For the 13th straight season, I have created a mock college football playoff bracket based my proposed college football playoff system.  I know that a four-team playoff has emerged, but I think thinks year’s controversial selections prove that we can obviously do a lot better.  You will see below that 16 is clearly the magic number for the ideal college football playoff, as I will present to you the most comprehensive college football playoff proposal you will see anywhere.  Anyone that would like to see this playoff in an excel bracket format then just let me know, and I’ll send you a copy.

The Field: Florida State (ACC  Champ), Memphis (AAC Champ), Ohio State (Big 10 Champ), Baylor (Big 12 Champ), Oregon (Pac-12 Champ), Alabama (SEC Champ), Boise State (MWC Champ), Marshall (C-USA Champ), Northern Illinois (MAC Champ), UL-Lafayette (Sun Belt Champ), TCU (at-large, # 3 in Playoff Rankings), Mississippi State (at-large, # 7 in Playoff Rankings), Michigan State (at-large, # 8 in Playoff Rankings), Ole Miss (at-large, # 9 in Playoff Rankings), Arizona (at-large, # 10 in Playoff Rankings), Kansas State (at-large, # 11 in Playoff Rankings)

South Regional

(1) Alabama vs. (4) UL-Lafayette, Friday December 19th- 8:00 (ESPN), Nashville, TN

(2) Michigan State vs. (3) Arizona, Saturday December 20th- 3:30 (ESPN), St. Petersburg, FL

Winners play Saturday December 27th at 12:00 in Atlanta, GA (ABC)

Midwest Regional

(1) Ohio State vs. (4) Memphis, Saturday December 20th- 12:00 (ESPN), Dallas, TX

(2) Baylor vs. (3) Boise State, Saturday December 20th- 3:30 (ABC), El Paso, TX

Winners play Saturday December 27th at 3:30 in Arlington, TX (ESPN)

West Regional

(1) Oregon vs. (4) Northern Illinois, Saturday December 20th- 8:00 (ESPN), San Diego, CA

(2) Mississippi State vs. (3) Kansas State, Thursday December 18th- 8:00 (ESPN), Tempe, AZ

Winners play Saturday December 27th at 3:30 in Phoenix, AZ (ABC)

East  Regional

(1) Florida State vs. (4) Marshall, Saturday December 20th- 12:00 (ABC), Charlotte, NC

(2) Baylor vs. (3) Boise State, Saturday December 20th- 8:00 (ABC), Orlando, FL

Winners play Saturday December 27th at 8:00 in Orlando, FL (ABC)

Final Four/Championship

South Champ vs. Midwest Champ, Saturday January 3rd- 8:00 (ABC), Miami, FL

West Champ vs. East Champ, Saturday January 3rd- 3:30 (ABC), Pasadena, CA

Championship Game, Saturday Jan 10th- 8:00 (ABC), New Orleans, LA

Basic Format:

• 16 teams (10 conference championships and 6 at-larges chosen by the top 6 in the Playoff Rankings, which can be chosen exactly as it is now with a committee of 12/13.)
• 4 regions (teams seeded 1-4 based on committee)
• Bowl sites will become tourney sites.  See further explanation below.
• Selection Sunday will be held the day after conference championship day and the first game will be played two weeks after that or one week depending on how late regular season ends.
• A couple of special stipulations are that two teams from the same conference can’t play in the same region, and each conference is limited to four total playoff teams.

Scheduling:

• I’ve even drafted a mock game schedule that takes into consideration both the interests of the viewers and  television providers.  I’m going to assume that ABC/ESPN buy the rights to playoff coverage, since they have already purchased future New Year’s Six coverage rights.
• Week 1 (First Round):  Game 1: Thursday 8:00- second best game of the week (ESPN);  Game 2: Friday 8:00- worst game of the week (ESPN); Games 3 and 4: Saturday 12:00- two non-west region games (ABC/ESPN split); Games 5 and 6: Saturday 3:30- two games of any type (ABC/ESPN split); Games 7 and 8: Saturday 8:00- game of the week is on ABC; ESPN has other game.
• Week 2 (Elite 8): Game 1: Saturday 12:00- Third biggest game of the week but can’t be midwest/west regional final (ABC); Game 2: Saturday 3:30- Worst game of the week (ESPN); Game 3: Saturday 3:30- Second biggest game of the week (ABC); Game 4: Saturday 8:00- Featured game of the week (ABC).
• Week 3 (Final Four): Game 1: Saturday 3:30- Second biggest game of the week (ABC); Game 2: Saturday 8:00- Featured game of the week (ABC).
• Week 4 (Championship Game): Saturday 8:00 (ABC)

Playoff Sites:

• Lower-tier bowl sites will become first round sites on a rotational basis.   
• 2013: East- Birmingham, New York; South- Shreveport, Jacksonville; Midwest- Fort Worth, Boise; West- San Francisco, Boise. 2014: East- Charlotte, Detroit; South- Nashville, St. Petersburg; Midwest- El Paso, Dallas; West: Tempe, San Diego.  2015: East Regional- Mobile, Washington D.C.; South Regional- Memphis, Tampa; Midwest Regional- San Antonio, Houston; West Regional: Albuquerque, Las Vegas.
•  The current semi-major bowl sites of Arlington (Cotton), Orlando, FL (Citrus), Phoenix (Fiesta), and Atlanta (Peach) will be annual elite 8 sites.
• The Final Four/Championship games will be held in Pasadena, New Orleans, and Miami.  The championship game will rotate between the 3 sites, and the two final four games will be played in the non-championship cities.
• Other notes: (1) New bowl sites coming into existence must replace old ones.  (2) The first-round sites that are off of the playoff rotation will still hold bowl games.  More explanation on that to follow.

Remaining Bowl Games:

• This is time where things get tricky, as I try to accommodate the rest of the bowl eligible teams who do not make the 16-team playoff.
• There will be 19 bowl games held at all the first-round sites who are off  of the playoff rotation and the three bowl-only sites of: Nassau, Bahamas, Montgomery, AL, and Boca Raton, FL.
• The names of the bowls can either change depending on which bowl is being played each year, or a bowl game can be played every year at different sites.  It doesn’t really make a difference to me.
• The tie-ins for the bowls will try to replicate those for the current bowl games with the obvious omission of all tie-ins of conference champions.  Also, the number of bowl teams from each conference may fluctuate depending on how many teams it sends to the playoff in a particular season.
• Overall, in this system there will be 54 1-A postseason teams (16 in playoff, 38 in bowls), which is much more reasonable than the current number of 76.  Honestly, by taking out some of the garbage teams who currently squeak into bowl games, I think this system will actually make the bowl games more meaningful and watchable.