[teejers1]

Update: BigTen officially changed the rules. Ohio State is in the championship game.

Hah! Well, the Pac-12 likes to follow the Big Ten, so we'll see what happens!

FWIW, I think the Big Ten's decision was a little easier.  They lowered the minimum number of games to qualify, but they didn't do away with the whole East/West concept.  Even in an alternate universe where Michigan might have beaten OSU this weekend, OSU would have made the Big Ten CCG by tie-breaker over Indiana based on their head-to-head result.

https://bigten.org/standings.aspx?path=football

I acknowledge Colorado's gripe, but personally I think it's wrong to change the rules of the game midstream.  There was a year where Stanford and Oregon were both 8-1 and clearly way more deserving than anyone in the South, but 6-3 UCLA got in.  You could say it's because Stanford beat Oregon that year and everyone in the division got to play everyone, but as I recall, Stanford had just beaten UCLA that year, too. (tbt Drew Terrell's catch in the rain to put us on top - loved that CCG at Stanford Stadium, probably just because it was a small but fervent crowd in the rain...)

I think the "Colorado is undefeated" argument is fairly hollow, too.  Undefeated is a sort of arbitrary concept, especially when there has only been 5 games.  Coastal Carolina and others are undefeated, too.

You could also make the point, if you were Oregon, that they pulverized us and Colorado only edged us out.  (It would be a bad point if someone actually watched the games and knew the circumstances, but this would not stop Duck Fan from making it...)

And let's not forget, the schedule is unbalanced and unfair every single year, in that the cross-division matchups are unbalanced.  This actually works against Stanford most of the time in terms of strength of schedule because we draw USC and UCLA every year. (Ironically, this year it was unfair because we drew Colorado, which figured to be the easiest team to beat in the South but turned out to be one of the two best teams.  Had we drawn Arizona or if the Colorado game had been pre-empted by Covid, we'd be thinking about the CCG now.  I'm not saying we'd deserve it, either, but just making the point that schedules are never completely fair.)  

I can't tell you how many girls soccer tournaments I've attended where my daughter's team seemed to deserve a spot in the finals, but some team in the other bracket had a much easier draw against teams that we always beat. That's just the way it goes. The 10 year-old girls ultimately understand. 

My point is that the rules are never completely fair and you just have to play by the pre-established rules.  If it meant the difference between a CFP berth and no berth (as in the Ohio State case), then maybe I'd be on-board for the sake of pragmatism, but in nearly all cases I feel, in sports, the rules are the rules.

I also feel that there's a non-zero chance that either USC or Colorado will lose this weekend... in fact, I'm expecting it!

1.  No one is saying you change the rules now - wait for this weekend's results;

2.  This entire season is "on the fly," so who cares if the traditional rules are modified, especially in the example of pitting the only two undefeated teams (if it happens) against each other in a CCG?

3.  Relatively speaking, I really only care about Stanford-OSU, and  I have this feeling that a lot of Stanford fans think "UW is the norm" for Stanford's offense.  Um . . . no.  It is quite the outlier, especially on third down conversion - and especially on third-and-long conversions.  If Stanford reverts to form . . . trouble, even against OSU with a backup QB.  And that last phrase is worth big eyes and a "Yikes!"

[teejers1]

Update: BigTen officially changed the rules. Ohio State is in the championship game.

Hah! Well, the Pac-12 likes to follow the Big Ten, so we'll see what happens!

FWIW, I think the Big Ten's decision was a little easier.  They lowered the minimum number of games to qualify, but they didn't do away with the whole East/West concept.  Even in an alternate universe where Michigan might have beaten OSU this weekend, OSU would have made the Big Ten CCG by tie-breaker over Indiana based on their head-to-head result.

https://bigten.org/standings.aspx?path=football

I acknowledge Colorado's gripe, but personally I think it's wrong to change the rules of the game midstream.  There was a year where Stanford and Oregon were both 8-1 and clearly way more deserving than anyone in the South, but 6-3 UCLA got in.  You could say it's because Stanford beat Oregon that year and everyone in the division got to play everyone, but as I recall, Stanford had just beaten UCLA that year, too. (tbt Drew Terrell's catch in the rain to put us on top - loved that CCG at Stanford Stadium, probably just because it was a small but fervent crowd in the rain...)

I think the "Colorado is undefeated" argument is fairly hollow, too.  Undefeated is a sort of arbitrary concept, especially when there has only been 5 games.  Coastal Carolina and others are undefeated, too.

You could also make the point, if you were Oregon, that they pulverized us and Colorado only edged us out.  (It would be a bad point if someone actually watched the games and knew the circumstances, but this would not stop Duck Fan from making it...)

And let's not forget, the schedule is unbalanced and unfair every single year, in that the cross-division matchups are unbalanced.  This actually works against Stanford most of the time in terms of strength of schedule because we draw USC and UCLA every year. (Ironically, this year it was unfair because we drew Colorado, which figured to be the easiest team to beat in the South but turned out to be one of the two best teams.  Had we drawn Arizona or if the Colorado game had been pre-empted by Covid, we'd be thinking about the CCG now.  I'm not saying we'd deserve it, either, but just making the point that schedules are never completely fair.)  

I can't tell you how many girls soccer tournaments I've attended where my daughter's team seemed to deserve a spot in the finals, but some team in the other bracket had a much easier draw against teams that we always beat. That's just the way it goes. The 10 year-old girls ultimately understand. 

My point is that the rules are never completely fair and you just have to play by the pre-established rules.  If it meant the difference between a CFP berth and no berth (as in the Ohio State case), then maybe I'd be on-board for the sake of pragmatism, but in nearly all cases I feel, in sports, the rules are the rules.

I also feel that there's a non-zero chance that either USC or Colorado will lose this weekend... in fact, I'm expecting it!

1.  No one is saying you change the rules now - wait for this weekend's results;

2.  This entire season is "on the fly," so who cares if the traditional rules are modified, especially in the example of pitting the only two undefeated teams (if it happens) against each other in a CCG?

3.  Relatively speaking, I really only care about Stanford-OSU, and  I have this feeling that a lot of Stanford fans think "UW is the norm" for Stanford's offense.  Um . . . no.  It is quite the outlier, especially on third down conversion - and especially on third-and-long conversions.  If Stanford reverts to form . . . trouble, even against OSU with a backup QB.  And that last phrase is worth big eyes and a "Yikes!"