Re: Clemson, Bama, Georgia

For those complaining about 2 SEC teams possibly making it, get used to it. Georgia is recruiting at an amazing level now and will consistently be a top 5 team over the next 10 years, so 2 SEC teams is always a possibility. Bama is Bama and will always be in the mix. Dabo has us rolling. The playoff system may work as far as having the best teams, but it's going to bother the nation seeing the same teams in the playoff. I think it is safe to say that the Tigers will be in the playoff 8 out of the next 10 years. Ohio State will be in the mix too every year. It sucks, but I am confident that eventually they expand to 8 teams. They have to to keep the nation involved. It can't just be mainly a Southeastern thing due to TV ratings. Imagine how odd it will seem when the pundits on TV are debating which teams deserve that 8th spot.

TigerCFA

1st Rounder [610]

TigerPulse: 87%

Posts: 731

Joined: 9/26/18

Dec 1, 2018, 10:04 AM [ in reply to Re: Clemson, Bama, Georgia ]

It’s a combination of school resources and head coach to ensure a team remains in the mix year after year. The school has to have the resources for state of the art facilities and to pay big money for coaches and assistants. The head coach needs to not just be great with X’s and O’s but also a great teacher, great under pressure, a great recruiter, and a great CEO in running a $50M business - keeping assistant coaches happy, convincing elite juniors to come back, etc. t
That said, there are very few schools currently meeting this criteria, and it relies heavily on the head coach:

Clemson and Swinney
Bama and Saban
Ohio State and Meyer
Georgia and Smart (so far)

I’m hard-pressed to put any other school/coach in that elite group that will be in the playoff hunt in the last week of the season year in and year out. Notre Dame under Kelly isn’t consistent enough. Lincoln Riley has only been head coach of Oklahoma for 2 years and took over an established program. Hard to say he elevated it the way Smart elevated Georgia. Certainly not Harbaugh given his varied success.

So expect to see a combination of probably at least 3 of the following in the playoffs every single year until their head coaches leave: Clemson, Bama, Ohio State, and Georgia.

The SEC won 7 straight national titles from 2006 to 2012 because they had Meyer (2) and Saban (3). Auburn just had a one-off year (that they likely paid a lot of money for) and Miles won the national title at LSU with 2 losses in 2007 in the craziest year ever. Now the SEC again has 2 of the 4 great school/coach combos, so unfortunately their dominance at the top of the rankings will continue for some time, elevating the perception of other SEC teams as a result.

flag link

military_tech

thumb_down

thumb_up

Clemson, Bama, Georgia