This is just stupid. "Purdue fans don't care about losses to IU in basketball" is so misinformed I don't even know what to say to counter it. Purdue-IU has been so important that both sides have forced the Big Ten to guarantee they always play every year in football. It was the ONLY protected rivalry when they went to the current West/East conference format which is going away. In basketball, there are only 3 protected rivalries. IU-Purdue is one of them.

Yet somehow you think that no one from the Purdue or IU side cares about the rivalry when they literally had special rules created just for them to make sure they always play.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Again, if you don't think rivalry games in college sports don't matter any more than any other game then you just don't understand college sports. It's fine. You probably don't have a team you care about. You've probably never experienced a true college rivalry game.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

No, in 1995 they would have celebrated like they won the Super Bowl because in 1995 that was their Super Bowl, the one game (or two) on their schedule that was relevant to the college football world as a whole. A win there creates seismic ripples because it impacts the entire college football landscape.

The same win in 2025 is a really fun win for IU, no doubt, but it's irrelevant on the national landscape because OSU likely makes the playoffs with even three losses in most years.

Nobody is saying that rivalry games "don't matter". They are fun and what makes the endeavor more fun. Michigan - Ohio State will always be a fun game experience for the fans and have cache on a national level. It will just mean less when the loser has less to risk with a loss. If you don't understand that, then you just don't understand life.

Ohio State's national championship goals for the season are done with the loss to Michigan. That won't be the case in 2025. It devalues the game. Yes, it will still be a fun rivalry game, but the game will be devalued by the expanded playoffs.

Answer this, which is a more valuable game and why: UNC vs NC State in the 1974 ACC tournament finals, or UNC vs NC State in the 2025 ACC tournament finals?

Cracka, you just implied it! You said "it's just another game." Rivalry games clearly are not just another game.

Edit: Some weird number (singular/plural) issues in my post.

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Did you donate your gizzard or your brain? College sports are firstly a regional thing.

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It’s hard to know motivation, but I don’t think lesser schools’ fans celebrate wins over power schools because they’ve derailed the latter’s postseason ambitions

They celebrate because their team won the game. That’s not going to change.

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There's also 30,000 chicks at those games.

(Sorry. I'm just trying to rev up One Post. He best when he ragey.)

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IU beating an undefeated or even one loss OSU team is going to be the lead story on the national landscape. Just last weekend, Auburn ALMOST beating Alabama who is almost certainly not making the CFP was a dominant national storyline. Yet, IU beating OSU is going to be ignored?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

You win the lottery for $1, or win the lottery for $1,000,000.

You celebrate the same in either case because you are just celebrating the "win" and not the magnitude right?

You are saying that rivalry games don't matter. Now, hypothetically, could the loser of Michigan-OSU go on to win the national title and not care as much about losing the Michigan-OSU game. Of course. However, as we saw last year, both OSU and Michigan made the CFP and Ryan Day is on the hot seat because he has lost 3 games to Michigan in a row.

They aren't done. OSU is currently 5th in the CFP standings. Last year, they lost to Michigan and still made the CFP.

They are equally valuable. Rivalry game for a championship. I don't even know what point you were trying to make here. I say this as someone that doesn't think all that highly of the money grab known as conference tournaments.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Right, Auburn beats Bama and Bama's season is over. As it stands now the Bama win keeps their National Title hopes alive with the chance to be a one loss SEC champion.

That's the point, next year Bama makes the playoffs even if they lose to Auburn and UGA in the SEC title game.

You are only looking at the negative value of a single game though. I'll admit the OSU/MI game losses value in a 12 team playoff, fine, that's -1 on the ledger.

However, how many "meaningless" games played the last few weeks would gain value in a 12 team playoff? All the 2-loss teams fighting for those 6-12 'at large' bids. Missouri lost their 2nd game on Nov 2nd. That basically ended their season, but they have won 3 "meaningless" games since then. In a 12 team playoff, all 3 of those games mattered. Does that mean Missouri is going to win the national championship, very likely not, but they still would add more games that mattered to the overall ledger.

How many teams do you think should make the playoff?

That might be the worst analogy I’ve ever seen on this bored.

If anything, beating the powerhouse and ending their season lessens the value of that win; the powerhouse will be less accomplished than they’d otherwise be. If IU beats OSU and OSU goes on to win a national championship in a 12 team playoff, IU can say they beat the best team in football. If the same happens and OSU plays in the holiday bowl against Memphis, how meaningful is that win? It’s just a game against a then-overrated opponent.

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Uh, if you don't understand the difference between the game in 1974 vs 2025, then you are the guy who needs to brush up on their college sports knowledge. You really think the 1974 ACC title game is equally valuable as the 2025 game? You sure about that? You might want to do a bit of research. Then maybe you'll revise your answer.

Have you ever seen your posts about the Sox and the Cubs? You paid money to see the Sox lose, you d-bag. Rivalries add something to individual games.

Same as when the Houston Dash plays the Dallas Tornado or the New York Cosmos

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Alabama is currently 8th in the CFP. OSU is currently 5th. You said OSU's national title goals are done with a loss to Michigan. By the same logic, Alabama's national title goals are done even with the win over Auburn and it was still a national story.

It's just a very bizarre thing to think that the only thing that matters in college football are games that decide the exact participants of the 4 and then 12 team playoff.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Your point is that A below is better bragging rights:

A. Northwestern fan to OSU fan "Congrats on the national championship, must suck for you that we beat you in week 5, you're such a pathetic football program"

B. Northwestern fan to OSU fan "We fucking ended your season in week five."

Yes, the banner is the same. You beat your rival for a title. Why would you celebrate the victory any less in 2025 than they would in 1974?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

B exists in hypothetical land. A is absolutely better because it’s real; we beat you and we’re celebrating because we beat you. Full stop.

Closest thing I can think of is my sophomore year, my school beat the Ben Gordon/Emeka Okafor UConn team that won the national championship. We rushed the court; it was awesome. Still my favorite, most memorable game of college and I think we flamed out in the NIT a month before they cut down nets.

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New cheer when OSU loses a game:
"It's alright, it's ok, we still have a high statistical probability that we will make the college football playoff anyways"

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I think they are more like all star games, lots of scoring and a lot of fun in the moment with coaches and players trying the unusual.

I'll be interested to see if players on low seeded teams skip the playoffs (or maybe hold a school hostage for more money)

The conference championships currently are a de facto extension of the four game format.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

This has been my thought. I think four is enough - and this is coming from a Penn State fan who has watched them be the 5th team a time or two. People are also talking about the loss of the weight of the rivalry games have real short memories especially with OSU and UM, before 2021, the last national championship implication filled game was in 2006 when OSU was 1 and UM was 2. The rivalry games having playoff ramifications even now are few and far between.

If you are seriously going to expand the playoffs, go ahead and really expand to 16 teams and treat it like the basketball tournament: all 10 conference champions (next year nine) and then have 6 (or 7) at large bids. Then the lesser conferences can't say the system is unfair to them...or just force all teams to the four major conferences and those that don't want to join should go back to 1AA.

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Conferences may not even bother with title games, but I’d think it’s too much $$$ for them to turn down

https://sports.yahoo.com/should-confere ... 30050.html

In the coming era of 20 team conferences it may make more sense to just have everyone play 13 regular season games instead of having 2 of your teams play 13 games.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

The biggest problem the expanded playoff solves is waiting 4 weeks before playing important games. While we can talk about tradition and whatever, its absolutely cork on a fork retarded that that is how it works.

I don't think an expanded playoff tarnishes much of the regular season. I think 12 is too many personally. but 8 was my perfect sweetspot.

The playoff games start on the 20th. The conference title games are on December 7th next year. So it's actually an improvement over now.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Pulling for Washington, but they've been shaky lately.

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You said it!

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The Penix looks good tonight