General Sports Discussion (Be Warned!)

[Horseman]

Originally Posted by Admin Dirk

I agree. Admire your dedication and loyalty.

Being dedicated to your team is waning, with the advent of fantasy football, some people are just dedicated to individual players.

[Horseman]

Now the home stretch in the NFL.

The AFC has 9 teams seriously in the hunt for 7 spots
- with the Bills and Chiefs safely atop their Divisions

The NFC has 10 teams in the hunt for those 7 spots
- in the NFC no team is safely in control of their division
- Philly has a 2 game lead, but has 3 Division games remaining, in all likelihood, if they beat the Commanders in 3 weeks, they will win the division
- Very hard to tell what might happen in other NFC Divisions.

[Admin Dirk]

I did 14 and 2, probably my best week.

Name	won	Lost
Dirkoth	106	55
Raylorne	115	40
Codger	89	42
Horseman	96	50

[Admin Dirk]

Away	Home
Green Bay Packers	Detroit Lions
Atlanta Falcons	Minnesota Vikings
Carolina Panthers	Philadelphia Eagles
Cleveland Browns	Pittsburgh Steelers
Jacksonville Jaguars	Tennessee Titans
Las Vegas Raiders	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New Orleans Saints	New York Giants
New York Jets	Miami Dolphins
Seattle Seahawks	Arizona Cardinals
Buffalo Bills	Los Angeles Rams
Chicago Bears	San Francisco 49ers
Los Angeles Chargers	Kansas City Chiefs
Cincinnati Bengals	Dallas Cowboys

[table] Away|Home
Green Bay Packers| [B][U]Detroit Lions[/U][/B]
Atlanta Falcons| Minnesota Vikings
Carolina Panthers| Philadelphia Eagles
Cleveland Browns | Pittsburgh Steelers
Jacksonville Jaguars| Tennessee Titans
Las Vegas Raiders| Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New Orleans Saints| New York Giants
New York Jets| Miami Dolphins
Seattle Seahawks| Arizona Cardinals
Buffalo Bills | Los Angeles Rams
Chicago Bears | San Francisco 49ers
Los Angeles Chargers| Kansas City Chiefs
Cincinnati Bengals| Dallas Cowboys[/table]

[Admin Dirk]

Away	Home
Green Bay Packers	Detroit Lions
Atlanta Falcons	Minnesota Vikings
Carolina Panthers	Philadelphia Eagles
Cleveland Browns	Pittsburgh Steelers
Jacksonville Jaguars	Tennessee Titans
Las Vegas Raiders	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New Orleans Saints	New York Giants
New York Jets	Miami Dolphins
Seattle Seahawks	Arizona Cardinals
Buffalo Bills	Los Angeles Rams
Chicago Bears	San Francisco 49ers
Los Angeles Chargers	Kansas City Chiefs
Cincinnati Bengals	Dallas Cowboys

[Codger]

15 and 1, my best week so far.

team	vs	team
Chicago Bears	vs	Detroit Lions
New York Giants	vs	Dallas Cowboys
Miami Dolphins	vs	Green Bay Packers
Las Vegas Raiders	vs	Kansas City Chiefs
Arizona Cardinals	vs	Minnesota Vikings
Houston Texans	vs	Jacksonville Jaguars
Indianapolis Colts	vs	New England Patriots
Los Angeles Chargers	vs	Atlanta Falcons
Pittsburgh Steelers	vs	Cincinnati Bengals
Seattle Seahawks	vs	New York Jets
Tennessee Titans	vs	Washington Commanders
Los Angeles Rams	vs	New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	vs	Carolina Panthers
Philadelphia Eagles	vs	Baltimore Ravens
San Francisco 49ers	vs	Buffalo Bills
Cleveland Browns	vs	Denver Broncos

Name	won	Lost
Dirkoth	106	55
Raylorne	115	40
Codger	104	43
Horseman	96	50

[Horseman]

Originally Posted by Admin Dirk

[Horseman]

JJ Watt said he's available if Detroit needs a pass rusher.

I would love to see that beast in a game once again. He said on McAfee. If they need a guy to come in on 3rd down and just rush, I can do that for 4 games and the playoffs.

[Codger]

Gotta stick with my team tonight. Go Pack!

[Codger]

0 for 1 already.

Away	Home
Green Bay Packers	Detroit Lions
Atlanta Falcons	Minnesota Vikings
Carolina Panthers	Philadelphia Eagles
Cleveland Browns	Pittsburgh Steelers
Jacksonville Jaguars	Tennessee Titans
Las Vegas Raiders	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New Orleans Saints	New York Giants
New York Jets	Miami Dolphins
Seattle Seahawks	Arizona Cardinals
Buffalo Bills	Los Angeles Rams
Chicago Bears	San Francisco 49ers
Los Angeles Chargers	Kansas City Chiefs
Cincinnati Bengals	Dallas Cowboys

[Squeak]

Love the college playoffs. 12 teams just makes it fun.

But I HATE punishing teams that make it to the division playoff and lose. I think that is a needed change for next year or you’ll see teams start to opt out (like SMU could have/should have). A 2 loss SMU deserves a spot above a 3 loss Alabama,

[Admin Dirk]

Originally Posted by Squeak

Love the college playoffs. 12 teams just makes it fun.

But I HATE punishing teams that make it to the division playoff and lose. I think that is a needed change for next year or you’ll see teams start to opt out (like SMU could have/should have). A 2 loss SMU deserves a spot above a 3 loss Alabama,

Short version for those that don't watch college sports? What is happening?

[Squeak]

College football has a new 12 team playoff.
The power conferences are in with a bye week. The rest are ‘at large’, picked from a committee.

SMU was 11-1 and played in the ACC conference championship vs Clemson and lost by 3 points.
Alabama was 9-3 and didn’t qualify for the SEC championship.

The thought is that the committee will pick a 9-3 Alabama over a now 11-2 SMU — basically punishing them because they played in the ACC championship game.


EDIT — looks like the committee got it right. SMU is in, Alabama is out.
But I do think if it was a blowout against SMU, they would have been left out - which is wrong IMHO

[Admin Dirk]

I can tell all those words are in English, but... what?

What's a power conference? Whatever they are, they get a bye (that I understand, they don't play). So, the teams chosen by committee all play in the first week of the tournament? Like Wild Card weekend?

What exactly does the committee pick then, after that first week of games?

[Squeak]

Originally Posted by Admin Dirk

IWhat's a power conference?

The largest and most competitive Division 1 conferences. Currently, there are 4 — the South Eastern ConferenceSEC, the Atlantic Coast ConferenceACC, the Big Ten and the Big 12.

Originally Posted by Admin Dirk

So, the teams chosen by committee all play in the first week of the tournament? Like Wild Card weekend?

In simplest terms, yes. Imagine if NFL power rankings were used to determine playoff brackets.

Originally Posted by Admin Dirk

What exactly does the committee pick then, after that first week of games?

Nothing. They are responsible for picking playoff teams. My concern was that they were going to pick a team that has a historical precedent of being a good team .vs actual results. Kind of like how the NFL refs always take care of Patrick Mahomes.

This is the first year of the 12 team playoff. From 2014-2023, there was a 4 team playoff. They were picked by the committee rather than being conference champions (there was a 5th power conference then, the Pac10, which has gone the way of the dodo).

Prior to 2014, the committee decided who was playing in the national championship game. The new setup is much better, since you actually have to beat the best teams to win. However, there is always going to be whining when a committee decides who gets in.