I look back on last week’s big games, then shift focus to this weekend’s big games, and close by sharing my plan to restructure the College Football Playoff.
Last Saturday night’s Alabama-Georgia “Clash of the Titans” lived up to its billing. That said, the officiating sucked in the fourth quarter, including three misses: pass interference, interception, and targeting. Those gaffes cost the Tide dearly.
Still, I tip my hat to Georgia. So, let’s move on.
Big Weekend Games
Florida heads to Texas looking to get its mojo back after a disastrous game against Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Mississippi State rolls into Baton Rouge looking to shock LSU and sneak a win, as Kentucky did last week, and Missouri visits Mississippi. In that one, I expect Jamal Roberts (828 yards, 5.6 YPC, eight TDs) to add 200 yards for the second straight game. Next is Ohio State vs. Indiana. I’m sorry, folks, but I don’t see this being as close a game as some experts think. I’ll take Ohio State by 17.
My flip-a-coin game is Kentucky vs. Oklahoma. Kentucky might be ranked 15th, but my gut says Oklahoma pulls out another ugly win. For the nightcap games, the TV options are Notre Dame vs. BYU (I think ND will blow out the Cougars) and Oklahoma State vs. Houston (I’m looking for a close one here).
College Playoff Thoughts
I’ll focus only on the four major playoff conferences because they grab the most attention and (very importantly) generate the most money.
Graphic courtesy of CFP.com
First, I recommend splitting each conference into four bracket divisions. Each team will play a nine-game conference schedule and one team from each of the other conferences (meaning no more games against Group of Five/Six competition). Each team will play the teams in their division and two other teams from each of the other divisions. That way, each team will play every team in their conference once every two years.
Then, after the regular season, each division winner will play another division winner in their conference to start the playoffs. The two teams left in each conference will play in the conference championship game. Following that, the SEC champion will play the ACC champion, and the Big Ten champion will play the Big 12 champion for a shot at the national title game.
Sixteen teams will make the playoffs: four from each conference (SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big Twelve). That means the CFP will feature 13 games, followed by a championship game.
So, what would the conference divisions look like?
SEC: Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi, and Mississippi State (South). Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, and South Carolina (East). Texas, Texas A&M, Arkansas, and Oklahoma (West). Missouri, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and LSU (East).
ACC: Miami, Florida State, Clemson, and Georgia Tech (South). Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Wake Forest (East). Stanford, California, Louisville, S.M.U., and Notre Dame (West). Boston College, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Virginia, and Virginia Tech (North).
Big 12:Utah, Arizona, Arizona State, and BYU (West). West Virginia, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, and UCF (East). Texas Tech, Baylor, Houston, and TCU (South). Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, and Colorado (North).
B1G: Oregon, Washington, UCLA, and USC (West). Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland, Ohio State, and Purdue (East). Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Illinois, and Indiana (North). Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin (Midwest).
What would the CFP look like in this structure if the regular season ended now?
SEC representatives: Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, and Texas.
ACC representatives: Miami, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, and Wake Forest.
Big 12 representatives: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and Utah or BYU.
B1G representatives: Ohio State, Indiana, Iowa, and UCLA.
The final… Georgia vs. Ohio State.
