N/Y; the
In the new system the edge given to conference champs isn't slight; it is huge; it is the rebuttable presumption.
The intent of the selection criteria is to reward conference champs;
"to honor regular season success while at the same time providing enough flexibility and discretion to select a non-champion or independent under circumstances where that particular non-champion or independent is unequivocally one of the four best teams in the country."
I'll repeat; "under circumstances where that particular non-champion or independent is UNEQUIVOCALLY one of the four best teams in the country".
There has to be a pretty good gap; they aren't splitting hairs. If Auburn's only loss is to undefeated Bama, AND they have other wins against impressive opponents out of conference for some good head to head comparisons, AND 2 of the P5 champs have less than 10 wins, then Auburn would certainly have a decent shot at the CFP along with other non-champs with similar pedigrees.
In the past, ESPN would have certainly hyped them in, as they did LSU. But the college Presidents have taken the media almost completely out of the selection loop; no polls, only 1 or 2 votes on the selection committee. Conference reps are controlling the selection process. If it is even remotely close, P conference champs are going to the playoff. Teams with a bye during championship week probably aren't going anywhere.
If you want to estimate a %, go back and look at the championship game winners. Wisconsin, Wake Forest...there haven't been too many that would have been bumped by a non-championship game participant.
Another factor to consider is that all of the conferences are upgrading the OOC schedules, so there won't be circumstances where a conference champ hasn't played a decent schedule. No one is going to SOS their way in (read ND). [Post edited by daveinop at 08/27/2016 09:32AM]
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In response to this post by jesuisvtguy)
Posted: 08/27/2016 at 09:32AM