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.
The Cincinnati/Notre Dame game had a pretty significant impact on this. Had Notre Dame won, the Bearcats would be out of the bracket. Instead, the American currently has both Cincinnati and Houston in the tournament (partially a consequence of Cincinnati having played zero conference games so far).
What would the bracket currently look like under this system? This.
# 16 Western Michigan (MAC) at # 1 Alabama (At-Large)
# 9 Oregon (At-large) at #8 Michigan (at-large)
# 13 Texas-San Antonio (CUSA) at # 4 Penn State (at-large)
# 12 Houston (CUSA) at # 5 Oklahoma (Big 12)
# 14 Nevada (MWC) at # 3 Iowa (Big 10)
# 11 Arizona State (Pac-12) at # 6 Cincinnati (at-large)
# 10 Wake Forest (ACC) at # 7 Ohio State (at-large)
# 15 Louisiana (Sun Belt) at #2 Georgia (SEC)
It’s wild to think that four of these teams are in the Big Ten, the Pac-12 gives an at-large spot, and the American has as many teams as the SEC. Eventually, the Big Ten will probably shed teams, especially considering Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan all share a division.