For the 22nd straight season, I have created a 16 team mock college football playoff bracket based my proposed college football playoff system, which would begin Friday night based on the model you see below.  I realize that we now officially have a 12 team playoff in place that is set to begin in 2024, but I still feel like my 16 team model is superior for a few reasons. First of all, my model allows for all ten conference champions to play in the playoff. We would not longer be relying on a committee to determine which Group of Five champion is best, instead all five of them would get to play for a national title. Secondly, this model does not allow for first and second round rematches like the 12 team format does. For instance, this season you would have regular season rematches in both the 7/10 and 6/11 first round games between Ohio State and Penn State and Georgia and Ole Miss. Neither game was very good the first time so I feel no one wants to see either of those matchups again. I have taken a picture of the bracket which you will see just under this paragraph, and then all of its nuances will be discussed below that.

The Field: Florida State (ACC Champ), Michigan (Big 10 Champ), Texas (Big 12 Champ), Washington (Pac-12 Champ), Alabama (SEC Champ), SMU (AAC Champ), Boise State (MWC Champ), Liberty (C-USA Champ), Miami-OH (MAC Champ), Troy (Sun Belt Champ), Georgia (at-large, # 6 in CFP Rankings), Ohio State (at-large, # 7 in CFP Rankings), Oregon (at-large, # 8 in CFP Rankings), Missouri (at-large, # 9 in CFP Rankings), Penn State (at-large, # 10 in CFP Rankings), Ole Miss (at-large, # 11 in CFP Rankings)

Midwest Regional

(1) Michigan vs. (4) Miami-OH, Friday December 15th- 8:00 (ESPN), Indianapolis, IN (Fictional Hoosier Bowl)

(2) Oregon vs. (3) Missouri, Saturday December 16th- 4:00 (ABC), Inglewood, CA (LA Bowl

Winners play Saturday December 23rd at 4:00 (ABC) in Arlington, TX (Cotton Bowl)

South Regional

(1) Alabama vs. (4) SMU, Saturday December 16th- 12:00 (ESPN), Shreveport, LA (Independence Bowl)

(2) Florida State vs. (3) Liberty, Saturday December 16th- 12:00 (ESPN 2), Conway, SC (Myrtle Beach Bowl)

Winners play Saturday December 23rd at 12:00 (ESPN) in Atlanta, GA (Peach Bowl)

West Regional

(1) Washington vs. (4) Troy, Saturday December 16th- 4:00 (ESPN), Boise, ID (Famous Idaho Potato Bowl)

(2) Ohio State vs. (3) Ole Miss, Saturday December 16th- 12:00 (ABC), Boston, MA (Fenway Bowl)

Winners play Saturday December 23rd at 4:00 (ESPN), Glendale, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)

East Regional

(1) Texas vs. (4) Boise State, Saturday December 16th- 8:00 (ESPN), Frisco, TX (Frisco Bowl)

(2) Georgia vs. (3) Penn State, Saturday December 16th- 8:00 (ABC), Honolulu, HI (Hawaii Bowl)

Winners play Saturday December 23rd at 8:00 (ESPN) in Orlando, FL (Citrus Bowl)

Final Four/Championship

Midwest Regional Champ vs. East Regional Champ, Saturday December 30th- 8:00 (ESPN), Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)

West Regional Champ vs. East Regional Champ, Saturday December 30th- 4:00 (ESPN), Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)

Championship Game, Monday Jan 8th- 8:00 (ESPN), New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)

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.
• 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.
• Teams can’t play on their home field except in semifinals or finals.

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 (ESPN); 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- Rose Bowl in years that Pasadena has semifinal; otherwise, second biggest game of the week (ESPN); Game 2: Saturday 8:00- Non-Rose Bowl in years that Pasadena has semifinal; otherwise, featured game of the week (ESPN).
• Week 4 (Championship Game): Monday 8:00 (ESPN)

Playoff Sites:

• Lower-tier bowl sites will become first round sites on a rotational basis.  
• 2023: Boston, MA (Fenway Bowl); Indianapolis, IN (Fictional Hoosier Bowl); Conway, SC (Myrtle Beach, SC); Shreveport, LA (Independence Bowl); Frisco, TX (Frisco Bowl); Boise, ID (Famous Idaho Potato Bowl); Honolulu, HI (Hawaii Bowl); Inglewood, CA (LA Bowl).
• 2024: Charlotte, NC (Duke’s Mayo Bowl); Detroit, MI (Quick Lane Bowl); Montgomery, AL (Camellia Bowl); Boca Raton, FL (Boca Raton Bowl); El Paso, TX (Sun Bowl); Dallas, TX (First Responder Bowl); Phoenix, AZ (Guaranteed Rate Bowl); San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl).
• 2025: New York, NY (Pinstripe Bowl); Nashville, TN (Music City Bowl); Mobile, AL (LendingTree Bowl); Tampa, FL (Outback Bowl); San Antonio, TX (Alamo Bowl); Houston, TX (Texas Bowl); Albuquerque, NM (New Mexico Bowl); Las Vegas, NV (Las Vegas Bowl).
• 2026: Nassau, Bahamas (Bahamas Bowl); Annapolis, MD (Military Bowl); Birmingham, AL (Birmingham Bowl); Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl); Fort Worth, TX (Armed Forces Bowl); Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl); Tucson, AZ (Arizona Bowl); San Francisco, CA (Former Redbox Bowl).
•  The bowl sites of Arlington, TX (Cotton), Orlando, FL (Citrus), Glendale, AZ (Fiesta), and Atlanta, GA (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.
• 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 the 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 25 bowl games held at all the first-round sites who are off of the playoff rotation and the bowl-only site of Exploria Stadium in Orlando, FL (home of the Cure Bowl).
• The names of the bowls will remain the same.
• 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 66 FBS postseason teams (16 in playoff, 50 in bowls), which is much more reasonable than the current number of 82.
• Because there are less bowls, we are going to make admission into them more selective by requiring that all Group of Five teams have a winning record in order to make a bowl.  Thus, all 6-6 teams from non-power 5 conferences are excluded from this model as well as some 6-6 teams from power 5 conferences.
• Here would be this year’s bowl schedule based on these principles:

	Date	Bowl	Teams	Time	Ch.
1	Dec. 18	Cure	Ohio (9-3) vs. Appalachian State (8-5)	12:00	ESPN
2	Dec. 18	New Mexico	New Mexico State (10-4) vs. Fresno State (8-4)	3:30	ESPN
3	Dec. 19	Famous Toastery	Western Kentucky (7-5) vs. Jacksonville State (8-4)	3:30	ESPN
4	Dec. 19	Boca Raton	San Jose State (7-5) vs. Coastal Carolina (7-5)	8:00	ESPN
5	Dec. 20	68 Ventures	Tulane (11-2) vs. Miami-FL (7-5)	7:00	ESPN
6	Dec. 21	Birmingham	Troy (11-2) vs. Duke (7-5)	3:30	ESPN
7	Dec. 21	Camelllia	Texas State (7-5) vs. Bowling Green (7-5)	7:00	ESPN
8	Dec. 22	Armed Forces	James Madison (11-1) vs. Air Force (8-4)	3:30	ESPN
9	Dec. 22	Las Vegas	Northwestern (7-5) vs. Utah (8-4)	7:30	ESPN
10	Dec. 26	Quick Lane	Iowa (10-3) vs. Tennessee (8-4)	2:00	ESPN
11	Dec. 26	First Responder	SMU (11-2 ) vs. UTSA (8-4)	5:30	ESPN
12	Dec. 26	Guaranteed Rate	Kansas (8-4) vs. UNLV (9-4)	9:00	ESPN
13	Dec. 27	Mililtary	Virginia Tech (6-6) vs. UCLA (7-5)	2:00	ESPN
14	Dec. 27	Duke’s Mayo	West Virginia (8-4) vs. North Carolina (8-4)	5:30	ESPN
15	Dec. 27	Holiday	Southern Cal (7-5) vs. Louisville (10-3)	8:00	FOX
16	Dec. 27	Texas	Oklahoma State (9-4) vs. Texas A & M (7-5)	9:00	ESPN
17	Dec. 28	Pinstripe	Boise State (7-5) vs. Rutgers (6-6)	2:15	ESPN
18	Dec. 28	Pop-Tarts	NC State (9-3) vs. Kansas State (8-4)	5:45	ESPN
19	Dec. 28	Alamo	Arizona (9-3) vs. Oklahoma (10-2)	9:15	ESPN
20	Dec. 29	Gator	Clemson (8-4) vs. Kentucky (7-5)	12:00	ESPN
21	Dec. 29	Sun	Oregon State (8-4) vs. Notre Dame (9-3)	2:00	CBS
22	Dec. 29	Liberty	Memphis (9-3) vs. Iowa State (7-5)	3:30	ESPN
23	Jan. 1	Music City	Auburn (6-6) vs. Maryland (7-5)	2:00	ESPN
24	Jan. 1	Arizona	Toledo (11-2) vs. Wyoming (8-4)	4:30	CW/Bar.
25	Jan. 1	ReliaQuest	Wisconsin (7-5) vs. LSU (9-3)	8:00	ESPN