SIAP: The Harbaugh Playoff Plan
Sorry if this was already posted: https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/27961116/the-college-football-playoff-survey-62-coaches-opinions-jim-harbaugh-plan
The article surveys coaches on whether they want an expanded college football playoff. The fun part is our dear coach's own plan, which they go into surprising detail on.
Enjoy?
November 5th, 2019 at 8:32 AM ^
Think the comments from coaches opposed are pretty funny. My interpretation of what they said.
Kirk Ferentz, Iowa: - Get off my lawn. Can't we go back to wearing leather helmets?
Dabo Swinney, Clemson: I've got a ridiculous easy schedule and conference to get through. If we expand the playoffs, then we add a team that doesn't totally suck on our schedule which makes it harder to cake walk through to the semis.
Dino Babers, Syracuse: I don't think the champions should be determined based on skill or depth. The closer to a random draw chance of winning it all the better.
November 5th, 2019 at 8:35 AM ^
The Non-Conference Top Ranked would always be ND. Doesn't help us with recruiting against them or getting them to join a conference. I'm ok with the current system because they seem to get the right top 4 in every year and makes the regular season more compelling.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:51 AM ^
They should join the ACC and earn the play off berth by having to win their conference or get an at large bid.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:57 AM ^
I think Harbaugh's plan actually creates a pathway for some teams to go independent. The Texas, Michigan, and Texas A&Ms of the world can all negotiate their own massive TV (or post-TV era) contracts. If there is no penalty to your standing to make the playoffs it is less important to belong to a Power 5 conference. It has the added advantage of more interesting national home & home matchups that fans actually want to see.
November 5th, 2019 at 8:35 AM ^
Ryan Day: “Style points matter. That’s the world we live in, and those are the rules, so go play by them.”
Cant say I disagree.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:03 AM ^
He's just saying that because he likes to wear a french maid costume and fish net stockings at home.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:06 AM ^
Wonder if he lives near Zach Smith?
November 5th, 2019 at 10:41 AM ^
He found Zach's stash of naughty adult fun hidden in a stack of Columbus public convenience containers round the back.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:28 AM ^
He's gonna wear that french maid costume with a pair of gold pants around his neck if we don't improve very soon.
November 5th, 2019 at 8:38 AM ^
That was the most interesting ESPN article I’ve read in a while. Thanks for sharing. Once again, our coach is thinking more deeply and with more creativity than any other coach out there. He is the same guy who was the first to propose a freebie transfer for every college football player.
November 5th, 2019 at 8:44 AM ^
Only Harbaugh would come up with an 11 team, 15 game playoff with 5 first round byes.
November 5th, 2019 at 8:45 AM ^
Well, to be fair, Mike Leach would probably come up with something similarly bizarre.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:01 AM ^
I was interested that only four coaches said they don't trust the committee, Leach and Harbaugh being two of them. Also Taggart (lol) and Patterson.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:02 AM ^
This is clearly an error on my part, and I have no idea how it's escaped me until reading your comment, but Jim Harbaugh and Mike Leach are really similar in their peculiarities. They both adhere to a particular brand of football (one's very run dominant, the other very pass dominant) and are prone to bizarre behavior behind the microphone.
Both coaches are lightning rods of controversy (rightly or wrongly) and probably take up more air time than is necessary. The last point probably because their personalities are so primed for entertainment-driven news media.
I approve 100% of my totally obvious and not at all special opinion.
You're welcome.
November 5th, 2019 at 12:11 PM ^
are prone to bizarre behavior behind the microphone.
Sort of. Harbaugh will say some unconventional things but most of what he says really isn't controverisal. He's mainly only "bizarre" because 95% of coaches show no personality at all. Leach will say some legitimately controversial things.
November 5th, 2019 at 2:50 PM ^
I would love Leach as an OC, but he's a little more shall we say off than JH.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:58 AM ^
In the corporate atmosphere, there's always "that guy/gall" that thinks they know more than everyone else, they fail to develop relationships, and even though their acumen in that given industry might be far superior, they just come off as "not a team player"
So I'd completely disagree with your assessment of Harbaugh on this, in laymen terms he comes across like the geek in class who wants to show how smart he is. That sentiment hasn't equated to the field of play yet.
As far as the 'freebie' transfer... welcome to hell! Whereby you get to waste at least one, if not multiple scholarships on QBs every single year. The GOAT would have transferred... don't kid yourself. The transfer portal will have the negative affect on recruiting that the playoff system has had, it WILL NOT work in Michigan's favor.
November 5th, 2019 at 11:54 AM ^
There is some hell involved, arguably, but it was also inevitable and far better to see future trends and get ahead of them.
The hypocrisy was getting unmanageable with coaches everywhere, recruiting kids and talking about "family" then leaving for a better paying gig. At least this way the players feel like they have some control over their own destiny.
November 5th, 2019 at 8:40 AM ^
I’m in favor of 16 or 24 team playoffs. I don’t mind Harbaugh’s plan.
November 5th, 2019 at 8:41 AM ^
i dont understand harbaugh's statement where he says no team would play more than 15 games in his model. If any of the dec 1st teams won the playoff, wouldnt they have played 16 games?
Maybe the reporter misunderstood his quote because right before that it says clemson would have only played 15 games. or maybe I am a dummy and just dont understand.
To have won it all last year under the Harbaugh Plan, Clemson would have played a total of 15 games, ending with the national championship on Jan. 7.
"You'd still have the same bowl structure that you have now, and teams that lost on Dec. 1, it's like they would've been in a championship game and then they play in a bowl game," he said. "Nobody would play 16 games."
November 5th, 2019 at 8:44 AM ^
His system eliminates the conference championship game. Thus, the most possible games a team would play is 15
Edit: The article was not mistaken. Harbaugh is wrong. Teams could play 16 games as Red points out below.
November 5th, 2019 at 8:51 AM ^
If a team that doesn't get first round bye makes it to the championship:
12 regular season games + dec 1 game (first round) + dec 8 game (second round) + dec 29 game (semis) + jan 7 game (championship) = 16
And of course, the article was mistaken, Clemson would’ve only played 14 game
Clemson (first round bye) -- 12 regular season games + dec 8 game (second round) + dec 29 game (semis) + jan 7 game (championship) = 15
Doesn't seem like the article was mistaken to me.
November 5th, 2019 at 8:56 AM ^
I stand corrected, and so does Harbaugh. There is a possibility (although unlikely a lower seeded team does it) where 1 or even 2 teams could potentially play 16 games.
While this is factually accurate, it is not a dealbreaker for this idea.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:00 AM ^
Math is hard.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:03 AM ^
In the current system, a maximum of two teams play 15 games. In the new system, with the elimination of the conference championship games, The total number of games played for power five teams is almost completely stagnant. Currently, 10 power five teams play in a conference championship game. All 10 of those teams would have one less game in their season before the playoffs based on this playoff format. The new format has 15 games, which nets 12 additional games over the current playoff format of three games. Thus, there are two new total games for all of power five. This does add one extra game for two total teams. This is about as close to a workforce neutral playoff system as possible, and also one that allows all champions and even at-large members a chance at the ultimate trophy. This resembles playoffs in every other NCAA sport.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:10 AM ^
This format has 11 teams in it, so there are 10 games in the playoff.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:22 AM ^
Gotcha, the above summary mentioning 15 games is wrong. Without power five conference championships, 10 teams play one last game; with a group of five team added to the playoff, the total number of net games for the power five is completely neutral.
just in case, I would like to phone a friend.
no, this is not my final answer...
November 5th, 2019 at 9:24 AM ^
Drew Henson's Backup was right, math is hard.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:29 AM ^
? especially arithmetic - impossibly complex...
November 5th, 2019 at 9:11 AM ^
If you took 8 instead of 11, you'd actually have one less total games and no one would have the possibility of having to play 16 games. Plus it is a more easily understood format.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:28 AM ^
The B1G championship is the week of 12/3-12/8 wherever that falls (a week past the Saturday after Thanksgiving). For instance we play OSU on 11/30 and then the B1G is 12/7. Harbaugh has a 12/1 game and a 12/8 game. If you look at his list my interpretation is he's saying one regular season game would be removed as well as the conference championships. I don't see how this is fuzzy math.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:40 AM ^
If you look at it again, he clearly states a 12 game regular season. Thus, there is the remote potential that one of the three lowest seeded teams wins three playoff games and makes it to the championship, their 16th game.
November 5th, 2019 at 10:01 AM ^
No, Thanksgiving is the 4th Thursday of November, so it is the Thursday that falls November 22-28.
The last week of the regular season is that Saturday, so November 24-30
The conference championship game is the next Saturday, so December 1-7.
Last season, the Ohio State game was November 24 and the BTCG was December 1. He's using 2018 as an example here.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:08 AM ^
8 team playoff is perfect IMO. All teams selected by committee. Keeps regular season games important as well.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:08 AM ^
Wait. Harbaugh had a printed copy of his playoff plan sitting around? And he took a pic of it with his cell and sent it to the reporter?
That's just wonderful, as is ESPN making sure to credit the photography to Jim Harbaugh.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:12 AM ^
I wonder if this would help parity at the highest level. It seems right now there are a fewer number of teams getting all the best recruits and a larger second tier of teams. With 11 playoff teams their could be maybe 20 teams getting to the playoffs regularly instead of just around 6 teams. That could help with the spreading the recruiting talent.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:18 AM ^
And there would be a chance for a team that dropped a couple games early, but is surging at the back half of the season, to make the playoffs and upset the top teams.
November 5th, 2019 at 10:09 AM ^
That is what makes March Madness so exciting and finds those teams peaking under the best competition. Instead the SEC just protects its teams with fewer tough games down the stretch.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:42 AM ^
It might...
Only because the larger pool of teams would dilute the current disparity at the top (Bama, Clem, OSU, LSU etc.).
From my perspective, that would pull down OSU a little more... and given their current state of flux, might be enough to grant Michigan some leverage in the rivalry.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:16 AM ^
"would you like to see more uniformity in scheduling?"
SEC has one coach agree lol.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:21 AM ^
The entire SEC and Clemson believe the current system is good while almost none of the B1G.
Sometimes the best barometer of whether something is fair or not, is how those people with a conflict of interest/skin in the game vote, relative to their position.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:37 AM ^
The optics on this article... again... put a target on the back of Michigan.
Harbaugh should just abstain at times, then give his $.02 when we're in a position of power (at the top). Until then, a lot of this comes off as whining and complaining.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:45 AM ^
Its not hard.
5 P5 conference champs and highest ranked G5 team.
If you can't win your conference, why should you play in the playoff?
Actual Champions League style.
If Notre Dame complains, join a fucking conference.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:45 AM ^
Double.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:49 AM ^
On the too many games issue: If a couple teams ended up playing 14 or 15 or 16 games, I doubt they'd mind.
For them it beats 2 to 3 weeks of often rigorous practice in December for a bowl game they aren't always enthused about playing
November 5th, 2019 at 10:04 AM ^
Harbaugh's format is better than a committee picked top 4 - it gets 11 teams involved, eliminates the duplicate conference title games, and gives an opportunity for the likes of UCF to compete. The only issue is regular season schedules would need to be equalized and there would need to be limits to only one FCS opponent on the schedule.
The bowl games have become irrelevant for the good teams ranked outside the top 4, so we definitely need to expand the playoffs. I think it would help level recruiting as well given it provides more teams a chance to showcase their players in a playoff type atmosphere.
November 5th, 2019 at 2:13 PM ^
SEC response: “We’ve got too much tradition to be scheduling different uniforms for each game!”
November 5th, 2019 at 10:10 AM ^
Gotta love how the SEC, ND, and about half of the ACC don't want a uniformed way of scheduling.
They can't stand to give up that free week in late November against an FCS opponent.