Domination II

None of the seven state championship games were that close. The closest one was in Division I, 28-14. Some people thought Glenville-Shelby would be close and some even thought Shelby would win. It turns out the Whippets never had a chance, losing 45-7. Regardless, I’m surprised we didn’t see more competitive games.

Domed championships?

As has been the case now for more than several years, I heard and saw complaints about the OHSAA state championship games being played in Canton/northeast Ohio. The most common theme was “play them at Ohio Stadium.” There’s just one problem – Ohio State has no interest in hosting the championship games. Yes, they did it before, as recently as 2015. They most likely won’t be doing it again. Can’t make them do it.

Here’s a suggestion and I’m sure I’m not the first to bring it up – if the championship games are going to be played in northeast Ohio, why not play them at the Cleveland Browns new domed stadium, once it’s built and if they’re willing? I get it – football is an outdoor sport, but after seeing fans freeze in frigid conditions Thursday night, Friday and Saturday makes playing the games in a dome seem like a good idea. 

Public vs. private

If you’re keeping track, public schools won six of the seven OHSAA footall state championships. The only private school winner was Columbus Bishop Watterson.

Analytics vs. common sense

The Cleveland Browns scored against Tennessee to make it 31-23. Conventional wisdom says you kick the extra point right? Not the Browns – they go for two and fail. Now they have to go for two if they score again, which they did, and failed again.

I’ll admit, I’m not a huge fan of analytics. I’m a fan of common sense, which says the success rate for a couple of extra points is about double or more the success rate for a pair of two point tries. Why make things more difficult than they have to be?

Very good

You know who has a really good basketball pep band? Lincolnview. For a small school, they have a big pep band and they sounded great last Friday night when the basketball team hosted USV. Well done Lancers.

If you have thoughts or comments on any of the above subjects, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com.