12:28 pm November 10, 2009, by Doug Roberson
I’ll have more on this later, but Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said a playoff system would be the way to go in Division I-A football.
However, he said he understood why some schools and conferences are fine with the status quo.
Paraphrasing what he said, if a team wins the Big Ten, for example, it’s almost guaranteed a spot in the championship game. Why would they want to change?
Johnson said he’s not saying it now because his team is ranked No. 7 and may not get a chance to play for the title this season. He said he brings it up because it makes the most sense.
Had teams not been slotted into spots before a game was even played, today’s rankings might look a lot different.
This is my take on it: LSU is a top-10 team, even though it has two losses. It’s two losses came to Alabama and Florida. There’s a lot of teams that would lose to the Tide and Gators, so who does that make them a top-10 team?
The inside scoop on Georgia Tech sports from beat writer Ken Sugiura
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165 comments Add your comment
paul johnson
November 10th, 2009
12:31 pm
second?
Michael
November 10th, 2009
12:44 pm
No Paul, you were first! I’m second.
BuzztheKiller
November 10th, 2009
12:49 pm
An eight team playoff would be awesome! At least as exciting as March Madness, and no one disputes the champion at the end. Do you think any of the teams in the top 8 would want to face Tech right now in a playoff with only a week to prepare? Not a chance.
45-42=haha
November 10th, 2009
12:49 pm
If there was a playoff today, both Alabama and Florida would rest their star players for the rest of the season, having already locked up their berths in the SEC Championship Game. With a win over Duke, Tech would probably rest Nesbitt, Dwyer, etc. against Uga, Clemson would probably do the same agains USC. The regular season is the playoff in college football.
GT4Life
November 10th, 2009
12:50 pm
I’m all for playoffs especially with CPJ at the helm. We match up with just about in any team in the country that has a week’s notice to play us. I’m still waiting to see how we match up with a team that has a month to prepare for us.
poop
November 10th, 2009
12:51 pm
third!
superDawg
November 10th, 2009
12:52 pm
Poor pj no chance for tek.By the way calvin johnson is just mad because he lost to UGA his whole time at tek.
superDawg
November 10th, 2009
12:53 pm
btk tek would get hammered by UF,ALA,TX,….!
GT4Life
November 10th, 2009
12:53 pm
Poor mutts wouldn’t even be invited to a playoff. Feel free to trash talk our 9-1 team if it makes you feel better. Poor little guys…
superDawg
November 10th, 2009
12:54 pm
TEK HAS NO DEFENSE.
GT4Life
November 10th, 2009
12:54 pm
There you go. Get it all out.
johnny weissmuller
November 10th, 2009
12:57 pm
And UGA does?
Big South Ga. DAWG
November 10th, 2009
12:57 pm
Hate to break it to you nerds, but you wouldn’t go very far in a playoff. You’re not even going to win your last regular season game against an unranked oponent.
GT4Life
November 10th, 2009
12:58 pm
There ya go… trash talking will make it all better. Joe Cox sucks, Caleb King sucks, Martinez sucks, Bobo sucks, we all know so just do what you need to to make your day better. It’s hard to be overshadowed by a real football program, I understand.
superDawg
November 10th, 2009
12:59 pm
gt4life you have lead a sad life my nerd friend.One hit wonder and you are the national nerd be proud.
johnny weissmuller
November 10th, 2009
1:00 pm
superDawg
Well we all know this for certain, the last time UGA played Bama and UF, UGA was thoroughly embarrassed
GT4Life
November 10th, 2009
1:01 pm
Oh, thought you got it all out. You got something new I see. Thanks for keeping it fresh and I’m glad we can give you something to vent about.
White & Gold Forever
November 10th, 2009
1:02 pm
Tell ‘em, GT4LIFE. There claim to fame is their great fan support. Nice 10% missing on Homecoming! Good Luck against Kentucky to try to get a .500 season. Auburn and Tech are lost causes.
johnny weissmuller
November 10th, 2009
1:02 pm
Big South Ga. DAWG
Bet that’s similar to what you were saying last year before CPJ put up over 400 yards on Martinez Be’twinx the hedges
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
collegeballfan
November 10th, 2009
1:03 pm
A lot of teams get to partipate with the current bowl structure. A playoff system would restrict the number of teams that get to participate. So it will always be voted down.
What we got is what we got.
GT4Life
November 10th, 2009
1:05 pm
You guys really should help yourselves out with that inferiority complex. Telling us we are smarter than you constantly is not doing anyone any good especially when we’re better than you at football too. Being nerds is only bad in the high school cafeteria, not in the real world. Cheer up and realize we’re all smart in our own right. Just sad you don’t believe in yourselves.
White & Gold Forever
November 10th, 2009
1:08 pm
Why not a + 4 (or at least a + 2) after the bowls? Set the bowls up to be quarterfinals. I like the bowl structure and I like every regular season game counting. But I actually feel for the TCUs of the world.
Had we beaten Miami, we would still be looking up at at least UF, Bama, Texas (and I would be howling mad)….
Bring it on
November 10th, 2009
1:08 pm
If you only had an 8 team playoff system keep in mind you must be ranked in the top 8 to get this chance to play..Do not see why teams would sit out their best players taking a chance of falling out of the top 8 with a loss
Wreckbone
November 10th, 2009
1:08 pm
Yeah, we could be bitter a bit if we win out and dont get a chance. LEts see if we trya nd have an alum put it into the state senate (like that has weight). So just remember you dog fans were here a couple of years back. I’ve thought it is the thing to do for a decade as a lot of football fans have felt…..no surprise there.
Obama wants it, maybe he can cook up some sort of bloated stimulus package for the bowl folks and make it happen. If he can do that I’ll vote for him.
Yes if there is a playoff system, we may have some people rest their star players. It can happen but it would not be like college hoops where a ton of teams get in.
I’m just glad we can talk about this stuff.
To the Tech Jr stars (Dwyer, Morgan, Burnett, Thomas) – Please come back next year. I’d love for this team to stay together because we would have a serious chance at a national title if none of you go pro and the gamesgo as well as most of them have this year. (I didn’t add Nesbitt because I think he’ll be back although I think he could go pro and make it as a running back or QB. Look at Pat White)
Someone make a T-Shirt and call our offense the Wreckbone!!
superDawg
November 10th, 2009
1:11 pm
jw if tek played UF,ALA. it would have been a lot worse.Our record against these two teams is not bad compared to other teams in recent years.tek’s record over the last 10 years is not very impressive.
superDawg
November 10th, 2009
1:14 pm
wreckbone your an idiot.
GT4Life
November 10th, 2009
1:15 pm
Still here I see, superDawg. You are just so original and bitter too.
SCQA&A
November 10th, 2009
1:19 pm
CPJ is entirely correct. It’s good to see him start to “advocate” for GT in a roundabout way. I would speculate his comments are not entirely directed at playoff advocacy as much as trying to get attention for what he and his/our team is doing right now and get more “respect” from the media as a whole (are you listening, Heather Dinich/ESPN?). I would also speculate that CPJ realizes that this Tech team is/could be “special” and that he wants to do some PR work for the team in regards BCS voting. He’s doing what a great coach with a great team should – pull for and promote them in the media.
Also, if there were an 8-team playoff, who really thinks Florida or Alabama or Texas really could prepare for a spread option offensive onslaught in such short order? A coach that’s won 2 national titles in a playoff format would know, I think. Not saying right off that we would win a national title playoff, but the thought of this Tech team in an 8-team playoff and its chances would definitely appeal
.
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GTSteve
November 10th, 2009
1:20 pm
Superdawg it is your opinion that Tech would get hammered if they played UF or Bama, but it is fact the last time you played those teams you got hammered….Opinion vs Fact
VegasGT
November 10th, 2009
1:24 pm
Yes, you have to really wonder about the psyche of some of those UGA fans.
As for UGA, I hope they win every game except for one. If you really wanted the best for your program, you would want to meet that Saturday after Thanksgiving with both teams being undefeated, makes for a bigger game, more media attention and better results win or lose based on the current system.
UGA will get better, eventually, everything goes in cycles. Based on the recruiting classes that UGA gets, they really should be much better. Guess you can’t really measure anything until they play the game which is how it should be.
As for why they show themselves here and add nothing to the subject at hand, can’t answer. It’s obviously motivated by a perceived lack of something.
As for a playoff (which is the real subject we should be discussing), I would be all for some sort of eight or sixteen team playoff with other satellite bowls to fill the television gaps that warrant and support other games. A sixteen team playoff would take about a month to play, so you are not talking about going much longer than we do now. I would also eliminate the league championships as they present a potentially unfair scenario to those who have them vs those that do not. The satellite bowls would fill in the television gaps created over the holiday period since there would not be as many playoff games toward the end of the period as there are bowls now.
To say the regular season is the playoffs doesn’t work because of the relative strength of conferences and strength of schedules. The problem will be how you define the top 8 or 16 teams. You just can’t make everyone happy.
Who knows, just an alternative.
johnny weissmuller
November 10th, 2009
1:29 pm
superDawg
That is your opinion
Here are recent relevant facts:
2009
UF blasted UGA 41-17
2008
Bama embarrassed UGA and the black out 41-30 be’twinx the hedges
AlabamaRamblinwreck
November 10th, 2009
1:32 pm
As usual, I agree with Coach. I think there can be bowls for the non-qualifiers, but there must be at least an 8 team playoff for the NC.
Go Jackets!!
Cuttysark
November 10th, 2009
1:33 pm
Playoffs are the best way to decide every other NCAA sport. It will eliminate the $$$ payout to the BCS Conferences which is why they are against it. Remember, Utah’s win against Bama last year showed it should be decided on the field of play.
Go to http://isportsweb.com for more Georgia Tech Football articles and a review of the Yellow Jackets win in OT against Wake and Paul Johnson. Go Jackets!
Tokyo jacket
November 10th, 2009
1:38 pm
How about a 6 team playoff? That way, the top 2 teams would have a bye. There would be real incentive to not rest your best for both the bye and the potential to drop out of the top 6.
I love my jackets and yes, they could beat anyone on any given Saturday. But, I don’t think they’re the best team in the country. I think the best team in the country is sitting in the top 6 though, year in and year out. I’m tired of the beauty pageant.
All this said, if our juniors return next year, there is no doubt in my mind that we’ll be the best team in the country. If they all stay, in addition to having a shot at the NC (even with a loss probably), we’ll probably produce three first/second round picks in 2010. That’s a big shot in the arm for recruiting. Here’s to hoping!
GTSteve
November 10th, 2009
1:43 pm
I agree about next year, except, the road schedule will be tough
私は来年のを除き、同意すると、道路のスケジュールを厳しいものになる
mash the bug
November 10th, 2009
1:45 pm
of course he does…..since the nerds will not be playing for the NC….lol
Blago
November 10th, 2009
1:49 pm
Playoffs are a bad idea in major college football. Everyone mentions that “this is how every other sport determines its champion.” But everyone fails to mention that every other sport has a regular season that pretty much doesn’t matter.
You know how millions of major college football fans religiously follow the regular season? They all go to the games. They all sit there completely devastated not just by losses, but by single bad plays. They storm the field and tear down goalposts when they beat a top 5 team at home for the first time in five decades.
Name another sport where these things happen every time there is a game to be played. You can’t do it. Not in the pros, not in college. Because they all have pointless regular seasons where very little is at stake in the vast majority of the games.
“Well college football is different.” WHY do you think it’s different? Sit down and actually think about that before you go preaching about the need for a playoff. College football is special, and it has a lot to do with how it determines its champion. It creates passion that you just don’t see anywhere else.
OlderThanDirt
November 10th, 2009
1:50 pm
I go all the way back the to ’50s rooting for GT. Along the way we have had some great teams. i think CPJ has a chance to relive the glory days of Dodd. But honestly i dont think that this year’s team has the ‘D’ to play the hosses in the country. Are they one of the top 10, absolutely. So far the only team to have a month to prepare during the season is LSU last year. We are all embarassed over that one. Hopefully the squad remembers that one.
Blago
November 10th, 2009
1:57 pm
And another thing. Stop encouraging all of our standout juniors to stay next year. If you actually cared about them (and you ought to, considering the entertainment they provide you), you would be pushing them out the door.
What happens when you stay in school? You put yourself at risk. Look at Sam Bradford and Jermaine Gresham. They came back, and instead of winning a national championship, they are each out for the season with severely lowered draft stock.
You talk about education being the most important thing? That’s just not true. We’re talking about MILLIONS of dollars that they are risking by coming back to school. If they want their education, they can come back and get it while they’re playing for the NFL. Plenty of players have.
Quit being selfish and don’t blame guys for putting their families and futures ahead of a bunch of fans that they don’t know and boo them when they play poorly.
In closing, I’ll be pretty disappointed if I see Dwyer, Bay-Bay, Burnett, or Morgan back in a GT uniform next year. And I’m a die hard GT fan.
Griffin
November 10th, 2009
1:59 pm
45-42=haha… Your theory makes no sense. Who says you would have to set it up to where the conference champs automatically go. That is not how they do it in the lesser divisions. Every game would be just as important as they are now because it would be very hard for a two loss team to make an eight team playoff.
U-no
November 10th, 2009
2:00 pm
You know, I’ve read all the whining, complaining, and crapping on the UGA blogs after the games this year. I have noticed the dissatisfaction with the play calling, Joe Cox, the defense, the coaches, the players, the refs, and everything else related to this year’s UGA team. It doesn’t make much sense to start talking about how the puppies are going to beat the Yellow Jackets after all the discontent that has been voiced, and the fact that there are no guarantees that you can win the games against Auburn and Kentucky. If everything that has been said about the team as a whole, individual players, coaches, play-calling, offense and defense is true; then I would suggest a little more humility is in order and just wait and see what happens.
Tech has every reason to be confident and approach the remainder of the season with an expectation to win every game they have remaining, including the date with the pups. Granted, there are concerns about the defense, but so far that has not caused us to lose, except for Miami.
I agree with CPJ a fairer approach to determining a true NC would be a playoff system so some sort. The BCS is a convoluted and contrived system that is weighted too heavily in favor of certain conferences and teams. However, it is what we have right now and no matter whether the sideline observers and living room coaches think it is deserved or not, Tech is ranked 7th in the nation and is continuing to win to prove they belong there and possibly higher before it is all over. Winning trumps talk and opinions. CPJ has the Jackets winning… consistently, with an offense that everyone said couldn’t work all they way from the high school level to now, the top ten BCS level. The proof of the puddin’ is in the eatin’, my grandmother always said. Works for me!
Tech fan
November 10th, 2009
2:03 pm
I DON’T CARE ABOUT ANY OF THIS!!!
ALL I WANT TO DO IS BEAT GEORGIA THIS YEAR!!!
freshman Tight end
November 10th, 2009
2:05 pm
DAWGGGGSSSSSS there is a bigger picture than 7 to 1…. please like i keep saying YOU GUYS can POUND YOUR CHEST about beating CHan Gailey and frequent gift wraps from REGGIE… have it take it keep it!!!!!!!!!!!!
What Paul Johnson did last year and is staring to do at TECH is what We and Not you are historically known for… Heisman , Alexander, Dodd now Paul Johnson… I wont mention Ross even though he HAS a NATL CHIP at TECH because dawgs dont realize WHAT A 5TH DOWN is…
You can talk 7 to 1 I for one dont care…
The DAY UGA HONORS “ITS LEGENDS”……………. what happen?
GTville
November 10th, 2009
2:13 pm
GT would not be in a playoff. As Doug said 3 SEC teams deserve to be in the top 10. Some years because they don’t all play each other in the regular season, there may be 4 SEC teams. 2 teams each from the Big 10 and 12, one from the PAC and Notre Dame (at 7-4) should round out the yearly playoff slots.
If there is a playoff, the regular season has to matter and no more than 2 teams from any conference can make the playoffs. Also need to prevent stupid situations where the press can insert a 7-4 Notre Dame just because they are ND.
There will be more arguements with the playoffs if the playoff spots are selected by the press or computers. Eliminate the press from the equation and make a clear way to earn a playoff spot regardless of the size of your alumni base or your history.
The press will be disappointed in a playoff as they will lose their votes.
Mel
November 10th, 2009
2:13 pm
There needs to be a playoff. But then the big 10 would never play in the champ game as they would lose first round.
cherokee
November 10th, 2009
2:17 pm
Buzz……Bama or Florida would beat Tech. You need to worry about getting by Clemson again.
cherokee
November 10th, 2009
2:18 pm
Also Texas would pluck your wings as well. WHO have you beaten?
Munson
November 10th, 2009
2:21 pm
Hey GT4Life, 31-3 is how you match up when a team (LSU just in case you blocked it out) has a month prepare. What a loser!
GTJay
November 10th, 2009
2:22 pm
“Playoffs are a bad idea in major college football. Everyone mentions that “this is how every other sport determines its champion.” But everyone fails to mention that every other sport has a regular season that pretty much doesn’t matter.”
I don’t understand this–how can one say that “every other sport[that has a playoff] has a regular season that pretty much doesn’t matter”, when a teams performance DURING the regular season is what determines who GOES to a playoff? I’d say in all these other sports the regular season still matters very much.
In fact, in the current system, in which this year there may be up to five undefeated teams by season’s end, the regular season will not have “mattered” for three of those teams as only two will get to compete for the MNC because they were in the glamour conferences, while the other three were not.
GTJay
November 10th, 2009
2:22 pm
“Playoffs are a bad idea in major college football. Everyone mentions that “this is how every other sport determines its champion.” But everyone fails to mention that every other sport has a regular season that pretty much doesn’t matter.”
I don’t understand this–how can one say that “every other sport[that has a playoff] has a regular season that pretty much doesn’t matter”, when a teams performance DURING the regular season is what determines who GOES to a playoff? I’d say in all these other sports the regular season still matters very much.
In fact, in the current system, in which this year there may be up to five undefeated teams by season’s end, the regular season will not have “mattered” for three of those teams as only two will get to compete for the MNC because they were in the glamour conferences, while the other three were not.