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DarthYoda2594 Ballot for 2023 Week 15 & Bowls

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Dec. 3, 2023, 10:23 a.m.

Overall Rationale: I took a "committee" approach (even though it's just me, the playoff dictator) to the top 5. As far as selecting a group of teams for the playoff, I have come around on the idea of factoring in injury. Personally, I'm not interested in watching a #1 Michigan vs. #4 Florida State defensive snoozefest that's going to have a 2 TD spread. If we wanted a purely objective ranking system of the top 4 teams, we could have done that with the BCS or some other computer composite. The purpose of the existence of the committee is ultimately INTENDED to be subjective, and my eyes tell me Florida State isn't the same without Jordan Travis. Their resume looks similar to even Michigan on paper, but they're certainly not vying for the top spot in anyone's ranking, so why would that be? If their personnel situation matters at all, it has to be fully accounted for, and in my opinion there HAS to be a human element just in the interest of keeping games interesting and competitive, especially considering the results of teams like Michigan State, Washington, and Cincy as the #4 seed in previous playoffs. All that said, we more or less DID have a larger playoff this year. Oregon/Washington was a quarterfinal, OSU/Michigan was a quarterfinal, and likewise with Georgia/Bama. The problem comes with the two marginally weaker conferences, where Oklahoma State and Louisville were non-factors. This just reinforces with me that the best-case scenario is 4 large conferences (or maybe 2 in the new future landscape), where the conference championships essentially double as playoff games. Win your conference? You're in. We can debate the merits of adding other teams beyond that, but I personally will actually kind of miss the 4 team system. Shame it has to go out on a controversial low note just like its predecessor.

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