My way too early top 25 plus my playoff predictions and evaluation of proposed playoff formats:
- Texas Longhorns
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Oregon Ducks
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Ole Miss Rebels
- LSU Tigers
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- USC Trojans
- Michigan Wolverines
- Miami Hurricanes
- BYU Cougars
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Missouri Tigers
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Virginia Tech Hokies
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Louisville Cardinals
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Arizona State Sun Devils
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- California Golden Bears
Conference Comparison
SEC: 9 (1, 4, 6, 7, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
Big Ten: 6 (2, 3, 5, 10, 11, 22)
ACC: 5 (12, 19, 21, 24, 25)
Big 12: 4 (9, 13, 20, 23)
Playoff Formats
12-Team
If the conferences can’t agree, then we have another 12 team year with the 5 conference champions. I don’t like the conference champion rule, and I also think with the byes being incorporated they are put at a disadvantage because they get too much time off.
1 Texas
2 Indiana
3 Oregon
4 Georgia
5 Ohio State vs 12 Boise State
6 Ole Miss vs 11 Miami
7 LSU vs 10 USC
8 Notre Dame vs 9 Texas Tech
12 Team (no auto-bids)
I don’t think this format is being discussed, but it should. If the playoff was moved up a little bit, so that the championship was either on New Years or the week after, I think this would work pretty well. Give the top 4 teams rest, but not too much.
1 Texas
2 Indiana
3 Oregon
4 Georgia
5 Ohio State vs 12 Miami
6 Ole Miss vs 11 Michigan
7 LSU vs 10 USC
8 Notre Dame vs 9 Texas Tech
16 Team 4-4-2-2-1-3 Model
This means that teh SEC and Big Ten each have two auto-bids, the ACC and Big Ten get 2 auto bids, the G6 gets one, and then are three at large bids. Not the worst model, but I still don’t like auto bids, especially for the G6.
1 Texas vs 16 Boise State
2 Indiana vs 15 Virginia Tech
3 Oregon vs 14 Alabama*
4 Georgia vs 13 BYU
5 Ohio State vs 12 Miami
6 Ole Miss vs 11 Michigan*
7 LSU vs 10 USC
8 Notre Dame* vs 9 Texas Tech
*at-large
16 Team 5+11
Same as we have now but with 16 teams. Less auto bids the better, but I still think it is ridiculous to include G6 teams.
1 Texas vs 16 Boise State
2 Indiana vs 15 Missouri
3 Oregon vs 14 Alabama
4 Georgia vs 13 BYU
5 Ohio State vs 12 Miami
6 Ole Miss vs 11 Michigan
7 LSU vs 10 USC
8 Notre Dame vs 9 Texas Tech
16 Team (no auto-bids)
This is the SEC’s preferred model, and it is my preferred model if the playoff is going to expand.
1 Texas vs 16 Texas A&M
2 Indiana vs 15 Missouri
3 Oregon vs 14 Alabama
4 Georgia vs 13 BYU
5 Ohio State vs 12 Miami
6 Ole Miss vs 11 Michigan
7 LSU vs 10 USC
8 Notre Dame vs 9 Texas Tech
24 Team
This is what the Big Ten wants, and I hate it. The regular season would become so pointless. May as well let everyone in at that point. The CFP is already full of blow outs, this will only make that problem more abundant.
1 Texas
2 Indiana
3 Oregon
4 Georgia
5 Ohio State
6 Ole Miss
7 LSU
8 Notre Dame
9 Texas Tech vs 24 Georgia Tech
10 USC vs 23 Arizona State
11 Michigan vs 22 Penn State
12 Miami vs 21 Louisville
13 BYU vs 20 Oklahoma State
14 Alabama vs 19 Virginia Tech
15 Missouri vs 18 Oklahoma
16 Texas A&M vs 17 Tennessee
8 Team
This is what I think the playoffs should be. Just the top 8 teams. This gets in all of the obvious contenders (doesn’t make room for teams to go on a run like Miami, but still incentivizes having a good regular season), while keeping the regular season important. I thought the 4 team playoff was perfect for a while, but in the NIL era, it is clear that the top tier of contenders has expanded.
1 Texas vs 8 Notre Dame
2 Indiana vs 7 LSU
3 Oregon vs 6 Ole Miss
4 Georgia vs 5 Ohio State
All of those matchups sound awesome. This completeley trims the fat out of the playoffs while still giving us three great weeks of football. Unfortunately, we will never see a format like this.
JacobErwin.com 