I am going to type slowly for you ... I know it's long and detailed but you can take a break or a nap and digest it in multiple sessions:
1. Everyone, and I mean everyone other than you has UGA in the CFP, barring a loss to GaTech and Bama. For people with brains, UGA beating Tech was always implicit in the statement that "UGA is already in the CFP." Everyone but you understood that scenario to mean UGA beating Tech and losing to Bama.
2. Find me one single legit sports source that has any mock CFP match-up and UGA isn't in it. The Athletic did one today that I will post for everyone, that showed 10 different possibilities. UGA was in all 10. All of the assume UGA beating Tech, and then obviously either winning or losing the SECCG. I've posted the article in another post in this forum.
3. No one here said losses didn't matter. What we did say was that a loss in a conference championship to the no. 2 team in the land was not going to keep UGA out. What we did say was that UGA's hypothetical loss to Bama in the SECCG would be a way better loss than OSU's loss to a 6-5 (4-4) Iowa State. In that scenario, both teams will have one loss, the only difference being that OSU's loss was a way worse loss.
4. You seem to argue that a loss in a CCG, or a later loss somehow matters more. Fortunately, no one, and I mean no one, agrees with you on that.
5. At that point, per the committees charge (see the section below), they would compare the two teams. UGA would have been no. 1 over half the season, is no. 1 in defense (OSU no. 3, but UGA's numbers are actually way better), and top 5 in offensive efficiency (OSU is around 35th). With the exception of the kick-off classic against likely 9-3 Clemson, we blew everyone out that we played. OSU struggled with teams they should have beaten badly. Teams scored, on average, 24 less points against us than everyone else they played. We shut out 2 teams, and held 7 of the 11 teams we have played to single digits. Unlike your team, I have a lot of respect for OSU, and I hope they run the table and get in. But when the committee compares the two teams, they will will not see them as "comparable teams." We know this because they have had us at no. 1 from the first time they voted, while OSU was 11, 10, and now 9. That shows, based on metrics, eyeball test, etc. that they don't see the two teams as "comparable teams." If they did OSU would be in the top 4. They are not, yet.
6. Why is that important? Because you keep harping on the fact that OSU would be a conference champion in this scenario and UGA would not. The problem is that isn't relevant based on the CFP Committee's Principals. Here is the exact way it is done - this is from their protocol -
CFP Selection Committee Protocol:
- Mission - The committee’s task will be to select the best teams, rank the teams for inclusion in the playoff and selected other bowl games and then assign the teams to sites.
- Principals - The committee will select the teams using a process that distinguishes among otherwise comparableteams by considering:
- Conference championships won,
- Strength of schedule,
- Head‐to‐head competition,
- Comparative outcomes of common opponents (without incenting margin of victory), and,
- Other relevant factors such as unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.
Note that they don't get to any of the stuff in the second bullet point unless the teams are comparable. If they deem UGA to be the better team than OSU, the CCG won't matter. I believe they will do that. Just like I think if OSU runs the table they will deem them to be better than Cincy, not comparable teams, and none of that will apply and OSU gets in. Or if they do find the comparable teams, they would both be conf champs, but the OSU SOS would win the day v. Cincy.
Keep in mind, you can't disagree with me on this ... this is the protocol. You can dislike the protocol. You can wish it were otherwise. You can deem it unfair. But it is the protocol and based on what the committee has done so far, the two teams aren't considered comparable. Now, you say, they don't do this, do they? Yes. It's exactly what they said they did when PSU won the B1G, but tOSU went to the CFP. The committee stated that they didn't see the two teams as being comparable due to metrics, etc., so they never had to look at the championship. You could argue that they are comparable. I am sure many will if they win out, and UGA loses to Bama. But, there isn't anyone that covers CFB that would support you.
So, good luck with that argument. Nothing and no else supports it.
