What would the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six be after the first rankings, released November 5th.
The first rankings for the 2019 season were released. If the season ended right now, what would the College Football Playoff and the New Year’s Six matchups likely be?
What would the playoff be if there was an eight-team format with all six Power Five conference champions, a top Group of Five champ, and two wild-cards?
To go even crazier, what would a 16-team College Football Playoff be based off of the most recent rankings? Going off of the rankings right now …
FOUR TEAM FORMAT
New Year’s Six Matchups Would Likely Be …
GoodYear Cotton Bowl Classic
Saturday, December 28
12:00 ET, ESPN
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
at-large vs. at-large
Projection: Cincinnati vs. Utah
Capital One Orange Bowl
Monday, December 30
8:00 ET, ESPN
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL
ACC vs. Big Ten or SEC
Projection: Clemson vs. Florida
Rose Bowl
Wednesday, January 1
5:00 ET, ESPN
Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA
Big Ten vs. Pac-12
Projection: Wisconsin vs. Oregon
AllState Sugar Bowl
Wednesday, January 1
8:45 ET, ESPN
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, New Orleans, LA
Big 12 vs. SEC
Projection: Oklahoma vs. Georgia
College Football Playoff Would Be …
PlayStation Fiesta Bowl
Saturday, December 28
4:00 or 8:00 ET, ESPN
University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ
CFP vs. CFP
Projection: (1) Ohio State vs. (4) Penn State
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
Saturday, December 28
4:00 or 8:00 ET, ESPN
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL
CFP vs. CFP
Projection: (2) LSU vs. (3) Alabama
NEXT: What would the College Football Playoff be in an 8 and 16 team format?
8 TEAM FORMAT
If the format was based on all Power Five conference champions, a top Group of Five champ, and two wild-cards.
With the two wild card format, No. 6 Georgia would be out with Alabama and Penn State the two to get in. Cincinnati would bounce out both the Bulldogs and Utah.
No. 8 Cincinnati vs. No. 1 Ohio State
This sucks. We already did it, Ohio State shut out the Bearcats, and the world would be clamoring for anything other than a rematch.
No. 7 Oklahoma vs. No. 2 LSU
Alabama transfer Jalen Hurts leads his Oklahoma squad against Ohio State transfer Joe Burrow and his high-powered Tigers.
No. 6 Oregon vs. No. 3 Alabama
The pro scouts would be all over this for months seeing Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa in a battle for the possible No. 1 overall draft pick.
No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 4 Penn State
Two very young, very fast, very talented teams that would put on a whale of a show.
NEXT: What would the College Football Playoff be in a 16-Team Format?
16 TEAM FORMAT
Let’s go insane. If the format was based on all Power Five conference champions, a top Group of Five champ, and ten wild-cards based on the ranking.
If you can’t get in THIS, you have no complaint. However, (17) Minnesota would be the only unbeaten team in college football that couldn’t get into a 16-team tournament.
No. 16 Cincinnati vs. No. 1 Ohio State
The committee would do everything in its power to ensure that the world wouldn’t be subject to a rematch.
No. 15 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 LSU
Notre Dame would be a dangerous team for an LSU squad that would have to deal with good enough line play to make it an interesting fight.
No. 14 Michigan vs. No. 3 Alabama
Harbaugh couldn’t beat Urban, but a win over Saban would change everything.
No. 13 Wisconsin vs. No. 4 Penn State
These two don’t play in the regular season. Penn State would want nothing to do with the big burly Badgers considering some of the other teams on the board who’d be a whole lot easier.
No. 12 Baylor vs. No. 5 Clemson
No offense, Baylor, but Clemson would probably be ecstatic with this matchup over Wisconsin.
No. 11 Auburn vs. No. 6 Georgia
Rematch time, but this time it would be in Athens instead of Auburn – where the two play late in the year.
No. 10 Florida vs. No. 7 Oregon
The Pac-12 would need to make a big statement with its top team going against the fourth-best SEC team.
No. 9 Oklahoma vs. No. 8 Utah
The brute force of the Utah lines vs. the speed and brilliance of the Sooners. Let’s go.
