Strength of Schedule, Selection Problems, and Championship Lessons

In this episode of Bleav in UNC, Carolina’s Own breaks down a Championship Weekend that flipped the playoff landscape on its head. Ronnie, D-Block, and JD open with JD’s victorious prediction that chaos was coming—and chaos arrived in the form of James Madison punching its ticket into the 12-team playoff. The crew debates whether college football can ever truly have a Cinderella the way basketball does and what it means for the sport moving forward.

From there, the conversation shifts to the ACC’s down year, how Miami missing the conference title game impacted the playoff picture, and whether the committee was forced into elevating James Madison because the ACC lacked a strong enough resume across the board.

The guys also dive into whether the AAC deserves an automatic bid, how Tulane stacks up against real Power Five competition, and what this means for teams in the Sun Belt, MAC, and beyond. The debate intensifies as Ronnie, JD, and Block break down:

Strength of schedule vs. number of losses
Whether Alabama should have been left out
Why Notre Dame had a strong argument but still fell short
How the current playoff format creates contradictions every single year
Whether college football should get rid of conference championship games altogether

Later in the episode, the crew reacts strongly to Notre Dame declining its bowl invite, discussing how the move impacts players, seniors, potential transfers, and the overall culture of college football.

The show wraps with full playoff predictions, including:

Can James Madison hang with Oregon?
Oklahoma vs. Alabama (the rematch)
Why Ole Miss might run Tulane out of the stadium
Miami at Texas A&M and which version of Carson Beck will show up

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.