Remember last year, when I was beating the drum for a 16-team College Football Playoff? Let’s do it again.
If you need a refresher, take a look at last week’s version. But the short version is this: In my playoff scenario, all ten conference champions automatically make the tournament. The field is then rounded out with six at-large teams. Independent schools would be eligible to make the field as an at-large selection.
Since the College Football Playoff rankings won’t come out until November 2nd, I am currently using the AFCA Coaches Poll. Which I trust a lot more than the AP poll.
This year is definitely taking on a 2007 vibe. That was the year that #2’s kept losing. Iowa was the latest to fall yesterday. Cincinnati is now #2, which is again reminiscent of 2007 when California, South Florida, Boston College and Kansas all took a turn at #2.
It was also the year 2-loss LSU won the National Title. Keep that in mind as we progress.
What would the bracket currently look like under this system? This.
# 16 Northern Illinois (MAC) at # 1 Georgia (SEC)
# 9 Oklahoma State (at-large) at #8 Penn State (at-large)
# 13 Utah (Pac-12) at # 4 Alabama (at-large)
# 12 Texas-San Antonio (CUSA) at # 5 Ohio State (at-large)
# 14 Louisiana (Sun Belt) at # 3 Cincinnati (at-large)
# 11 San Diego State (MWC) at # 6 Michigan (at-large)
# 10 Wake Forest (ACC) at # 7 Michigan State (Big 10)
# 15 Houston (AAC) at #2 Oklahoma (Big 12)
Another week where things get scrambled, especially among the conference automatic qualifiers. And a “Power 5” conference leader sitting at #13, as Utah is right now, speaks more to where we are in the schedule right now than anything else. Oregon is left out in this regard right now, as having a worse conference record than Utah and with Houston leading the AAC right now on a technicality.
As those things clear up, Oregon and Iowa are best positioned to regain their spots in the weeks to come.