We've seen the first two years of the playoff era that the committee has placed a significant emphasis on winning your conference. So far, so good. After all, the best, or most deserving, team has earned the right to be called conference champions in the first two years.
However, you can easily see how this is going to haywire. Right now, it can be argued that in each of the four major conferences that have a title game, the conference title game will not match the top two teams. This potentially creates some major issues.
Assume for a second that Tennessee loses to Texas A&M and Alabama, but runs the table to finish 10-2, borderline top 10, and then upsets an unbeaten Alabama. I'd bet there would be a huge late push to send Tennessee to the playoff as the SEC champ. Similarly, imagine the nightmare, yet realistic scenario, where Michigan upsets Ohio State and then loses a flukish 14-10 type game to a 10-2 Wisconsin team the following week. On paper, Michigan would be the more deserving team of a playoff spot. However, I'd be there would be a strong push to send Wisconsin as the B1G representative.
I guess the point is this. If the conference title games start to essentially function as the unofficial quarterfinal round of the playoffs, then shouldn't conferences just eliminate the divisions and have one giant conference, and take the top two teams for the conference title game. Yes, scheduling would play a role potentially in who finishes 1st or 2nd occasionally, but it eliminates the scenario of the 4th or 5th best team in the league potentially pulling an upset and then getting rewarded for a decent regular season by being called a top 4 team.
However, you can easily see how this is going to haywire. Right now, it can be argued that in each of the four major conferences that have a title game, the conference title game will not match the top two teams. This potentially creates some major issues.
Assume for a second that Tennessee loses to Texas A&M and Alabama, but runs the table to finish 10-2, borderline top 10, and then upsets an unbeaten Alabama. I'd bet there would be a huge late push to send Tennessee to the playoff as the SEC champ. Similarly, imagine the nightmare, yet realistic scenario, where Michigan upsets Ohio State and then loses a flukish 14-10 type game to a 10-2 Wisconsin team the following week. On paper, Michigan would be the more deserving team of a playoff spot. However, I'd be there would be a strong push to send Wisconsin as the B1G representative.
I guess the point is this. If the conference title games start to essentially function as the unofficial quarterfinal round of the playoffs, then shouldn't conferences just eliminate the divisions and have one giant conference, and take the top two teams for the conference title game. Yes, scheduling would play a role potentially in who finishes 1st or 2nd occasionally, but it eliminates the scenario of the 4th or 5th best team in the league potentially pulling an upset and then getting rewarded for a decent regular season by being called a top 4 team.
