What would the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six be after the first rankings, released November 12th.
The second 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: Virginia Tech vs. Florida
Rose Bowl
Wednesday, January 1
5:00 ET, ESPN
Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA
Big Ten vs. Pac-12
Projection: Minnesota 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. Alabama
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) LSU vs. (4) Georgia
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) Ohio State vs. (3) Clemson
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. 7 Minnesota would be out with Georgia and Utah the two to get in. Cincinnati would be the Group of Five program to get in.
No. 8 Cincinnati vs. No. 1 LSU
The Bearcats would get their shot at trying to slow down the LSU offensive machine. The power running game might be enough to give the Tigers a few issues.
No. 7 Utah vs. No. 2 Ohio State
Ohio State wouldn’t be happy. It would have to deal with a powerful Utah team with the lines to make this a battle.
No. 6 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Clemson
Let’s go … set the point total at 75? Last team with the ball wins?
No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 4 Georgia
The winner of this probably gets LSU. Would the lack of a downfield passing game kill the Dawgs here? Oregon is adaptable to any style.
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) Notre Dame would have a wee bit of a a beef as the No. 15 team.
No. 16 Cincinnati vs. No. 1 LSU
There would be a massive break for the No. 1 seed in this format. MASSIVE.
No. 15 Michigan vs. No. 2 Ohio State
The committee would probably try to do something to work around this, but the rankings are the rankings. There’s no way this would actually happen – one of the two teams would obviously lose the head-to-head before this.
No. 14 Wisconsin vs. No. 3 Clemson
Could Wisconsin impose its will against Clemson? Dabo would be ticked to have to deal with the Badgers over some of the higher seeds.
No. 13 Baylor vs. No. 4 Georgia
It would be a low-scoring slugfest, but Baylor might not score.
No. 12 Auburn vs. No. 5 Alabama
Ohhhhhh, no. This wouldn’t happen in the real world. But it would be a blast.
No. 11 Florida vs. No. 6 Oregon
Would the 11-seed be favored? The Gator secondary would have to step up its all-around game if Oregon started to open it up.
No. 10 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Utah
Power vs. Flash. Utah would have to grind it out a bit, but it would have to get ready for a shootout.
No. 9 Penn State vs. No. 8 Minnesota
Oh sure, let’s do it again. It was a blast the first time around.
