Opinion: Who's the More Deserving National Champion?

[u/fowcc]

Option A) Undefeated team who played three final-ranked opponents (AP Poll - including the National Championship Game)... #2, #8, and #22

Option B) 1-loss team that beat two final-ranked opponents... #6 and #9

Option C) 2-loss team that beat six final-ranked opponents... #2, #3, #4, #5, #9, and #10 (and avenged one of those losses)

Option D) Undefeated team who didn't have a win vs a single final-ranked opponent

If you know the teams above, comment below as they all are recognized as National Champions by the AP in the seasons that they played (different years).

I am not a fan of the team that was Option B, but wow knocking out SIX of the top NINE teams is pretty incredible. We've actually seen quite a few champions from pre-playoff years that only beat a couple of final-ranked teams along the way.

So of course I'm bringing this up as the playoff expands to 24-teams and there is a group of people that will say "we'll have an undeserving champion". Do you really think a team that will have a good enough regular season to just MAKE IT into the playoff (top 17% of all FBS teams) and then have to play and defeat FIVE top-tier teams (ok maybe only FOUR more if they get lucky with some situation like last year with the Tulane/JMU thing) in back-to-back weeks would be undeserving?

I mean there's "getting hot" and there's winning FIVE straight games in that fashion with those stakes. You've proven yourself- it won't be a fluke.

Do we really want teams with cupcake schedules laying claim to the National Championship like Options B and D did and only being truly tested once- or in option D's case, never?

What are your thoughts?

edit: clarification that the options above played in different seasons

[u/jamiebond]

The team that won the natty obviously. I mean what are we gonna crown the Patriots the Super Bowl 42 winners because they just had such a great resume?

[u/Present_Video8830 → u/jamiebond]

i mean the natty winner is the champ, that's the whole point. you play the games and whoever comes out on top gets the trophy, not the team with prettiest resume

option C looks nice on paper but they dropped two games. if you want to be champ you gotta win when it matters most, not just collect ranked wins like trading cards

the 24 team playoff will make it even more clear, you can't luck your way through 4-5 straight games against top teams. whoever survives that gauntlet earned it, no question

[u/JohanVonClancy → u/Present_Video8830]

Team C is the one who had to win three consecutive playoff games. It’s funny how you both think a playoff is better, but also don’t like C because they lost two games.

[u/RockWhole222 → u/jamiebond]

Yes give Brady another ring he deserves it

[u/DillyDillySzn]

C is 2024 Ohio State and D is 1984 BYU

Who is A and B

[u/fowcc → u/DillyDillySzn]

Just because it's late and I'm jumping off...
A is 2013 Florida St
B is 2003 USC

[u/fowcc → u/DillyDillySzn]

correct

[u/BACKCUT-DOWNHILL]

Not the University of Oregon next question

[u/KingofPro]

Whoever wins the current 12 team playoffs…….

[u/Crying_in_99Ranch]

Whoever is the last team standing. Resume doesn't matter once you're in the CFP. This isn't 1948 anymore

[u/anthony-209]

Whoever wins the final of the national championship game. That’s who’s the most deserving

[u/inshamblesx]

who actually won the natty out of the 4?

[u/fowcc → u/inshamblesx]

All of them- these are teams from different seasons

[u/adeodd]

A

[u/smollient]

C

[u/SucculentCrablegMeal]

A

I want the actual season to matter the most.

[u/McScroggz12]

This is a flawed question. It tells us nothing about how dominant a team was offensively or defensively. It doesn’t say anything about if they were lucky to win some games, or if one of the teams that lost a game had series injuries (like missing a star quarterback) against a tough team. It also doesn’t say anything about if one of the teams that have a lost did so in a conference championship game.

[u/Calithrand]

The 2007 Tigers are the most deserving national champions.

Can we please have more 2007s?

[u/NotReallyButMaybeNot]

So who wins the season vs who wins the tournament at the end of the season…. the tournament will be the champ … but not necessarily of the season

[u/Clutch_Pineapple49]

There is no "deserves" in college football. The Chaos gods do not give two shits about "deserves"

[u/Intelligent_Dress347 → u/Clutch_Pineapple49]

We deserves to have Kalen DeBoer.

[u/frickenWaaaltah]

is this what we've become now?

[u/Wittyname0]

Oregon of course

[u/tobin1677]

In defense of D (who obviously get some flak) but the key there is that teams make their schedules pretty far in advance, and if you don't have the right conference affiliation you have no opportunity to prove yourself unless you got lucky choosing who to play OOC several years before the situation happened.  

[u/JohanVonClancy → u/tobin1677]

If Option D is 1984 BYU, that access to a G6 National Championship was made possible by the old bowl system pre-coalition/alliance/BCS/playoff. You didn’t need to make the playoff bigger to get that to happen.

[u/skeptical_hatred]

I don’t care because rankings are inherently biased. Polls exist to allow undeserving teams to achieve more than they earned due to tv revenue. It’s as simple as that.

[u/Intelligent_Dress347]

One of the rating systems the BCS used had Notre Dame as the #1 team and national champion after Bama beat them 42-14 in the second-most noncompetitive championship of the last 25 years.

It’s the Colley Matrix for those wondering. Some dumbass on the sub loves it and posts it in here every once in a while. 

[u/Suspicious-Spend3982 → u/Intelligent_Dress347]

but bama has no problem claiming another 8 bs championships they didnt win

[u/Intelligent_Dress347 → u/Suspicious-Spend3982]

Sure, bud, whatever helps you sleep at night. 

[u/Muffinnnnnnn → u/Intelligent_Dress347]

Hi, I'm the dumbass you're probably referring to.

Stay mad.