:lol: :lol: :lol: TOK, point well taken, that said, northern teams cannot be consistently successful if they are not capable of winning football games in conditions not seen nor experienced by warm weather schools. As such they cannot tailor their systems and/or personnel to succeed exclusively in relatively benign conditions. Those schools who have the advantage of preparing and playing only in such conditions will necessarily be advantaged when playing in their native conditions -v- those whose systems including personnel need to also compete successfully in the very adverse weather conditions found in the north in the late fall/early winter. All I'm saying is that to keep competitive situations as neutral and unbiased as possible, play off games also need to have an potential element of adverse condtions as well as are playoff systems in the NFL and FCS college football.....it is my view that playing in Madison in December in the cold and snow would be much more difficult for a southern team than say Tampa, Phoenix, Orlando, Miami or LA.....just guessin'.
I would venture that team speed could definitely adversely affected by playing in a blizzard in late December in Wisconsin. The NFL has had many snow games thats for sure.
It's as much mental as anything. I can remember the old L.A.Rams having to go to Minn when they were playing outdoors and you could see the Rams on the sidelines already beaten because they were trying to stay warm while across the field was Minn team that was playing in their shirt sleeves. The same can be said about the Dolphins going to New York and New England in the playoffs. Weather favors the home team. I'm not saying that warm weather teams can't win in the north, just that it's another thing to overcome and one that you aren't used to having to overcome. While it certainly can get cold in Houston in Dec and in Tampa, but it's uncommon.
I remember watching two teams play in a blizzard in the Weedeater Shreveport Bowl a few years back. You never know. That's fine for the NFL....part of the game and unavoidable but you do notice that for their marquis Super Bowl they have avoided the chance of "snow bowls" by selecting warm weather or dome sites ( except for the one to be played in NY ). That was a curious selection.
That would have been Texas A&M and Miss State...it was a freak weather situation. 2 teams neither of which were accustomed to that type of weather seems fair....Wisconsin vs the Gators in that kind of weather...maybe not such a fair match up!
I have heard all of the arguments against a playoff to which I answer...EVERY OTHER NCAA SPORT HAS A PLAYOFF! Not almost every other sport but EVERY OTHER SPORT. FBS football is the only one that depends on polls. How can that be?
Kp, I know you believe that Bama is one hell of a team. I know also you saw what happens when a team of that caliber runs a gauntlet as did the Tide in the 3 game stretch that culminated in the loss to SC. Can Division One college players go through the rigors of a 12 or 13 game regular season....while attending classes and then play 3 or 4 playoff games into January??? Why isn't the regular season a good gauge of where these teams are in terms of ability and talent? What....play 13 no count games and then gear up for Dec/Jan?
Are the games played by NCAA Basketball teams during the regular season "no count" games? No, for the most part, they determine the seeding of the tournament. Why couldn't it be the same for NCAA Div 1 football?
Tom, Think about it for a second. Yes......UT-UF in Jan. indoors roundball is great theatre but it really does take a back seat to UF-UT football in.....say....1996 when Peyton Manning and company were playing a great Florida team that would go on to win the the national title after getting past the Vols that day. It was....in effect......not only an SEC semi-final game but quite possibly a national semi-final game........in SEPTEMBER!!!! To me.....that makes college football unique and extremely exciting.
Every other sport can do it. Does the College World Series make the season meaningless? Does the NCAA Basketball tournament make the series meaningless? Alabama does have a hell of a team and I think a 8 or 16 team playoff would prove it.
Kp.....there is only 12 or 13 HUGE regular season games in CFB. Around 40 in BB and who knows how many in college Baseball. Most surprising to me is why people fight this concept so much.
Because I don't want coaches who can watch the games, writers who need to sell papers, and computers deciding the national championship. Hell let's do away with the conference championship game. We could just vote for the SEC champion. That would make the season mean sooooo much more.