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OT: How 40 years of college football history would have been different with a playoff (ESPN)

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CaneInHeelCountry said:
Not to speak ill of my favorite team, but I doubt the 83 team would have made it to or through a playoff. They were good, but that early loss to UF and a fairly soft schedule would've prob kept us out of contention.
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We were ranked #4 in the coaches poll, #5 in AP. No clue how the playoff picture would have looked. Our D was fantastic, but Illinois had some good wins. IF we made it in, we win it all. Largely because we take out Nebraska in round one.
 
I think the playoff system would have worked in our favor, and we could conceivably have won any of the 86, 88, 90, 92 (and especially 2000) titles.
 
CaneInHeelCountry said:
Not to speak ill of my favorite team, but I doubt the 83 team would have made it to or through a playoff. They were good, but that early loss to UF and a fairly soft schedule would've prob kept us out of contention.
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still 3 or 4 more 84-92, 2000 & 2002 ( guess it would have been different in 2002 haha)
 
ThomasM said:
We were ranked #4 in the coaches poll, #5 in AP. No clue how the playoff picture would have looked. Our D was fantastic, but Illinois had some good wins. IF we made it in, we win it all. Largely because we take out Nebraska in round one.
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Auburn would have been in the mix. They were on a roll, having beaten the #4, 5, 7, and 19 teams in the last few weeks of the season, and they beat #8 Michigan in the Sugar Bowl.

It would have been difficult to come down from the high of having beaten the Huskers to face off against Bo Jackson the next week.

Not saying we couldn't have done it, but I don't think the '83 team was as battle-tested as some of our other champ teams. Aside from Nebraska, our only wins against teams who finished in the top 20 were WVU (finished 16) and East Carolina (finished 20).
 
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CaneInHeelCountry said:
Auburn would have been in the mix. They were on a roll, having beaten the #4, 5, 7, and 19 teams in the last few weeks of the season, and they beat #8 Michigan in the Sugar Bowl.

It would have been difficult to come down from the high of having beaten the Huskers to face off against Bo Jackson the next week.

Not saying we couldn't have done it, but I don't think the '83 team was as battle-tested as some of our other champ teams. Aside from Nebraska, our only wins against teams who finished in the top 20 were WVU (finished 19) and East Carolina (finished 20).
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In all fairness, we DID start off the 1984 season against Bo Jackson, with a new coach, and beat them.
 
ThomasM said:
In all fairness, we DID start off the 1984 season against Bo Jackson, with a new coach, and beat them.
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Right, we did. But that was with, what, 8 months of prep time?

Again, not saying we couldn't have done it. Just that in a playoff setting, that 83 team was more vulnerable than virtually all of our other champ teams. Fewer wins against top competition, no experience as top dog, coming off an emotional last-second victory over a monster team, having to turn around and face another top team a week or two later. I don't like those odds.
 
CaneInHeelCountry said:
Right, we did. But that was with, what, 8 months of prep time?

Again, not saying we couldn't have done it. Just that in a playoff setting, that 83 team was more vulnerable than virtually all of our other champ teams.
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I think we had a better chance of winning in 1988 and 1990, myself. Heck, looking at the 85 and 86 bracket, we might have won those as well. At least the way it was laid out.
 
The article perpetuates the myth of the Cleveland Gary “fumble” in South Bend.

A playoff with the Canes in ‘88 and ‘90 would’ve been epic. And by “epic” I mean like watching a steam roller run over a patch of daisies.
 
A playoff system back in those days means fewer games for us in the Orange Bowl. Instead of playing in our backyard, we would have to go out LA, Phoenix, or New Orleans and play on a neutral field. Not sure we win as many titles if we have to play more games on neutral fields. Just being honest. We were singularly fortunate to get to play postseason games on our own home field.
 
The 1983 team was #5 coming into the bowls. They wouldn’t have even made the playoffs if the playoff rankings had been the same as the poll rankings. And if they made the playoffs, I doubt they would have won it.

Even as it was, I’m not sure Miami really deserved to jump Auburn for the #1 spot after a 1 point victory over Nebraska at Miami’s home stadium. Auburn played a killer schedule. And they beat the UF team that beat Miami by 25 points. The Nebraska team that Miami beat was overrated since the Big 8 was terrible that year. In addition, Nebraska’s mystique was billed largely on a 44-6 win in the season opener over a PSU team that would turn out to be a big disappointment. However, since Nebraska was incorrectly billed as the best team ever coming into that game, there was no way Miami wasn’t ascending to #1 themselves.

Schnellenberger might have never gotten a USFL offer without a NC. Even if he did, he might have thought there was unfinished business at Miami since he hadn’t fulfilled the 5 year plan. He might have actually become Miami’s long term head coach, and stayed through something like the 2005 season. (Since the pressure at Miami would have been worse than at FAU, he probably wouldn’t have lasted all the way through 2011 like he did at FAU.)

By the time Schnellenberger won a NC at Miami, and got NFL offers, he might have been at Miami long enough that he felt like staying at Miami and turned the offers down.
 
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I love the idea of a potential rematch with ND in 1988, and making the CFP with two losses in 1990.
 
Hurricane23 said:
If playoffs existed way back then Miami would have at least 2 more Ships. 88’ and 2000
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Typical fan perspective of addition but never subtraction. The same thing shows up every season when close losses are greeted by "only 11 points away from 3 more wins" while tight victories are taken for granted, as if there was no other possibility.

I'd say Miami would have fewer than 5 national championships if a 4-team playoff were in place throughout. The 1983 situation has already been mentioned. It's no guarantee we do sneak in. If so, we're going to be an underdog twice.

In many of those seasons we would be facing a mega talented Florida State team for the second time. Plus you've got to throw out the surreal home field advantage of the Orange Bowl in deference to two games on a neutral site. That is an entirely different dynamic.

Sure some of our best teams could run the table. But 5 times? I doubt it. There would be the same obstacles we failed plus additional possibilities like Washington 1991 and Notre Dame rematch in 1989, plus so many times against Florida State.

Those second meetings with Florida State are what is being ignored throughout this thread. In 1987 it's not going to be one home game against Oklahoma. You've got Florida State more than eager for a second try after blowing the 19-3 lead during the regular season.

I'll take what we have.
 
Awsi Dooger said:
Typical fan perspective of addition but never subtraction. The same thing shows up every season when close losses are greeted by "only 11 points away from 3 more wins" while tight victories are taken for granted as if there was no other possibility.

I'd say Miami would have fewer than 5 national championships if a 4-team playoff were in place throughout. The 1983 situation has already been mentioned. It's no guarantee we do sneak in. If so, we're going to be an underdog twice.

In many of those seasons, we would be facing a mega-talented Florida State team for the second time. Plus you've got to throw out the surreal home-field advantage of the Orange Bowl in deference to two games on a neutral site. That is an entirely different dynamic.

Sure some of our best teams could run the table. But 5 times? I doubt it. There would be the same obstacles we failed plus additional possibilities like Washington 1991 and Notre Dame rematch in 1989, plus so many times against Florida State.

Those second meetings with Florida State are what is being ignored throughout this thread. In 1987 it's not going to be one home game against Oklahoma. You've got Florida State more than eager for a second try after blowing the 19-3 lead during the regular season.

I'll take what we have.
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This may be blasphemy, but I don't believe Miami beats 1991 Washington, especially on a neutral site.

The article suggests Schnellenberger might not have taken the ill-fated USFL offer without the 1983 championship. A lot of people assume Miami would have still been a dynasty in the 1980s, but you never know. The program would have likely been very good, but maybe not 44-4 good like JJ.
 
TemplarCane said:
This may be blasphemy, but I don't believe Miami beats 1991 Washington, especially on a neutral site.

The article suggests Schnellenberger might not have taken the ill-fated USFL offer without the 1983 championship. A lot of people assume Miami would have still been a dynasty in the 1980s, but you never know. The program would have likely been very good, but maybe not 44-4 good like JJ.
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Who knows.......a Washington/Miami game in 91 probably would have been a score of something like 6 to 3 in either direction. Hard to imagine a lot of scoring going on in that one, though I still think Toretta to Copeland/Thomas would have burned them deep a couple times, enough to win.

The more I think of it, we'd probably be around the same number. A FSU rematch probably would have stung at least once.....I still think the 87 team beats Oklahoma on a neutral field, by that time they had the Big 8's number (OK/NE), but I could see them losing a rematch to FSU. 86 team gets to avoid the Fiesta Bowl, who knows there. 88 and 90 teams would be good candidates to make it through the playoff. 92 team would have avoided an initial Alabama matchup in that disastrous Sugar, who knows there. 2000, those guys were clearly playing better than anyone in the country at the time, and would have rolled any of the other teams in the running - that one I am very certain of.
 
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