Let’s Have a Real Playoff, Week 9
George vs Tennessee this week will tell us a lot. Both in the real world and this one.
Remember the last two years, 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 year’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.
This is the first time that I am doing this after the announcement of the anticipated 12-team playoff coming in 2024-ish. That playoff of course is still flawed because not every conference champion makes it. Which is what you really need to truly crown a champion.
Now that we have the CFP Playoff in place, we are using those rankings. Which of course *really* scrambled things at the top with Tennessee jumping to #1.
What would the bracket currently look like under this system? This.
# 16 Buffalo (MAC) at # 1 Tennessee (At-Large)
# 9 USC (At-Large) at #8 Oregon (Pac-12)
# 13 Troy (Sun Belt) UTSA (CUSA) at # 4 Clemson (ACC)
# 12 Tulane (AAC) at # 5 Michigan (At-Large)
# 14 Boise State (MWC) at # 3 Georgia (SEC)
# 11 Ole Miss (At-Large) at # 6 Alabama (At-Large)
# 10 LSU (At-Large) at # 7 TCU (Big 12)
# 15 UTSA (CUSA) at #2 Ohio State (Big 10)
Needless to say, the Georgia-Tennessee matchup this weekend will be very instructive.
Also, how much do the CFP rankings love the SEC? That’s FIVE teams in the top 11.