What Would Have Happened if the Playoffs Started in 2010 or if We Still Did the BCS Now or if the 12 Team Playoff Format Had Existed Since 2010?

Posted byjachoman9Posted inCollege Football

What if Alabama and Auburn played in a playoff rematch in 2013? What if Alabama and Georgia had never made the 2017 championship game? What if UCF made the playoffs two years in a row?

2010

In 2010 no. 1 Auburn beat no. 2 Oregon in the BCS championship game. What would have happened with a 4 team playoff? Oregon would have gone against no. 4 Stanford in a rematch from earlier that season. Oregon won the initial matchup 52-31. Auburn would have gone against a Group of 5 team in no. 3 TCU. I still think results would have been the same, but it definitely would have been interesting. The seeding for a 12 team playoff would have been:

  1. Auburn Tigers 13-0
  2. Oregon Ducks 12-0
  3. TCU Horned Frogs 12-0
  4. Ohio St. Buckeyes11-1
  5. Stanford Cardinal 11-1
  6. Wisconsin Badgers 11-1
  7. Oklahoma Sooners 11-2
  8. Arkansas Razorbacks 10-2
  9. Michigan St. Spartans 11-1
  10. Boise St. Broncos 11-1
  11. LSU Tigers 10-2
  12. Virginia Tech Hokies 11-2

That would have resulted in Auburn, Oregon, TCU, and Ohio St. having 1st round byes. The matchups would have been: Stanford vs Virginia Tech, Wisconsin vs LSU, Oklahoma vs Boise St., and Arkansas vs Michigan St.

2011

In 2011 no. 2 Alabama beat no. 1 LSU in the BCS Championship game. If it was a 4 team playoff, LSU would have played against no. 4 Stanford and Alabama would have played against no. 3 Oklahoma St. I think the same results would have played out. Alabama and LSU were clearly the best teams that year, and the playoffs probably wouldn’t have changed much. The seeding for a 12 team playoff would have been:

  1. LSU Tigers 13-0
  2. Oklahoma St. Cowboys 11-1
  3. Oregon Ducks 11-2
  4. Wisconsin Badgers 11-2
  5. Alabama Crimson Tide 11-1
  6. Stanford Cardinal 11-1
  7. Arkansas Razorbacks 10-2
  8. Boise St. Broncos 11-1
  9. Kansas St. Wildcats 10-2
  10. South Carolina Gamecocks 10-2
  11. Clemson Tigers 10-3
  12. TCU Horned Frogs 10-2

That would result in LSU, Oklahoma St., Oregon, and Wisconsin getting 1st round byes. The matchups in the 1st round would be: Alabama vs TCU, Stanford vs Clemson, Arkansas vs South Carolina, and Boise St. vs Kansas St. I think this year shows why the proposed 12 team playoff plan would not work. In 2011 TCU was ranked no. 18, but got in ahead of no. 11 Virginia Tech because of automatic bids. No. 10 Wisconsin also got a 1st round bye ahead of no. 2 Alabama because of the top 4 conference champions getting byes instead of just the top 4 ranked teams.

2012

In 2012 no. 2 Alabama beat no. 1 Notre Dame in the BCS national championship. In a 4 team playoff, Notre Dame would have played against no. 4 Oregon and Alabama would have played against no. 3 Florida. I think Alabama would have beat Oregon in the championship because Notre Dame showed against Alabama that they couldn’t really hang with the big dogs. The seeding for a 12 team format would be:

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide 12-1
  2. Kansas St. Wildcats 11-1
  3. Stanford Cardinal 11-2
  4. Florida St. Seminoles 11-2
  5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 12-0
  6. Florida Gators 11-1
  7. Oregon Ducks 11-1
  8. Georgia Bulldogs 11-2
  9. LSU Tigers 10-2
  10. Texas A&M Aggies 10-2
  11. Northern Illinois Huskies 12-1
  12. Boise St. Broncos 10-2

Alabama, Kansas St., Stanford, and Florida St. would all have 1st round byes. Other matchups would be Notre Dame vs Boise St., Florida vs Northern Illinois, Oregon vs Texas A&M, and Georgia vs LSU. This also shows how the model is wrong. 3 of the top 4 teams including no. 1 do not have byes, and no. 15 Northern Illinois and no. 19 Boise St. got in over no. 10 South Carolina and no. 11 Oklahoma respectively.

2013

In 2013 no. 1 Florida St. beat no. 2 Auburn in the final BCS Championship. A four team playoff would have Florida St. playing against no. 4 Michigan St. and Auburn playing in a rematch against no. 3 Alabama. I think Alabama would win the national championship if this happened. A 12 team playoff would have:

  1. Florida St. Seminoles 13-0
  2. Auburn Tigers 12-1
  3. Michigan St. Spartans 12-1
  4. Stanford Cardinal 11-2
  5. Alabama Crimson Tide 11-1
  6. Baylor Bears 11-1
  7. Ohio St. Buckeyes 12-1
  8. Missouri Tigers 11-2
  9. South Carolina 10-2
  10. Oregon Ducks 10-2
  11. Oklahoma Sooners 10-2
  12. UCF Golden Knights 11-1

Florida St., Auburn, Michigan St., and Stanford would have 1st round byes. Alabama would play against UCF, there would also be Baylor vs Oklahoma, Ohio St. vs Oregon, and Missouri vs South Carolina.

2014

In 2014 no. 4 Ohio St. beat no. 2 Oregon in the first CFP national championship. If they just had no. 1 play no. 2 I think Alabama would have beaten Oregon. A twelve team format would look like this:

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide 12-1
  2. Oregon Ducks 12-1
  3. Florida St. 13-0
  4. Ohio St. Buckeyes 12-1
  5. Baylor Bears 11-1
  6. TCU Horned Frogs 11-1
  7. Mississippi St. Bulldogs 10-2
  8. Michigan St. Spartans 10-2
  9. Ole Miss Rebels 9-3
  10. Arizona Wildcats 10-3
  11. Kansas St. Wildcats 9-3
  12. Boise St. Broncos 11-2

The top 4 would stay the same and they all get byes. The 1st round matchups would be: Baylor vs Boise St., TCU vs Kansas St., Mississippi St. vs Arizona, and Michigan St. vs Ole Miss. My only problem is that no. 20 Boise St. would be included over no. 12 Georgia Tech.

2015

In 2015 no. 2 Alabama beat no. 1 Clemson in the CFP national championship. Under the BCS system the matchup would be the same. A 12 team format would look like this:

  1. Clemson Tigers 13-0
  2. Alabama Crimson Tide 12-1
  3. Michigan St. Spartans 12-1
  4. Oklahoma Sooners 11-1
  5. Iowa Hawkeyes 12-1
  6. Stanford Cardinal 11-2
  7. Ohio St. Buckeyes 11-1
  8. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 10-2
  9. Florida St. Seminoles 10-2
  10. North Carolina Tar Heels 11-2
  11. TCU Horned Frogs 10-2
  12. Houston Cougars 12-1

The top 4 remains the same and they have byes. The other matchups are Iowa vs Houston, Stanford vs TCU, Ohio St. vs North Carolina, and Notre Dame vs Florida St. I once again have a problem with no. 18 Houston getting in over no. 12 Ole Miss.

2016

In 2016 no. 2 Clemson beat no. 1 Alabama in the CFP championship. The matchup would be the same in the BCS. Top 12 seeding would look like this:

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide 13-0
  2. Clemson Tigers 12-1
  3. Washington Huskies 12-1
  4. Penn St. Nittany Lions 11-2
  5. Ohio St. Buckeyes 11-1
  6. Michigan Wolverines 10-2
  7. Oklahoma Sooners 10-2
  8. Wisconsin Badgers 10-3
  9. USC Trojans 9-3
  10. Colorado Buffaloes 10-3
  11. Florida St. Seminoles 9-3
  12. Western Michigan Broncos 13-0

Alabama, Clemson, Washington, and Penn St. would get byes despite Ohio St. being ranked no. 3 that year. Ohio St. would play against Western Michigan, Michigan would vs Florida St., and Oklahoma vs Colorado, and Wisconsin vs USC.

2017

In 2018 no. 4 Alabama beat no. 3 Georgia. A BCS championship would have pitted no. 1 Clemson vs no. 2 Oklahoma. I personally believe Oklahoma would have come out on top. A 12 team playoff would have included:

  1. Clemson Tigers 12-1
  2. Oklahoma Sooners 12-1
  3. Georgia Bulldogs 12-1
  4. Ohio St. Buckeyes 11-2
  5. Alabama Crimson Tide 11-1
  6. Wisconsin Badgers 12-1
  7. Auburn Tigers 10-3
  8. USC Trojans 11-2
  9. Penn St. Nittany Lions 10-2
  10. Miami (FL) Hurricanes 10-2
  11. Washington Huskies 10-2
  12. UCF Golden Knights 12-0

Ohio St. would take Alabama’s spot and get a bye with Clemson, Georgia, and Oklahoma. The matchups in the 1st round would be Alabama vs UCF, Wisconsin vs UCF, Auburn vs Miami (FL), and USC vs Penn St.

2018

In 2018 no. 2 Clemson beat no. 1 Alabama in the CFP championship. The BCS would have ended the same way. The seeds for a 12 team playoff would be:

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide 13-0
  2. Clemson Tigers 13-0
  3. Oklahoma Sooners 12-1
  4. Ohio St. Buckeyes 12-1
  5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 12-0
  6. Georgia Bulldogs 11-2
  7. Michigan Wolverines 10-2
  8. UCF Golden Knights 12-0
  9. Washington Huskies 10-3
  10. Florida Gators 9-3
  11. LSU Tigers 9-3
  12. Penn St. Nittany Lions 9-3

Ohio St. would be taking the place of Notre Dame for a bye. The matchups would be Notre Dame vs Penn St., Georgia vs LSU, Michigan vs Florida, and UCF vs Washington.

2019

In 2019 no. 1 LSU beat no. 3 Clemson in the CFP championship game. In the BCS it would have been LSU vs Ohio St., but I think the result would have been the same with LSU dominating.

  1. LSU Tigers 13-0
  2. Ohio St. Buckeyes 13-0
  3. Clemson Tigers 13-0
  4. Oklahoma Sooners 12-1
  5. Georgia Bulldogs 11-2
  6. Oregon Ducks 11-2
  7. Baylor Bears 11-2
  8. Wisconsin Badgers 10-3
  9. Florida Gators 10-2
  10. Penn St. Nittany Lions 10-2
  11. Utah Utes 11-2
  12. Memphis Tigers 12-1

The top 4 with byes would be the same. The 1st round matchups would be Georgia vs Memphis, Oregon vs Utah, Baylor vs Penn St., and Wisconsin vs Florida. It should be noted that because of automatic bid no. 17 Memphis gets in over no. 12 Auburn.

2020

In 2020 no. 1 Alabama beat no. 3 Ohio St. in the CFP national championship. Had it been in the BCS, Alabama probably would have dominated again against no. 2 Clemson. A 12 team playoff would be:

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide 11-0
  2. Clemson Tigers 10-1
  3. Ohio St. Buckeyes 6-0
  4. Oklahoma Sooners 8-2
  5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 10-1
  6. Texas A&M Aggies 8-1
  7. Florida Gators 8-3
  8. Cincinnati Bearcats 9-0
  9. Georgia Bulldogs 7-2
  10. Iowa St. Cyclones 8-3
  11. Indiana Hoosiers 6-1
  12. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 11-0

Oklahoma would get a bye instead of Notre Dame. The matchups would have been Notre Dame vs Coastal Carolina, Texas A&M vs Indiana, Florida vs Iowa St., and Cincinnati vs Georgia.

2021

In 2021 no. 3 Georgia beat no. 1 Alabama in the CFP national championship game. If it was the BCS, then Alabama would have played against Michigan. Alabama almost definitely would have won. A 12 team playoff would look like:

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide 12-1
  2. Michigan Wolverines 12-1
  3. Cincinnati Bearcats 13-0
  4. Baylor Bears 11-2
  5. Georgia Bulldogs 12-1
  6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 11-1
  7. Ohio State Buckeyes 10-2
  8. Ole Miss Rebels 10-2
  9. Oklahoma State Cowboys 11-2
  10. Michigan State Spartans 10-2
  11. Utah Utes 10-3
  12. Pittsburgh Panthers 11-2

Baylor would get a bye instead of Georgia. All the top 12 teams get in. The 1st round matchups would be: Georgia vs Pittsburgh, Notre Dame vs Utah, Ohio State vs Michigan State, Ole Miss vs Oklahoma State.

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