College Football Playoff

Kickoff

By: Garrison Ryfun

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

At the end of the first transfer period, two teams stand at the top of the transfer portal recruiting rankings according to 247Sports: LSU and Florida State.

Florida State and LSU started the season last year in a Sunday night thriller that ended with an extra point blocked by FSU.

Since that 24-23 win, both teams went on to have great regular seasons and both wound up winning a bowl sponsored by Cheez-It in Orlando. (LSU winning the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl and FSU winning the Cheez-It Bowl).

In an exciting week 1 rematch to start the 2023 season, both teams will pick up where they left off – in Orlando, at Camping World Stadium.

This neutral site matchup is sure to be another classic opening weekend game, with the winner having a great resume-building win for the final four-team playoff in 2023.

But how did these teams, who started the year unranked in 2022, become likely two preseason top ten teams? Good coaching and the transfer portal.

Names like Jayden Daniels for LSU or Jared Verse for FSU, both helped elevate the ceiling of the programs they transferred into in 2022.

Now heading into the 2023 season, with Florida State and LSU sitting on top of the transfer recruiting rankings let’s see who they brought in through the portal:

LSU:

Aaron Anderson (WR) from Alabama

Paris Shand (Edge) from Arizona

Jalen Lee (DL) from Florida

Bradyn Swinson (Edge) from Oregon

Denver Harris (CB) from Texas A&M

Jordan Jefferson (DL) from West Virginia

Zy Alexander (CB) from Southeastern Lousiana

Darian Chestnut (CB) from Syracuse

Jakailin Johnson (CB) from Ohio State

Ovie Oghofu (LB) from Texas

Omar Speights (LB) from Oregon State

LSU went hard after defensive lineman and cornerbacks, grabbing four of each during this cycle to help shore up holes. They also were able to grab a stud linebacker in Omar Speights to have in tandem with rising star Harold Perkins.

FSU:

Darrell Jackson (DL) from Miami (Fl)

Jaheim Bell (TE) from South Carolina

Kyle Morelock (TE) from Shorter University

Casey Roddick (IOL) from Colorado

Jeremiah Byers (OT) from UTEP

Keiondre Jones (IOL) from Auburn

Braden Fiske (DL) from Western Michigan

Fentrell Cypress (CB) from Virginia

Gilber Edmond (DE) from South Carolina

Tyler Keltner (K) from ETSU

 

FSU looked to add the lines of scrimmage, adding three offensive and three defensive linemen to their roster.

They were also able to plug a big hole at tight end, by bringing in two athletic college standouts.

They were able to secure the commitment from a transfer kicker, creating a competition there this offseason.

Finally, the biggest get for their class was likely Fentrell Cypress, a shutdown corner from Virginia – a piece the Noles have been missing since 2021.

In an age when questions are being asked about the sustainability of transfer portal recruiting, and whether or not it’s possible to win a championship with schools taking ten or more transfers a year – Florida State and LSU, teams using this newer model, will likely start the 2023 season in a top ten matchup that can have serious playoff implications.

Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch December 11

Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch December 11
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Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch June 12

Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch June 12
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Expansion

By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

We need to expand the College Football Playoffs to eight teams, they say. We need to acknowledge the conference champions and provide access to more deserving teams.

Maybe it is time to relax and ask the important question: Do we want to expand?

The Oklahoma – LSU game looks bad and has many armed chair quarterbacks questioning the teams that deserve to be in the playoffs.

Oklahoma earned the spot during the regular season and with the Big 12 championship.  Oklahoma had the best resume.

It is certainly possible that the Playoff Committee made a mistake in selecting the Sooners this year.

Could Alabama or Georgia put up a better fight against LSU? LSU beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa on November 9th 46-41. Then Alabama suffered their second loss of the season in the Iron Bowl 48-45 to Auburn.

Georgia was boat raced out of the Georgia Dome by LSU in the SEC championship game 37-10. Plus, Georgia had a huge wart on their resume with a 20-17 loss to a four-win South Carolina team.

This is not an argument for expansion, because expanding to six or eight teams would increase the blowouts.

This season there were 3 elite teams in college football: Ohio State, Clemson and LSU.

Since the playoffs have started, we have experienced some classic National Championship games, but only a couple semifinals have lived up to expectations.

The four team playoff is an improvement over the BCS. I know today’s society wants everything bigger and better. Expanding to eight teams would open things up for each of the Power 5 Conferences to be represented.

The hunger to expand to an eight team playoff is slowly, but surely taking over the sport and when it happens, many will cheer. An expanded playoff means the gap between the quality of opponents is going to get even bigger not smaller.

If the goal is to get better games then surely expansion is not the answer. If the goal is to increase revenue to the Power 5 Conferences than expansion will happen. “Follow the Money”

There is no ideal way to determine a national champion in college football. Limit the field and you run the risk of not seeing the best teams compete for a title.

Expand the field and fans are watching more watered down games. As a college football fan, who may complain now with 4 teams, will complaints stop after we add another 4?

College football fans love watching classic games. The Clemson 29-23 win over Ohio State, which sent the Tigers to the College Football Playoff Championship game was one. This game was an instant classic and drama at the highest level.

It was a grueling battle between two elite college football teams filled with comebacks, instant replay overturned and late game, gut wrenching drama.

In many cases, more college football is a good thing, but blowouts are not good for anyone.

Expanding the playoffs is a way that makes more money for the Elite Power 5 Conferences, whose only priority is to increase revenue. Expanding the playoff will dilute the quality of the games.

That is why the upcoming Championship game is so attractive.

Broken System

By: Mike Anthony

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The latest College Football Playoff rankings are out and – just as all of these releases are, up until the final one – it’s just a song and dance meant to drive argument and interest in the race for the four spots in the championship postseason.

It really doesn’t matter that Ohio State is ahead of LSU. The Tigers could very well pull ahead with a win, in what will be perceived as a tougher matchup in its conference championship game.

It really doesn’t matter that Georgia is fourth while Alabama is fifth. A win for the Bulldogs in the SEC title game will guarantee them a spot – and a higher seed – in the playoff, while Alabama knows all about sitting out of a conference championship game and moving up by default.

It really doesn’t matter that Clemson has pinballed around the rankings so far. They’re the defending national champions and they’ll be in the playoff so long as they remain undefeated.

In the end, everything seems to be on a crash course for yet another round of bashing the selection committee for including one team while leaving out another. And when you look at the big picture, the NCAA has brought a lot of that scorn upon itself.

Of the 10 conferences in FBS football, there is a split between the ‘Power 5’ and the ‘Group of 5’. Those names weren’t originally created by the NCAA, but the association acknowledged the split several years ago when it set special stipulations to mandate that at least one G5 team is represented in the six major New Year’s bowls.

But, by doing that, the NCAA has stepped in an even bigger puddle. There is now a de facto admission that five conferences are seen as superior and will get preference in rankings and bowl allotments.

That much isn’t so bad as the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 and SEC consistently put forth the best teams in the country. But the problem arises when elementary math takes over and there are five power conference champions and only four playoff spots.

It’s as if a ship named five officers and only provided four lifejackets to go between them. Regardless of anyone else on board who is deserving of a vest, it’s impossible for anything other than a power struggle to result.

There have been plenty of years in which a P5 conference hasn’t produced a national championship-caliber team. And there have been years where one P5 conference has objectively had two of the best four teams in the nation that both deserve to play on.

Of course, there are also about a half-dozen instances dating back to the BCS days where a G5 team went undefeated and wasn’t even allowed the ability to keep playing toward a national championship before being dismissed and cast aside while P5 schools battled it out.

With P5 conference members given more of a benefit of the doubt for losses and those same teams mostly controlling who and when and where they play any non-conference game, it’s almost guaranteed that every season will end with a couple of shoe-in playoff teams, along with about a half-dozen other P5s with solid cases to make and a few G5s who can’t get the time of day due to their PERCEIVED lack of schedule strength.

It’s past time for the playoff to expand. If the P5 schools are so far above the rest, then each of the conference champions should have a chance to play for a title. And when great G5 teams get bashed for their schedule, it should be taken with a grain of salt since obviously no P5 squad wanted to bring them in for a perceived easy win.

There are too many teams and not enough weeks to work out a perfect regular season that produces a unanimously agreed upon playoff field. So, it’s up to the powers that be to come up with something that isn’t designed to ensure plenty of legitimate contenders left on the sidelines each fall.

Jason Bishop Show with Kipp Branch December 15

Jason Bishop Show with Kipp Branch December 15
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