Hello, fans. How are you all doing? I hope you're doing well! We're getting close to bowl season, as the first couple games will be kicking off within a week. First off, I'd encourage you all to join my Bowl Pick 'Em at ESPN.COM : http://games.espn.go.com/college-bowl-mania/en/group?groupID=19772 . Good luck if you decide to come and take me on in the bowl picks!
With the most wonderful time of the year upon us in College Football, each season I like to re-imagine College Football's post-season as a 16 or 32 playoff team extravaganza. Last year I posted what would happen based upon simulations of Whatifsports.com . This year I'll be using a mixture of my own simulation engine and the numbers from What If Sports to decide who would win each game and who will move on to the next round.
First off let's establish what the bracket might look like in a 16 team playoff.
-Each Conference winner gets a bid.
-The rest would be seeded based upon BCS ranking.
- Sadly, Ohio State and Penn State will not be eligible.
- Sorry SEC, there is a maximum of 3 teams from 1 conference.
Overall Seeding:
1. Notre Dame
2. Alabama
3. Florida
4. Oregon
5. Kansas State
6. Stanford
7. Georgia
8. Oklahoma
9. Florida State
10. Northern Illinois
11. Boise State
12. Louisville
13. Utah State
14. Wisconsin
15. Tulsa
16. Arkansas State
Creating first round match-ups as follows: (The first round would be home games)
(16) Arkansas State @ (1) Notre Dame
(15) Tulsa @ (2) Alabama
(14) Wisconsin @ (3) Florida
(13) Utah State @ (4) Oregon
(12) Louisville @ (5) Kansas State
(11) Boise State @ (6) Stanford
(10) Northern Illinois @ (7) Georgia
(9) Florida State @ (8) Oklahoma
These would be some seriously intriguing match-ups! Let's see what we predict would happen!
Notre Dame 34, Ark State 9
Coming into this match-up, not many gave the champions of the Sun Belt much of a chance against a juggernaut of a Notre Dame defense. Pundits proved to be right on as Notre Dame took control early in this one. The Irish were led by Theo Riddick, who had 24 carries for 100 yards. QB Everett Gholson had a decent day passing with 2 TD's, including a 3-yard strike to TE Tyler Eiffert. Arkansas State actually scored first with a FG early, but never led again.
Alabam 39, Tulsa 3
The Crimson Tide showed once again why they are one of the most dominating teams in the country with a very convincing win over Tulsa, the champions of Conference USA. The Tide had 2 rushers go over the 100 yard mark as Lacy rushed for 152 yards while Yeldon also had 110 and a TD.
Florida 37, Wisconsin 18
Some pundits believed the Badgers had a shot in this game. They came in with 5 losses on the season already, but were just coming off of a 70-24 smashing of Nebraska in the Big Ten Championship game. Unfortunately though, Florida was just too much for the Badgers in this one. Florida took first blood by scoring with 4:24 remaining in the first on a Mike Gillislee TD scamper. The Gators never looked back after that, leading 28-10 at halftime. The Gators slowed Montee Ball to his worst performance of the year, the Sr. RB had only 35 yards on 24 carries.
Oregon 28, Utah State 10
Utah State brought some hope into this game. The champions of the WAC came into the game with a 10-2 record but may have had one of the tougher draws of the tournament thus far though. Kenjon Barner, Deanthony Thomas and Marcus Mariota was just too much on the ground for the Aggies. The Ducks were led by RB Barner, who had 198 yards and 2 TD runs.
Louisville 6, Kansas State 36
Although Kansas State QB Collin Klein wasn't able to bring home the Heisman trophy, it didn't slow him and his Wildcats down on a quest for the National Championship trophy. Louisville was no match for the Wildcats, who were led by a very tough defensive effort. Klein completed all three of his passes for a total of 71 yards, and also ran for a TD.
Boise State 7, Stanford 31
In another match-up that proved to be more hype than real excitement, Stanford smashed Boise State. The Cardinal were led by Stephan Taylor at RB, who had 31 carries for 197 yards.
Northern Illinois 16, Georgia 13
NIU QB Jordan Lynch was one of the most phenomenal players not only in the MAC, but in the nation this past season in College Football. And a tough draw in round 1 of this year's playoffs made many believe the cinderella story would come to an end. This was not true, however. As Lynch led his Huskies to an upset over the Bulldogs in round 1. Lynch's late 4th quarter TD run, and inspired play by the young defense led to the biggest upset in Jimbo Says! college football playoff history.
Oklahoma 34, Florida State 24
In our second upset of the first round, Oklahoma QB Landry Jones gave a very gutsy performance, despite his 2 INTs, he also threw 2 TD's leading to an upset of the Seminoles.
Here is a look at our upcoming Round 2 match-ups! I'll be posting the results in the next few days!
Elite Eight Pairings!
(1) Notre Dame vs (8) Oklahoma
(4) Oregon vs (5) Kansas State
(2) Alabama vs (10) Northern Illinois
(3) Florida vs (6) Stanford
