| NEWS Greg Byrne needs to cancel a bunch of Alabama Football games - Bama Hammer

[Bama News]

Greg Byrne needs to cancel a bunch of Alabama Football games

The strongest message from Alabama Football being the first team out of the Playoff field was a loud one. Don't bother paying attention to anything the CFP Sele

bamahammer.com

The strongest message from Alabama Football being the first team out of the Playoff field was a loud one. Don't bother paying attention to anything the CFP Selection Committee Chair, Warde Manuel said. The committee was in a no-win situation and the team hurt the most was the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The committee could have chosen to pick the most deserving team between Alabama and SMU, based on wins against ranked teams. That standard was a slam dunk for the Crimson Tide. Had it done so, the future viability of conference championships would have been at risk.

Instead, the committee decided the quality of wins matters little. Which means that the quantity of wins matters a lot. Anyone disagreeing with that assessment ignores facts. As Aaron Torres pointed out, "haven't beaten anyone, applies to nearly half of the Playoff field." SMU, Indiana, and Texas have zero wins over ranked teams. Penn State, ranked No. 6 by the committee has one ranked win over No. 20 Illinois. Notre Dame has one ranked win over No. 22 Army.

The facts documented above prove the current 12-team Playoff structure is a failure at rewarding the best teams and thereby the opportunity to win a National Championship. In the opinions of many SEC football fans, Alabama, South Carolina, and Ole Miss had better claims to Playoff spots than did SMU, Clemson, Boise State, Indiana, and Miami; and possibly Texas.

Rece Davis and ESPN continually decry the unfairness of the current awarding of first-round byes. He is correct, the bye format is flawed. But, a remedy for that problem would do nothing to correct the Playoff's major flaw of rewarding less deserving teams over more deserving teams.

Alabama football fans can hope Greg Sankey, aided by the Big Ten, can construct a better format. Count me as skeptical that the 'participation trophy' mindset among many college football decision-makers will change.

Future Alabama Football Schedules​

Greg Byrne cannot afford a wait-and-see approach. Future Alabama football schedules are filled with games against Ohio State, Notre Dame, and other Power Four teams. Instead of those games, Alabama needs to play only low-level Power Four, out-of-conference teams. The Selection Committee has spoken and 'just win baby' is the path to post-season opportunity.

It is also true that the Alabama Crimson Tide was not treated unfairly by the Selection Committee. Beat Vanderbilt; beat, or even lose a close game to Oklahoma, or don't be unlucky when a less deserving Playoff team makes a 56-yard field goal to win a conference championship. Had any one of the three variables gone Alabama's way, the Crimson Tide would be in the Playoff field. But, the Playoff structure and format would still be fundamentally flawed.

 

[bamascw]

You know, the only thing about playing cake teams out of conference is that (especially this season) the out of conference games didn’t hurt us. We lost 3 SEC games. I don’t see an issue here.

 

[kbama15]

Yeah I’m moving on from it. Just didn’t win the games we should’ve won. Had Clemson blowed them out it would’ve been different story. But Dabo kept it close to keep us out. It’s all about what Vegas wants now.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

The third loss killed us. With our schedule, two losses and we are in, period. We were a SMU win away from a bid with three losses, because of our schedule. Hate to live on the margin, but the schedule made the difference in being ahead of Ole Miss and South Carolina, as well as the two-loss non-champions who were behind us - Miami and BYU, in particular.

 

[OldPlayer]

If the quantity of wins matter over quality of wins, teams in the ACC, Big12 and Big10 will always have an advantage. Those conferences have 2-3 power teams and the rest are crap. Even with a random draw (no traditional rivals), SEC teams will always face 4-5 top 25 teams on their schedule.

 

[BamaFan615]

I just hope Texas whoops SMU.

SMU’s QB is pretty dang smooth though.

 

[BamaFan334]

I just hope Texas whoops SMU.

SMU’s QB is pretty dang smooth though.

I have no ill will towards SMU. Texas, Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana, Notre Dame, and Oregon all had similar schedules.

As far as Clemson and Arizona State, that's just shitty rules and decisions when setting up the Playoff.

 

[Kamikazi18627]

Yeah I’m moving on from it. Just didn’t win the games we should’ve won. Had Clemson blowed them out it would’ve been different story. But Dabo kept it close to keep us out. It’s all about what Vegas wants now.

Dabo didn't "keep it close" on purpose. That's ridiculous. Dabo's team won the game and made plays late to win it. I'm happy for Dabo and Clemson. We seem to forget that he is an alumnus. I hope they do well in the playoffs.

I highly doubt there's some conspiracy about Clemson and SMU against Alabama.

Alabama made their bed losing to Vandy, Oklahoma and UT. All were winnable games. The only game we just didn't show up in was Oklahoma.

I am happy with Deboer's first season. We kept the streak alive against Auburn and have a shot at winning 10 games. What else do we want for a first-year head coach? Geez.

 

[bamafan4ever]

Dabo didn't "keep it close" on purpose. That's ridiculous. Dabo's team won the game and made plays late to win it. I'm happy for Dabo and Clemson. We He seems to forget that he is an alumnus.

There. Fixed that for you. You must have missed the part where at the end of the game he was politicking for SMU to get into the Playoffs over Alabama?

 

[Kamikazi18627]

There. Fixed that for you. You must have missed the part where at the end of the game he was politicking for SMU to get into the Playoffs over Alabama?

No, I saw it. I felt that Dabo was just being honest. We gonna disown Greg McElroy too?? He said the same thing after the SMU game. Really, I don't disagree with them. SMU won their schedule, we didn't.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

No, I saw it. I felt that Dabo was just being honest. We gonna disown Greg McElroy too?? He said the same thing after the SMU game. Really, I don't disagree with them. SMU won their schedule, we didn't.

I get it to a certain degree, but so did Montana State.

 

[BamaFan334]

No, I saw it. I felt that Dabo was just being honest. We gonna disown Greg McElroy too?? He said the same thing after the SMU game. Really, I don't disagree with them. SMU won their schedule, we didn't.

He does need to quit trying so hard to not come across as a homer. The issue is you're an alumni, you should love your school that you played for and won a National Championship for. That's why college football is the greatest ever because you can have legit ties and don't have to apologize for it. Desmond picked Michigan to beat Ohio State because he was an alumni. Saban picked Alabama because he coached there. He did the same against LSU. You don't need to apologize or lean so far in the other direction you come across as foolish. The guy was a Rhodes Scholarship finalist, he's not dumb. He can find a way to do both without pissing off so many that had his back for years while he was on campus.

 

[bamafan4ever]

No, I saw it. I felt that Dabo was just being honest. We gonna disown Greg McElroy too?? He said the same thing after the SMU game. Really, I don't disagree with them. SMU won their schedule, we didn't.

Perhaps you missed that I am tired of McElroy's garbage as well. I said that right after the game. He has a right to his opinion but really loves to rail on Alabama to keep his appearance as non-biased. No other ESPN crew member goes to that extent.

 

[bamafan4ever]

I get it to a certain degree, but so did Montana State.

Honestly, Army has a right to complain as well. They only lost one game and that was Notre Dame.

 

[Kamikazi18627]

He does need to quit trying so hard to not come across as a homer. The issue is you're an alumni, you should love your school that you played for and won a National Championship for. That's why college football is the greatest ever because you can have legit ties and don't have to apologize for it. Desmond picked Michigan to beat Ohio State because he was an alumni. Saban picked Alabama because he coached there. He did the same against LSU. You don't need to apologize or lean so far in the other direction you come across as foolish. The guy was a Rhodes Scholarship finalist, he's not dumb. He can find a way to do both without pissing off so many that had his back for years while he was on campus.

He might feel that SMU was more deserving. Dabo and McElroy.

For the record, I agree. We lost three games. Two of which should have never been a question. We didn't earn a damn thing in terms of the playoffs. We absolutely earned our bowl match up.

 

[Kamikazi18627]

Perhaps you missed that I am tired of McElroy's garbage as well. I said that right after the game. He has a right to his opinion but really loves to rail on Alabama to keep his appearance as non-biased. No other ESPN crew member goes to that extent.

I disagree. I think Kirk Herbstreet stays pretty neutral about Ohio State.

 

[Rolltide24]

Perhaps you missed that I am tired of McElroy's garbage as well. I said that right after the game. He has a right to his opinion but really loves to rail on Alabama to keep his appearance as non-biased. No other ESPN crew member goes to that extent.

Rece tries pretty hard to not show any link to Bama as well. Has for 25+ years.

 

[BamaFan334]

He might feel that SMU was more deserving. Dabo and McElroy.

For the record, I agree. We lost three games. Two of which should have never been a question. We didn't earn a damn thing in terms of the playoffs. We absolutely earned our bowl match up.

Maybe he does.

A lot of other teams deserve scrutiny as well though, not just SMU. Texas lost to the only team they really played, twice. SMU was 0-2 against who they played. Ohio State lost at home to a bad Michigan team. Oregon played mo ody. Penn State and Indiana both lost to the only team they played. Everyone had flaws, not just Alabama or SMU. I felt Texas should have been left out personally. All that is is a nice storyline for ESPN and an ego boost for already massive ones in Austin. They aren't worth a shit.

 

[Kamikazi18627]

Maybe he does.

A lot of other teams deserve scrutiny as well though, not just SMU. Texas lost to the only team they really played, twice. SMU was 0-2 against who they played. Ohio State lost at home to a bad Michigan team. Oregon played mo ody. Penn State and Indiana both lost to the only team they played. Everyone had flaws, not just Alabama or SMU. I felt Texas should have been left out personally. All that is is a nice storyline for ESPN and an ego boost for already massive ones in Austin. They aren't worth a shit.

I really would rather the 4-team playoff be the system. This 12 team is just opening the door for a bigger playoff, 16, 24, everyone.

 

[BamaFan334]

I really would rather the 4-team playoff be the system. This 12 team is just opening the door for a bigger playoff, 16, 24, everyone.

100% agree.