If There Was A Playoff ...
1999
What If There Was A Playoff ...
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It's that time of year ... the second guessing season.
What might happen if Oklahoma State got its shot?
How would TCU have done if it got its shot at Auburn at the end of the 2010 season? How about if Boise State got a chance at Alabama in 2009 or if several other BCS fiascos were decided on the field?.
Forget basketball's gimmicky
post-season, where a seventh best team in
a conference gets a shot to play for the
national title, rendering the regular
season relatively meaningless. CFN has
created the best of all possible worlds
for a playoff to make sure the regular
season still holds the weight it does
now, if not more, while providing the
solution everyone wants (outside of Bill
Hancock, the
college presidents, the yellow-jacket
bowl kids, and 99% of the
coaches). Here’s the plan …
Take
the six BCS conference champions and
give them automatic bids. Take the
highest ranked non-BCS league champion (Notre Dame
included), and give it an automatic bid.
The eighth and final slot would be a
Wild Card, which would go to the top ranked team
in the BCS that isn’t already in.
We’d have to keep this in the land of the real with
the geographic and economic concerns in mind by
rewarding the top four teams with a first round home
game - fan bases aren't going to travel to three
neutral field sites if their team goes to the
national championship.
The seeds wouldn’t
necessarily go according to BCS ranking,
again, with the idea to put teams close
to the right region to make sure the
opposing fans can get there as easily as
possible.
The Final Four games
would be held in Pasadena and New
Orleans, and the national title would
rotate sites like it does now. Meanwhile
the rest of the bowl system would be
kept in place. If you watched the
Liberty Bowl before, you’d still watch
it if there's an eight team playoff.
So
what would’ve likely happened had the
CFN system been in place since the BCS
was in place in 1999? Here’s the best
guess with the seedings and the results.
Final BCS Ranking In Parentheses
ACC – Florida State (1)
Big East – Virginia Tech (2)
Big Ten – Wisconsin (7)
Big 12 – Nebraska (3)
Pac 10 – Stanford (NR)
SEC – Alabama (4)
Non-BCS – Marshall (13)
Wild Card – Tennessee (5)
Bubble Busted: Kansas
State (7), Michigan (8)
The automatic spots would’ve been
cut and dry, but there would’ve been a
big debate about the Wild Card. Kansas
State would’ve had a beef after going
10-1 in the regular season and tied with
Nebraska for the Big 12 South title.
Tennessee, who finished higher in the
final BCS rankings, lost to great
Florida and Arkansas teams but beat
Georgia and came up with a great 21-7
win over eventual SEC champion Alabama
in Alabama. Kansas State simply didn’t
have the big résumé with a nice win at
Texas the only victory of note.
First Round Matchups
No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 5 Wisconsin
No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 8
Marshall
No. 3 Nebraska vs.
No. 6 Tennessee
No. 2
Virginia Tech vs. No. 7 Stanford
Matchup Analysis: Alabama’s Shaun
Alexander vs. Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne
would’ve made for a fantastic first
round matchup in Indianapolis. The 1998
Badger team was better, but the defense
would’ve been just strong enough to win
a classic. Chad Pennington wouldn’t have
been enough for Marshall to overcome the
Florida State firepower. Nebraska beat
Tennessee 31-21 in the 2000 Fiesta Bowl.
Troy Walters and Stanford had a special
year to get to the Rose Bowl, but
Michael Vick would’ve had few problems
with the Cardinal defense.
Projected Final Four
Rose Bowl –
No. 2 Virginia Tech vs. No. 3 Nebraska
Sugar
Bowl – No. 1 Florida State vs. No.
5 Wisconsin
Matchup Analysis: Nebraska had the
defensive front to keep Vick bottled up,
but the offense would’ve had problems
with the fantastic Hokie D line. It
would’ve been a tight battle, but the
Huskers were better. Florida State
would’ve obliterated the Badgers.
Wisconsin was good, but it wouldn’t have
had any answer for the Seminiole passing
game.
Projected National Championship:
No.
1 Florida State vs. No. 3 Nebraska
Projected National Champion:
No. 1 Florida State
Matchup Analysis: What beats the
option? Speed on the defensive front
seven. Florida State’s front wall
would’ve kept Eric Crouch and the
Nebraska option under wraps, while Peter
Warrick and Laveranues Coles would’ve
come up with just enough big plays to
pull away. Nebraska had issues holding
on to the ball all season long, and FSU
would’ve taken advantage of a few big
fumble recoveries.
What If There Was A Playoff ...
- 2010
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2008 |
2007 |
2006 |
2005 |
2004
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2002 |
2001 |
2000 |
1999 |
1998