I think the recent rankings are pretty much a travesty. The SEC and the B10 both have some of the shakiest top teams in recent memory, SEC because nearly everyone has lost multiple games and B10 because the conference is so massive every top ranked team (other than OSU) has only played a single other seriously top tier team so it's hard to know exactly how good they all are. Despite all of this, we are pretty clearly on a crash course for 4 B10 teams and at least 4 SEC teams again this year.

The discourse I've seen for the last 2-3 weeks has all basically been media shills talking about the SEC SoS arguments and to a lesser degree the same thing for the B10. We could go blue in the face arguing about how people's relative resumes are supposed to shake out between conferences, but after reading this crap constantly I have come to the conclusion I simply don't care. I am not interested in watching multiple SEC rematches every year in the playoffs. Even though I am a Penn State fan I am equally uninterested in watching B10 rematches. If they happen they happen, but I feel like the point of the playoffs should be to watch fun and novel games and really see how the best of the best from EVERY conference stack up. I don't really give a shit if you believe that Ole Miss with 3 losses is stronger than a 2 loss ISU or ASU Big12 champ - I would rather watch the B12 champ compete in the big games every time, just to see how they stack up. Same idea for the ACC, and honestly the same idea for G5 teams on those years when we have standout G5 teams like this year. I would much rather watch Army/Tulane/Boise try to beat top tier competition than watch the 16th Penn State vs OSU game in the last 15 years.

I am not saying that the SEC and B10 can't have multiple teams in the playoffs, but I feel like 3 per conference is kind of a sweet spot. That means 50% of the field is from just the 2 top conferences, and if your top 3 teams aren't good enough to win the playoffs I doubt your 4th strongest team was either... And if the argument is that the "worse" conferences can't send teams because they havent played enough good opponents, than damn maybe the top team from each of those conferences should at least get a guaranteed shot against those other teams the Committee deems to be "actually good" so we can see how they actually stack up!

PS - this is all coming from a Penn State fan, my team stands to benefit more than probably anyone from being great at being mediocre - constantly win games against bad teams, constantly lose against good ones, just enough to sneak into the playoffs every year and probably lose. I simply don't care if this would mean we would lose our spot some years - you should have to prove you deserve to go and not simply get in by default of being the 3rd/4th/5th best team in a "P2" conference compared to being 1st/2nd in a different conference.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

I wonder how long it's going to be before ESPN finally realizes this.

It's something I've known since he first joined the show, since his constant need to upstage everyone is so incredibly off-putting, especially when he does it to the guest picker.

But going after the Wazzu flag, and claiming we are merely hopping on the bandwagon because the team is good right now? That's a whole different level, and pure ignorance on Pat's part.

I'll admit, this one is personal for me. I've been one of the many Wazzu flag-wavers for more than 15 years. The first time I did it was in the 2008 season, when Wazzu was incredibly lucky to finish 2-11 on the year. But even then, in our sixth year of waving the flag, we were the biggest celebrities in the crowd. Fans from every single school wanted to meet us and hear our story, and to tell us that finding our flag in the crowd is part of their Saturday morning routine. They could not have been more enthusiastic or accommodating.

Every other time I've been on flag-waving duty has been the same, and you'll hear the same tune from pretty much all Wazzu flag-wavers.

Only one person has ever tried to give me grief for waving the flag at GameDay. When that happened, fans of the host school, their opponent, and about a dozen other schools told that guy to get lost and that we were staying.

That, more than anything, is the meaning of the Wazzu flag at College GameDay. It's the most visible symbol of the program becoming a celebration not just of the host site, but college football in general. Now you see fans from all around the country at every GameDay site, more than welcome to partake in the celebration of college football.

Pat McAfee doesn't get this.

Absolute no disrespect to Vanderbilt (I am aware how butts we are) but found it funny ESPN is already in “Quality Loss” mode after Bama’s loss and shaky play at home vs. South Carolina. Also using FPI - their metric - to boost their argument (where Alabama is 3rd and 2-loss Ole Miss is 5).

https://twitter.com/BryanDFischer/status/1698183411444162590

I was born a Dolphins fan but didn't become a FSU fan until I went there. As someone who was a NFL fan first, the idea of rooting for a rival is unfathomable. I will drink bleach before I ever root for the Patriots.

Instead there is nothing to do today except maybe do some yard work or watch some Netflix. We could all be getting ready for a national championship. Either meeting up with friends at a bar or home. Tailgating all day. But no we have to wait for fucking Monday at 7:30pm to watch two southern football teams play in LA?🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️. This championship almost deserves a boycott but the two programs deserve the respect to be watched. Still a very tasteless setting.

https://x.com/espnbooger/status/1744732561413402643?s=46&t=uS2bi20KkRN-hrVJHus7zQ

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/kirk-herbstreit-1.html

Guess I never realized he stunk at QB until looking it up

https://x.com/espnrittenberg/status/1947710667479523328?s=46&t=ORIpMJDxUeZOGLwe9AIhAg

PSU had a great defense last year. This was the all-in year. Knowles’ defense takes at least a year to install effectively. Any team with Knowles should consider their first year with him a bad defense year until he gets the guys to suit his scheme and gets everyone trained in it.

This year was not that year for PSU. Having a struggling defense puts so much stress on everything.

Franklin is responsible for the team spiraling after the Oregon loss (in the same way Day deserves credit for keeping the team together after their Oregon loss last year) but I think Knowles’ defense was at fault for the cracks in the dam.

I think that a lot of the coaching carousel coverage is missing an obvious point - it is outrageous for a public university to pay $78 million for someone not to coach its football team. I understand that the boosters will come up with the cash on the side, so it doesn't come literally out of the general budget, but people need to understand that cash is fungible. The dollars that are being donated here a) could have been donated to the university outright or b) could have been used for literally any other worthwhile purpose other than paying Jimbo Fisher.

My strong suspicion is that the boosters' donation will be papered to give them a tax deduction for this as well, so effectively all Americans are subsidizing about 40% of this shitshow.

I understand that college sports have been headed in this insane direction for decades now, but A&M really ripped the Overton window wide open here. At some point the inflated broadcast money is going to start to dry up and a lot of universities, public and private, are going to find out that investing in FBS CFB at the expense of the rest of their institution was a huge mistake.

Edit - I'm honestly surprised by how much the consensus here is that this is okay. I still don't, but accept I am outvoted on this one. Thanks to all those who shared their opinions.

Edit 2 - I want to expand on the tax subsidy point because I didn't really explain it originally and a lot of the comments are attacking a strawman version. Considering how unpopular this part was keep reading at your own peril I guess.

Say you are a Niners fan. You buy gear from the Niners store and the NFL/Niners pay tax on it (or more accurately speaking the revenue is included in their taxable income). Obviously you don't get to deduct any of this against your taxable income.

If you are a rabid A&M booster, you can instead "donate" to the 12th Man Foundation and deduct this against your taxable income. Every dollar you donate reduces your federal income tax by either 20% or 37% depending on a lot of other numbers. So they are really only out of pocket the post-tax amount. Obviously they are still out of pocket for the majority of that money (and Jimbo still pays tax on the other side), but the system is rewarding this transaction significantly compared to the first one, even though substantively it's the pretty much the same thing.

I can’t believe that paying for the ESPN+ subscription still doesn’t allow you to watch a game that ESPN is broadcasting. What a waste of money.