Last year, I painted a pretty clear picture of why college football needs an eight-team playoff. I stand by that argument – eight is the way…no more, no less. So, I’ve started a new weekly column looking at what the College Football Playoff would look like under my format. I think it’s a reasonable way to determine a National Champion without leaving deserving candidates out, but making sure everyone has an equal chance to get in. With that said, let’s dive right in…
BIG NATURAL’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF PROJECTIONS
1. Alabama Crimson Tide (SEC Champion) – On a week when the entire college football world was seemingly turned on its head, the Crimson Tide defense was the one thing that remained steady. They reclaim the number one spot after Clemson was stunned against Syracuse. The Tide welcomes a dumpster fire Vols squad to Tuscaloosa for The Third Saturday in October next weekend. Despite the records, this is going to be a good ‘en.
2. Penn State Nittany Lions (Big Ten Champion) – The Nittany Lions also benefit from the Clemson loss, moving up to the #2 spot on a bye week. This Saturday, they host Michigan in the first of three games that should be a hell of a gauntlet – Michigan, Ohio State, then Michigan State. We’ll know a lot more about this team starting this weekend. But, for the time being, they look like the best in the Big Ten.
3. TCU Horned Frogs (Big 12 Champion) – If this team can survive road trips to Oklahoma and Texas Tech in November, it should be the last team standing in the Big 12. So far, they’re clearly the best, especially after going 3-0 against Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and Kansas State.
4. Miami Hurricanes (ACC Champion) – I still maintain that the ACC is the best conference in college football this season. Do I necessarily think the Hurricanes are the best team in it? No. No, I don’t. But, right now, they’re the last unbeaten in the conference. They’ve survived scares against Florida State and Georgia Tech, but have made it through unscathed. This league is loaded, so it’s hard to imagine Miami finishes the season without a loss. By the end of the year, I think we’re still looking at Clemson as the best of the conference, or maybe even NC State.
5. Washington State Cougars (Pac-12 Champion) – I have no idea what to do with the Pac-12. I’ll be honest – I wouldn’t argue with you if you said Stanford was the best team in the conference right now. Mike Leach’s team easily had the worst loss of the weekend, but I still think their overall body of work on the season is the best. I said last week that Washington hasn’t played anyone all season, and my concerns proved legitimate when they lost to Arizona. You can make an argument for USC, but they lost to Washington State head-to-head, and really could’ve easily lost to Utah this weekend. For now, I’m sticking with the Cougars and forgetting that Cal game even happened.
6. Georgia Bulldogs (Wild Card #1) – There’s no one in the SEC East that’s touching the Bulldogs. I think that’s probably the safest bet you could possibly make in college football today. In the real world, and not my bogus eight-team projection system, they’re a playoff team, and rightfully so. This team should steamroll en route to the SEC Championship in Atlanta, but hey – if we learned anything this weekend….crazier things have happened.
7. Wisconsin Badgers (Wild Card #2) – No one is going to even remotely challenge the Badgers until an 11/4 trip to Indiana. They’re toughest remaining game is against Michigan. They should finish the season with one loss, at most, but I don’t think they end up with one of my wild cards ’cause I can’t see them winning in the Big Ten Championship. Shout out to Jonathan Taylor, though, whose name is starting to show up on some of my fellow football writers’ Heisman watch lists.
8. South Florida Bulls (Group of Five Representative) – With San Diego State getting absolutely demolished, this spot looks like it’s going to come down to whoever wins the American Conference. The Bulls still have UCF in the final game of the season. Should they win out, they’ll also have Navy/Memphis in the American Championship. No one outside the conference is left undefeated, and even those with only one loss are not going to leapfrog one of these one-loss American teams (sorry to break your hearts, Toledo and Marshall fans). The Bulls need to be on upset alert this weekend, though, when they travel to play an improved Tulane squad.
So, that gives us:
(1) Alabama vs. (8) South Florida
(2) Penn State vs. (7) Wisconsin
(3) TCU vs. (6) Georgia
(4) Miami vs. (5) Washington State
Obviously, the Penn State-Wisconsin issue should sort itself out. Either both teams won’t be there at season’s end, or one will be out by virtue of losing to the other in the Big Ten Championship. Also, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that Alabama and Georgia are the two best teams in the country right now. The Big 12, Pac-12, and ACC all look like they could be wide open now. It’s going to be a fun few weeks.
Catch y’all next week.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
Buy our shirt. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Listen on SoundCloud. Watch on YouTube. Shop our store on Redbubble.
