“The Conclusion of the Four-Team Playoff Era: A Decade in Review”
The chapter on the four-team playoff era has officially closed, marking a captivating decade of college football.
Over this period, the playoff committee ranked a staggering 86 different teams, with 25 securing spots in the coveted top four, eight claiming the prestigious No. 1 rank, and six clinching national titles.
However, delving into the numerical statistics only scratches the surface. What we truly require is a comprehensive evaluation of the four-team playoff era – a ranking embedded in mathematical intricacies yet inherently as subjective as the committee’s decisions over the past ten years.
Unsurprisingly, the committee has demonstrated that there is no straightforward formula for such an endeavor. A compelling example lies in the following comparison:
Team A: 95-33 record, 49 weeks in the committee poll, seven 10-win seasons.
Team B: 94-32 record, 43 weeks in the committee poll, six 10-win seasons.
The conundrum arises – which team performed better? If your inclination leaned towards Team A, apologies are in order.
This happens to be Notre Dame, a two-time playoff participant that never quite grasped a national title. On the flip side, Team B is none other than the defending champion, Michigan, concluding a decade marked by fluctuations but ultimately finishing on a triumphant note.
In constructing this ranking, we meticulously considered concrete metrics such as wins, playoff appearances, SP+ (Bill Connelly’s efficiency measure adjusted for tempo and opponents), top-25 finishes, and various other factors.
Yet, the ultimate judgment involved a comparison against reasonable expectations, weighing teams with sporadic peaks and valleys against those with consistent yet perhaps inconsequential success.
The outcome? A definitive ranking of all 86 teams that enjoyed at least one week in the committee’s top 25, including the additional Power 5 schools that never garnered the committee’s attention.
As we present these results, we welcome questions during our post-release results show, anticipating engaging discussions, albeit acknowledging the inevitable recurrence of phrases like “game control” at least 12 times.
Leave a Reply