Four Down Territory
Welcome to the offseason version of Four Down Territory.
It’s going to be a little different than it was in-season. I'll post one weekly during the season, which for me is from SEC Media Days through Missouri's final game.
During the offseason, I’ll post every other week.
1. The College Football Playoff schedule was released.
Mark your calendars Mizzou fans. Over the last few years for Mizzou fans, the release of the College Football Playoff schedule would be more of an, 'Oh, nice.' Or an, 'Oh okay, I can watch this game while I deal with family (that I may or may not like) over the holidays.’ This year, the schedule release is actually notable.
The hype around the Tigers this offseason is akin to the 2008 and 2014 teams that had chances to make some major noise after having excellent seasons the prior year.
Here is the schedule:
Dec. 20 - CFP First Round/ Game 1
Dec. 21 - CFP First Round/ Game 2, 3 and 4
Dec. 31 - CFP Quarterfinals - Fiesta Bowl
Dec. 31 - CFP Quarterfinals - Peach Bowl
Jan. 1 - CFP Quarterfinals - Rose Bowl
Jan. 1 - CFP Quarterfinals - Sugar Bowl
Jan. 9 - CFP Semifinals - Orange Bowl
Jan. 9 - CFP Semifinals - Cotton Bowl
Jan. 20 - National Championship
The thing that stands out the most to a lot of people is the first-round games. Whenever the topic comes up, how could you not think about your favorite team hosting a home game or getting a bye and already being in the quarterfinals?
It's a real question (to fans) as to whether they would want their team to host a first-round game or get a bye. Obviously, the teams would enjoy hosting a first-round game but the chance to advance and get a week off is something they work toward all season.
Here is what the matchups would be:
No. 5 vs. No. 12
No. 6 vs. No. 11
No. 7 vs. No. 10
No. 8 vs. No. 9
But if you could pick between your favorite team being the No. 4 seed (and get a bye) and the No. 8 seed (hosting a first-round game) what would you choose?
(It would've been too easy if it were No. 5 or No. 6 seeds as most people would assume the higher seed would win.)
Would you rather your team get the bye and you attend a neutral site bowl game or would you rather they host a first-round game so selfishly (and I don’t mean this in a bad way) you could go to that game?
2. This will be the most jam-packed football winter holiday season ever.
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