Down the (Playoff) Road
CFB teams are going down the Playoff road--it's very real and anything is possible.
Taking a look at NIL lessons from Week 12 of the 2024 CFB season and how they can apply to sports, business and life.
If you are an athlete and would like our team to help share your story, please DM us or email TheNILReport@gmail.com.
Culturally, there have been a mix of TV shows and movies that use a metaphorical road as a vehicle for their hero’s journey. Wicked is set to premier and Disney just wrapped up it’s TV season of Agatha All Along.
Whether it is the ‘Yellow Brick Road’ or the ‘Witches Road’, the journey is the most important part. After all, you cannot go from A to Z without B through Y.
The same is true for the Road to the CFB Playoff.
But it is dangerous; unpredictable; very real and very, very wild.
‘Seekest Thou the Road to All That’s Foul and Fair’
College Football is not fair. Period.
No matter how many Playoff spots there are, someone will always be left out and disappointed.
The SEC cannot go nuclear with conference expansion and then be surprised that many of their teams may miss out on the bracket due to beating up on each other.
And on the other end of the spectrum, the Big Ten cannot expect strength of schedule to be ignored when their top teams only played the basement dwellers and not each other.
The CFB Gods tend to have a way of working everything out before season’s end. And that is rarely ever ‘fair’ or ‘just’; yet the lessons of the road are written in plain sight.
Respect the journey; stay on the path; attack your demons one trial at a time and you shall be rewarded.
Get Uncomfortable
To win, you need to have success outside of your comfort zone.
Last week, all top four teams—Oregon, Ohio State, Texas and Penn State— were on the road. The Ducks and Horns survived while the Bucks spent the first quarter in neutral before turning it on.
Boise State had to comeback from 14 down at San Jose State to keep their hopes of a first round bye alive. And Clemson somehow staved off elimination at Pitt.
However, Tennessee, Missouri, LSU, Louisville and Washington State were not as fortunate as all fell on the road.
For success, it is imperative you be able to be comfortable while being in uncomfortable situations.
Trust the Process
Dave Aranda was hired as Baylor’s head coach in 2020 and entering his fifth season had led the Bears to the following seasons and coordinator dismissals:
2020: 2-7; fired Offensive Coordinator
2021: 12-2; Big 12 and Sugar Bowl Champions
2022: 6-7; fired Defensive Coordinator
2023: 3-9; fired OC & demoted DC
Coach Aranda was firmly on the hot seat entering 2024 and a 2-4 start prompted fans to call for his firing mid-season.
The Bears, however, kept doing the work and trusting the process. Now they have won four straight games and have completely changed the narrative.
The most recent of this winning streak was a dominating 49-35 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers. More importantly, the win came in Morgantown, West Virginia—Baylor’s first ever win there in program history.
Keep trusting the process and your abilities—you will experience success.
Close is Not Good Enough
If you want to reap the greatest rewards, then you cannot expect that close enough will be good enough to deliver.
Nebraska lost yet another one possession game. The Cornhuskers are 7-31 in one score games under their last two coaches—Scott Frost and Matt Rhule.
Cal lost by eight to Syracuse to get to a 5-5 record. All five losses have been determined by one possession—17 total points.
Both of those teams have been only average this year. Clearly not good enough to sniff the Playoff.
But sometimes, close enough with only a single blemish isn’t even good enough to crack into the Playoff.
No. 6 BYU put that on full display as they fell from the ranks of the unbeatens with a 17-13 loss. Three things that make this loss even worse:
They lost the Kansas (the Jayhawks have also lost four games of their own by four points or fewer)
At home.
On a muffed QB pouch punt!
The Cougars tumbled eight spots in the rankings, putting their 40th anniversary national championship encore hopes in serious jeopardy.
Speaking of close not being good enough…
Follow Me… To Glory at the End
Indiana and Army fall into this category with perfect records built upon a weak schedule. The Hoosiers and Black Knights have their opportunity to validate their records with games against Ohio State and Notre Dame respectively.
Get all the glory. Or risk fading from the CFB Playoff discussion with even a close loss.
In theory, we could still have a CFB Playoff that has to involve these teams as conference champions:
Texas A&M (SEC)
SMU (ACC)
BYU (Big 12)
Army (American)
Boise State (Mountain West)
Oregon (Big Ten)
This would leave plenty of Big CFB Brands on the sidelines.
Glory is there to be seized for everyone.
But will it happen or is the ‘Road to the Playoff’ just one big illusion designed for big conferences and brands to steal even more power?
Leave it to CFB to make all of this…. Just so dramatic!