If There Was A Playoff ...
2002
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 2002? Here’s the best
guess with the seedings and the results.
Final BCS Ranking In Parentheses
ACC – Florida State (14)
Big East – Miami (1)
Big Ten – Ohio State (2)
Big 12 – Oklahoma (7)
Pac 10 – Washington State (6)
SEC – Georgia (3)
Non-BCS – Notre Dame (9)
Wild Card – USC (4)
Bubble Busted: Iowa
(5), Kansas State (8)
Iowa fans would’ve had a mega-fit
after going unbeaten in Big Ten play along with Ohio State. The Hawkeyes
and Buckeyes didn’t play, but Brad Banks and Iowa suffered a 36-31 loss
to Iowa State for the lone blemish. USC lost two games but still
finished fourth in the BCS before going on to blowout the Hawkeyes 38-17
in the Orange Bowl. Kansas State had a wee bit of a beef after going
10-2, but it didn’t even with the Big 12 North.
First Round Matchups
No. 2 Ohio State vs.
No. 6 Notre Dame
No. 1 Miami vs. No. 8 Florida State
No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 7 Oklahoma
No. 4 USC vs. No.
5 Washington State
Matchup Analysis: Notre Dame was mediocre by the end of 2002, evidenced by a
44-13 loss to USC before getting thumped 28-6 by NC State. The Irish
would’ve been steamrolled over by Ohio State. While a Miami – Florida
State rematch wouldn’t be ideal, it would be the obvious 1 vs. 8
matchup. The Noles provided a push in a 28-27 Hurricane win in
mid-October, but ended up losing four regular season games before losing
to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Miami would’ve won a rematch with ease.
The USC vs. Washington State game would’ve been a rematch of a 30-27
Cougar win that ended up sending Jason Gesser and the boys to the Rose
Bowl. It would’ve made geographic sense to play the game again since
Oklahoma would’ve been almost certain to play in Dallas. The OU battle
with Georgia would’ve been one of the marquee matchups of the
tournament. The Sooners had been upset by Texas A&M and were stunned by
Oklahoma State, but won the Big 12 title and would’ve provided a brutal
matchup for the SEC champions. It would’ve been a classic with the
Sooner running game being a little bit better than Musa Smith and the
Georgia attack.
Projected Final Four
Rose Bowl – No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 4 USC
Sugar Bowl – No. 1 Miami vs. No. 7 Oklahoma
Matchup Analysis: USC was just
starting to become amazing under Pete Carroll led by burgeoning
juggernaut of an offense led by Heisman winner Carson Palmer. Ohio State
had a special season when everything went right, but it got through
unscathed by the skin of its teeth. USC would’ve used this game to set
the big-game tone for the next several years with a great performance
from the suddenly swarming defense. Miami would’ve had a problem with
Quentin Griffin and the OU running game, but the Canes had too much
firepower and would’ve moved on with a big second half led by a huge
passing day from Ken Dorsey.
Projected National Championship:
No. 1 Miami vs. No. 4 USC
Projected National Champion:
No. 4 Miami
Matchup Analysis: USC was
great, but it wasn’t 2002 Miami quite yet. Assuming Willis McGahee was
still healthy, and didn’t get hurt like he did in the Fiesta Bowl loss
to Ohio State, Miami likely would’ve gotten through the firefight with
yet another national title. It wouldn’t have come without a major battle
as the tremendous USC defensive front would’ve generated consistent
pressure all game long.
What If There Was A Playoff ...
- 2010
| 2009 |
2008 |
2007 |
2006 |
2005 |
2004
- 2003 |
2002 |
2001 |
2000 |
1999 |
1998