What if . . . College Football Playoff - Nov. 13

What an amazing week of college football! Two of the undefeateds went down, and now it looks even more realistic that we might just have a rematch in the National Championship of LSU and Alabama when there are so many other one-loss teams quite deserving. The fact of the matter is every year brings more parody to college football with more teams looking deserving to get a fair shot at the National Championship. People say there needs to be a 4 team playoff or an "and-1" scenario where three teams have a shot, but I have always thought that the major flaw in the system is you have 3/4 of the teams in college football that have no shot at winning the National Championship. A team like Houston who blows out every team they have played will never get a fair chance. Either split Division 1 football into 3 categories or give everyone a chance. It's simple. Have a 16 team playoff with an automatic qualifier to every conference champ (yes, every conference). There are 11 conferences. That leaves 5 at large spots for the highest schools in the BCS that are not conference champs. It would be like March Madness in December. Here is how it would break down as of this weekend.

1. LSU (SEC leader)

2. Oklahoma St. (Big 12 leader)

3. Alabama (At Large)

4. Oregon (Pac-12 leader)

5. Oklahoma (At Large)

6. Arkansas (At Large)

7. Clemson (ACC leader)

8. Virginia Tech (At Large)

9. Stanford (At Large)

10. Houston (C-USA leader)

11. Michigan St. (Big 10 leader)

12. TCU (MWC leader)

13. Cincinnati (Big East leader)

14. Nevada (WAC leader)

15. Northern Illinois (MAC leader)

16. Arkansas St. (Sun Belt leader)

Looking at a playoff with these 16 teams means that everyone can get their shot. Also, looking at how the rankings changed this week, Boise St.'s loss to TCU removes them (maybe just for now) from playoff contention. It also shows a team like Stanford, with one loss to a top 5 team, would have to go on the road in the first round of the playoffs. So those that say that the regular season would be worth less don't know what they are talking about. They are probably the same ones that said the Wild Card would ruin the integrity of the MLB playoffs when all it did was make everything that much more important to that many more teams. It's not like we're going to 64 teams (or 65 . . . or 68 . . . or 96 . . . or 128 . . . whatever college basketball has now). It is just 16 teams and brings about some great competition. Boise St., who is currently 10th in the BCS is left out. You have to be in the top 9 to get a spot, or win your conference.

So here would be your 1st round matchups.

#16 Arkansas St. at #1 LSU

Snoozer, which the #1 team in the nation deserves after going undefeated.

#9 Stanford at #8 Virginia Tech

Rematch of last year's Orange Bowl. Same result?

#13 Cincinnati at #4 Oregon

Why does the Big East still have an automatic qualifier into the BCS? Still deserve a shot though, however slim it may be.

#12 TCU at #5 Oklahoma

Future conference rivals in the forever-at-risk Big 12. TCU played their way into the dance with the big win on the Smurf Turf.

#14 Nevada at #3 Alabama

Nevada pulled off a shocker last year. You never know, right?

#11 Michigan St. at #6 Arkansas

A third SEC team makes it, but that's because there isn't much depth after these three. A low rank for the top Big 10 team. Are they that bad, or have they just been beating up on each other?

#15 Northern Illinois at #2 Oklahoma St.

This could almost be considered a bye. Almost . . .

#10 Houston at #7 Clemson

Houston has worked its way up to a game where they can show what they are all about and have a chance to win, even though they would still be on the road. After Clemson lost to Georgia Tech and barely squeaked by Wake Forest, are they actually a contender?

So this is what it would look like if the season ended today. Just like the BCS gets shaken up every week, this will do the same. We will look at it again next weekend. What do you think about the matchups? The system? Let us know.