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There is no good way to decide the playoff teams because there are few non-conference games to go on. The non-conference games featuring top teams are:
Oklahoma def. Ohio St 31 16 Big 12 #1 vs. Big Ten #1 Clemson def. Auburn 14 6 ACC #1 vs. SEC #3 Georgia def. Notre Dame 20 19 SEC #1 Notre Dame def. Mich St 38 18 Big 10 #4 Notre Dame def. USC 49 19 Pac 12 #1 Notre Dame def. N Carol St 35 14 ACC #3 Miami def. Notre Dame 41 8 ACC #2 Stanford def. Notre Dame 38 20 Pac 12 #36 of the 8 games involve Notre Dame. Notre Dame is a benchmark for comparing conferences and this year their strength of schedule was overwhelmingly strongest in the nation. They took on two conference #1s, a #2, three #3s, and a #4.
Once the bowls were played it became clear that the toughest conference in terms of depth is the Big Ten, and the weakest conference is the Pac Twelve.
No team from outside the 5 oligarch conferences achieved any success against oligarch conferences except UCF, which defeated Auburn and Maryland. The toughest non-oligarch conferences are the American Athletic Conference and the Sun Belt Conference.
Big Ten L SEC L Pac 12 L Big 12 L ACC L Ohio St 1 Georgia 1 USC 1 Oklahoma 1 Clemson 1 Wisconsin 0 Alabama 1 Stanford 2 TCU 2 Miami 1 Penn St 2 Auburn 1 Wash 2 Okla St 3 N Carol St 2 Mich St 2 LSU 2 Ariz St 3 Texas 4 Virginia T 3 Northwest 2 S. Carol 3 Wash St 3 Iowa St 4 W. Forest 4
L = Conference losses, excluding the conference championship game.
There are 5 conference champions, 4 playoff spots, and 12 premier bowl spots. The teams with at most 2 conference losses (excluding the conference championship game) are:
Conf
Conf Conf 2017 2016 champ Vs. Bowl Playoff Premier
rank losses poll poll game Notre Dame bowl
Wisconsin 2 0 6 8 Loss Orange *
Ohio State 1 1 5 3 Win Cotton *
Oklahoma 1 1 2 7 Win Rose * *
USC 1 1 8 9 Win Loss Cotton *
Georgia 1 1 3 - Win Win Rose * *
Clemson 1 1 1 2 Win Sugar * *
Auburn 2 1 7 14 Loss Peach *
Alabama 3 1 4 1 Sugar * *
Miami 2 1 10 - Loss Win Orange *
Penn State 3 2 9 5 Fiesta *
Mich St 4 2 16 - Loss Holiday
Northwest 5 2 21 - Music City
Stanford 2 2 13 18 Loss Win Alamo
Washington 3 2 11 4 Fiesta *
TCU 2 2 15 - Loss Alamo
LSU 4 2 17 20 Citrus
Notre Dame - - 14 - Citrus
Among conference champions, Oklahoma deserves a playoff spot because they defeated Ohio State and Clemson deserves a spot because they defeated Auburn. Georgia deserves a spot because they defeated Notre Dame. There is no natural choice for the final playoff spot. The choice of Alabama over Ohio State was arbitrary.
There are 9 teams with at most 1 conference loss and they all got premier bowls. There are 17 teams with at most 2 conference losses (plus Notre Dame) and no natural way to distinguish between them.
The Big Ten and Pac Twelve were excluded from the playoffs and they have no way of humbling the conferences that were included. Big Ten and Pac Twelve teams play each other in the bowls. The bowls should have been arranged to give Big Ten and Pac Twelve teams a chance to beat the best teams from the SEC, Big Twelve, and ACC. Wisconsin should have been matched with Auburn instead of Miami.
The toughest conference in terms of depth is the Big Ten and the weakest is the Pac Twelve.
Big Ten teams won most of their non-conference games. Even the bottom teams were victorious against other conferences. Numbers indicate conference rank.
Wins Losses
1 Ohio St 1 Oklahoma
2 Wisconsin 2 Miami
3 Penn St 3 Washington 9 Pitt
4 Mich St 5 Wash St - Notre Dame
5 Northwest 6 Kentucky 9 Duke
6 Michigan 5 S Carol 10 Florida
7 Iowa 5 Iowa St 5 Boston
7 Purdue 6 Missouri 6 Arizona 5 Louisville
9 Rutgers 3 Washington
9 Nebraska 7 Oregon
11 Indiana 9 Virginia
11 Maryland 4 Texas
11 Minnesota 12 Oregon St
14 Illinois
Pac Twelve teams lost most of their non-conference games. Numbers indicate conference rank.
Wins Losses
1 USC 5 Texas
1 USC - Notre Dame
1 USC 1 Ohio St
2 Stanford - Notre Dame 2 TCU
3 Washington 9 Rutgers 3 Penn St
4 Wash St 4 Mich St
5 Arizona St 5 N. Carol St
6 Arizona 7 Purdue
7 UCLA 4 Kansas St
7 Oregon 9 Nebraska
9 Utah 4 W Virginia
12 Oregon St 11 Minnesota
SEC teams lost most of their non-conference games, mostly to the Big Ten. Numbers indicate conference rank.
Wins Losses
1 Georgia 1 Oklahoma - ND
2 Auburn 1 Clemson
3 Alabama 1 Clemson 9 Florida St 1 Clemson
4 LSU - Notre Dame
5 S Carol 3 N Carol St 1 Clemson 6 Michigan
6 Missouri 7 Purdue
6 Texas AM 5 Wake Forest
6 Miss St 5 Louisville
6 Kentucky 5 Northwestern
10 Florida 6 Michigan
11 Mississippi
11 Vanderbilt 4 Kansas St
13 Arkansas
14 Tennessee
The conference championship game are a way of sneaking in an extra round of bowl games, and so we might as well make the most of it. The teams not in the conference championship should also have a chance to schedule games.
Sometimes a conference championship game makes sense and sometimes it doesn't. Consider the top teams from each conference.
Losses Teams not played
Big 12 Oklahoma 1 -
TCU 2 -
Big Ten Wisconsin 0 Ohio St
Ohio State 1 Wisconsin
SEC Georgia 1 Alabama, LSU
Alabama 1 Georgia
Auburn 1 -
LSU 2 Georgia
Pac 12 USC 1 Washington
Stanford 2 -
Washington 2 USC
ACC Clemson 1 Miami
Miami 1 Clemson, N Carol St
N Carol St 2 Miami
The Big Twelve is unambiguous. The top two teams played each other during the regular
season and Oklahoma has fewer losses, and so there is no need for a conference
championship game. Such a game only gives Oklahoma a chance to lose and miss out
on the playoffs. It would be better for Big Twelve teams to schedule out-of-conference
games that are compelling to watch and will make money. One might schedule games
with teams not involved in conference championship games such as Washington, Penn State,
and Alabama.
Wisconsin has the fewest losses in the Big Ten but they didn't play Ohio State, and so a game between them is appropriate. If Ohio State wins then both teams have the same number of conference losses and they could be said to share the Big Ten championship.
The SEC has 3 teams with 1 conference loss, Georgia, Auburn, and Alabama. During the regular season, Auburn played Georgia and Alabama, and Georgia didn't play Alabama. It would be appropriate for Georgia to play Alabama in the postseason. If Georgia defeats Alabama then Georgia and Auburn share the conference championship. If Alabama defeats Georgia then Alabama and Auburn share the conference championship.
In the Pac Twelve season, USC didn't play Washington and so it would be appropriate for them to play. The conference championship instead featured USC vs. Stanford but this was unnecessary because they had alread played.
In the ACC, Clemson and Miami had one conference loss and they didn't play during the season, and so it was appropriate for them to play a conference championship game.
To summarize:
What happened What should have happened
Big Ten Wisconsin vs. Ohio State Wisconsin vs. Ohio State
Big Twelve Oklahoma vs. TCU Out-of-conference games
SEC Georgia vs. Auburn Georgia vs. Alabama
Pac Twelve USC vs. Stanford USC vs. Washington
ACC Clemson vs. Miami Clemson vs. Miami
In the Big Ten,
Ohio State def. Wisconsin Wisconsin def. Iowa Iowa def. Ohio StateOhio State and Wisconsin each have 1 conference loss. Ohio State is regarded as the conference champion because they defeated Wisconsin in the championship game, but this diminishes the importance of the conference. If one regards conference games as important than one should consider Wisconsin and Ohio State to share the Big Ten championship because they have the same number of conference losses. This also provides incentive for teams not in contention for the championship to win spoiler games over contenders.
The biggest games, including the regular season and bowls, are:
Score Bowl Conference and rank
Alabama Georgia 26 23 SEC3 SEC1
Georgia Oklahoma 54 48 Rose SEC1 Twe1
Alabama Clemson 24 6 Sugar SEC3 ACC1
Oklahoma Ohio St 31 16 - Twe1 Ten1
Georgia Oklahoma 54 48 Rose SEC1 Twe1
Ohio St. USC 24 7 Cotton Ten1 Pac1
Clemson Auburn 14 6 - ACC1 SEC2
Wisconsin Miami 34 24 Orange Ten1 ACC2
Georgia Notre Dame 20 19 - SEC1 ND
Notre Dame USC 49 19 - ND Pac1
TCU Stanford 39 37 Alamo Twe2 Pac2
Alabama Clemson 24 6 Sugar SEC3 ACC1
Miami Notre Dame 41 8 - ACC2 ND
Stanford Notre Dame 38 20 - Pac2 ND
Notre Dame N Carol St 35 14 - ND ACC3
Penn St Washington 35 28 Fiesta Ten3 Pac3
Oklahoma St Virginia T 30 21 Camp Twe3 ACC3
Notre Dame Mich St 38 18 - ND Ten4
Notre Dame LSU 21 17 Citrus ND SEC4
Score Big SEC Big Pac ACC Other
10 12 12
4 Alabama 1 Clemson 24 6 Sugar 3 1
3 Georgia 2 Oklahoma 54 48 Rose 1 1
5 Ohio St. 8 USC 24 7 Cotton 1 1
6 Wisconsin 10 Miami 34 24 Orange 2 2
12 UCF 7 Auburn 34 27 Peach 2 AAC
9 Penn St 11 Washington 35 28 Fiesta 3 3
15 TCU 13 Stanford 39 37 Alamo 2 2
14 Notre Dame 17 LSU 21 17 Citrus 4 Notre Dame
16 Mich St. 18 Wash St. 42 17 Holiday 4 4
19 Oklahoma St 22 Virginia T 30 21 Camp World 3 3
Iowa St 20 Memphis 21 20 Liberty 4 AAC
21 Northwest Kentucky 24 23 Music City 5 5
23 Miss St Louisville 31 27 Taxslayer 6 4
24 N. Carol St Arizona St 52 31 Sun 5 3
25 Boise St Oregon 38 28 Las Vegas 6 MW
S Carol Michigan 26 19 Outback 6 7
Iowa Boston C 27 20 Pinstripe 7 7
Purdue Arizona 38 35 Foster Far 8 7
Texas Missouri 33 16 Texas 8 5
Utah W Virginia 30 14 Dallas 8 9
Wake Forest Texas AM 55 52 Belk 9 6
Kansas St UCLA 35 17 Cactus 7 8
Navy Virginia 49 7 Military 8 AAC
S. Florida Texas Tech 38 34 Birmingham 10 AAC
Duke N. Illinois 36 14 Quick Lane 9 MAC
Florida St S Miss 42 13 Independ 10 CUSA
Oligarch conferences: Big Ten, Big Twelve, ACC, SEC, Pac Twelve Plebe conferences: AAC, Sun Belt, Mountain West, C-USA, MAC Independents: Notre Dame, BYU, Army
Oligarch teams decisively defeated Plebe teams. The gap between Oligarch conferences and Plebe conferences is vast. The only Plebe team to achieve a win against a tough Oligarch team is UCF, which defeated Auburn.
Among the Plebe conferences, the AAC and Sun Belt are the toughest.
L = Conference losses, excluding the conference championship game.
American L Mountain L C-USA L Sun Belt L Mid American L
UCF 0 Boise St 1 Florida A 0 Appal St 1 Toledo 1
Memphis 1 Fresno St 1 N Texas 1 Troy 1 Akron 2
S Florida 2 Diego St 2 S Miss 2 Arkan St 2 C Mich 2
Houston 3 Colorad St 3 FIU 3 Georgia St 3 N Illinois 2
Wyoming 3 Ohio 3
The most significant non-conference games are:
Score Bowl
Appalach St (SB1) def. Toledo (MAC1) 34 0 Dollar General
Florida Atl (USA1) def. Akron (MAC2) 50 3 Boca Raton
Troy (SB2) def. N. Texas (USA2) 50 30 New Orleans
Score
Oklahoma Ohio St 31 16 Twe1 Ten1
Georgia Oklahoma 54 48 Rose SEC1 Twe1
Ohio St. USC 24 7 Cotton Ten1 Pac1
Clemson Auburn 14 6 ACC1 SEC2
Wisconsin Miami 34 24 Orange Ten1 ACC2
Georgia Notre Dame 20 19 SEC1 ND
Notre Dame USC 49 19 ND Pac1
TCU Stanford 39 37 Alamo Twe2 Pac2
Alabama Clemson 24 6 Sugar SEC3 ACC1
Miami Notre Dame 41 8 ACC2 ND
Stanford Notre Dame 38 20 Pac2 ND
Notre Dame N Carol St 35 14 ND ACC3
Penn St Washington 35 28 Fiesta Ten3 Pac3
Oklahoma St Virginia T 30 21 Camp Twe3 ACC3
USC Texas 27 24 Pac1 Twe5
Clemson S. Carol 34 10 ACC1 SEC5
Notre Dame Mich St 38 18 ND Ten4
Notre Dame LSU 21 17 Citrus ND SEC4
Mich St. Wash St. 42 17 Holiday Ten4 Pac4
Virginia T W Virgninia 31 24 ACC4 Twe4
S. Carolina N Carol St 35 28 SEC5 ACC3
Notre Dame Boston 49 20 ND ACC7
N. Carol St Arizona St 52 31 Sun ACC3 Pac5
Texas Missouri 33 16 Texas Twe4 SEC6
Northwest Kentucky 24 23 Music Ten5 SEC6
Miss St Louisville 31 27 Tax SEC6 ACC5
Michigan S. Carol Outback Ten6 SEC5
Wake Forest Texas AM 55 52 Belk ACC5 SEC6
Iowa Iowa St 44 41 Ten7 Twe4
Kansas St UCLA 35 17 Cactus Twe4 Pac7
Iowa Boston C 27 20 Pinstri Ten7 ACC5
Texas Tech Arizona St 52 45 Twe8 Pac4
Washington Rutgers 30 14 Pac3 Ten9
Oklahoma St Pittsburgh 59 21 Twe3 ACC9
Purdue Missouri 35 3 Ten7 SEC6
Purdue Arizona 38 35 Foster Ten7 Pac6
Louisville Purdue 35 28 ACC5 Ten8
Penn St Pittsburgh 33 14 Ten4 ACC9
Utah W Virginia 30 14 Dallas Pac9 Twe4
Alabama Florida St 24 7 SEC3 ACC10
Duke Northwest 41 17 ACC9 Ten5
TCU Arkansas 28 7 Twe2 SEC12
Maryland Texas 51 41 Ten11 Twe4
Oregon Nebraska 42 35 Pac7 Ten9
Michigan Florida 33 17 Ten6 SEC10
Vanderbilt Kansas St 14 7 SEC12 Twe4
Duke Baylor 34 20 Twe9 ACC9
Indiana Virginia 34 17 Ten11 ACC9
Minnesota Oregon St 48 14 Ten11 Pac12
Wisconsin Utah St. 59 10 Ten2 MW6 Wisconsin BYU 40 6 Ten2 Ind Penn St Akron 52 0 Ten3 MAC2 Penn St Georgia St 56 0 Ten3 SB4 Iowa St Memphis 21 20 Liberty Twe4 AAC2 Northwestern Bowling Green 49 7 Ten5 MAC10 Duke N. Illinois 36 14 Quick Lane ACC9 MAC3 Florida St S Miss 42 13 Independ ACC9 USA3 Michigan St Bowling Green 35 10 Michigan St W Michigans 28 14 Michigan Cincinnati 36 14 Michigan Air Force 29 13 Iowa Wyoming 24 3 Iowa N Texas 31 14 Purdue Ohio 44 21 Oklahoma St Tulsa 59 24 Oklahoma St S Alabama 44 7 TCU SMU 56 36 Texas Tech Houston 27 24 Iowa St Akron 41 14 W Virginia E Carolina 56 20 W Virginia Delaware St 59 16 Texas San Jose St 56 0 Kansas St Charlotte 55 7 Nebraska Arkansas St 43 36 Rutgers Morgan St 65 0 Indiana Georgia S 52 17 Indiana Charlston S 27 0 Minnesota Buffalo 17 7 Minnesota M Tennessee 34 3 Maryland Towson 63 17 Illinois Ball State 24 21 Illinois WKU 20 7 Kansas SE MissouriSt 38 16 UCF Auburn 34 27 Peach AAC1 SEC2 UCF Maryland 38 10 AAC1 Ten11 Memphis UCLA 48 45 AAC2 Pac7 S. Florida Texas Tech 38 34 Birmingham AAC3 Twe8 S Florida Illinois 47 23 AAC3 Ten14 Navy Virginia 49 7 Military AAC5 ACC9 N Illinois Nebraska 21 17 MAC3 Ten10 E Michigan Rutgers 16 13 MAC9 Ten9 Boise St Oregon 38 28 Las Vegas MW1 Pac7 Liberty Baylor 48 45 UTSA Baylor 17 10 C Michigan Kansas 45 27 Ohio Kansas 42 30
Conference championship games: C-USA Fl Atl def. N Texas 41 17 American UCF def. Memphis 62 55 Mountain Boise St def. Fres St 17 14 Non-conference games: Appalach St Toledo 34 0 Dollar Gen SB1 MAC1 Florida Atl Akron 50 3 Boca Raton USA1 MAC2 Troy N. Texas 50 30 New Orleans SB2 USA2 Memphis Georgia St AAC2 SB4 Fresno St Houston 33 27 Hawaii MW2 AAC4 UCF FIU 61 7 AAC1 USA5 Wyoming C Michigan 37 14 Idaho Pot MW4 MAC3 Memphis Louis-Monroe 37 29 AAC2 SB5 Ohio UAB 41 6 Bahamas MAC5 USA3 M Tennessee Arkansas St 35 30 Camellia USA6 SB3 Temple FIU 28 3 Gasparilla AAC5 USA5 Marshall Colorado St 31 28 New Mexico USA6 MW4 Georgia St W. Kentucky 27 17 Cure SB4 USA6 Louisiana T SMU 51 10 Frisco USA6 AAC5 N. Mex St Utah St 26 20 Arizona SB5 MW6 Army SanDiego St 42 35 Armed Force Ind MW3
Wins Losses
1 UCF FIU (USA5)
2 Memphis Georgia St (SB4), Louis-Monroe (SB5)
3 S Florida
4 Houston Fresno St (MW2)
5 Temple FIU (USA5)
6 SMU Louisiana T (USA6)
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Big 10 East Ohio St. Michigan Penn St. Mich St. Purdue Maryland Rutgers
Big 10 West Wisconsin Nebraska Iowa Northwest Minnesota Illinois Indiana
SEC East Florida Georgia S. Carol. Kentucky Missouri Vander Tennessee
SEC West Alabama Auburn LSU Miss St. Texas AM Miss Arkansas
ACC Atlantic Clemson NC State Boston C. Louisville Wake Forest Florida St Syracuse
ACC Coastal Miami Virginia T Georg Tech Virginia Pittsburgh Duke N. Carol
Pac 10 North Stanford Oregon Washington Wash St Oregon St. Cal
Pac 10 South UCLA USC Arizona Arizona St Colorado Utah
Big 12 North Oklahoma Okla St Iowa St Kansas Kansas St.
Big 12 South Texas TCU Baylor Texas Tech W. Virginia
C-USA East Flor Atl FIU Marshall W Kentucky M Tenn Old Dominion Charlotte
C-USA West N Texas UAB S Miss Louis Tech UTSA Rice UTEP
AAC East UCF S Florida Temple Cincinnati Connecticut E Carolina
AAC West Memphis Houston SMU Navy Tulane Tulsa
MW Mount Boise St Colorado S Wyoming Utah St Air Force N Mexico
MW West Fresno St SDiego St UNVL Nevada Hawaii San Jose St
MAC East Akron Ohio Miami Buffalo Bowl Green Kent St
MAC West Toledo C Michigan N Illinois W Michigan E Michigan Ball St
Sun Belt Troy AppalachSt Arkans St Georgia St N Mexico St Louisiana
Lou-Monroe Idaho S Alabama CoastCarol Georgia S Texas St
Big East Pioneer Atlantic 10 West Coast Missouri Valley
Butler Butler Davidson BYU N Iowa
Creighton Davidson C Duquesne Gonzaga Illinois State
DePaul Drake U Fordham Loyola Marymount Southern Illinois
Georgetown Jacksonville U George Mason Pacific Indiana State
Marquette Marist College George Washing Pepperdine Loyola U Chicago
Providence Morehead St U La Salle Portland Missouri State
St. John's U San Diego U Massachusetts St Mary's Drake
Seton Hall Stetson U Rhode Island U San Diego Valparaiso
Villanova Valparaiso U Richmond U San Francisco Bradley
Xavier U Dayton St Bonaventure Santa Clara U Evansville
St Joseph's
St Louis
Virginia Common
U Dayton
Teams Conference games
Big 10 14 9
SEC 14 8
Pac 10 12 9
Big 12 10 9
ACC 14 8 Atlantic Coast Conference
AAC 12 8 American Athletic Conference
C-USA 14 8 Conference USA
MAC 12 8 Mid American
MW 12 8 Mountain West
SB 12 8 Sun Belt
NCAA basketball:
Division Conferences Teams
1 32 351
2 23
3 45
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