So it has been waaaay to long, but that's what working hard and having a baby can be all about. Things you used to do get put on the way-back burner and you just try to survive.
The college football season is long over, but I wanted a chance to get my two cents in. Since Alabama beat LSU in the BCS "championship" game there has been room for arguments that the system is still very flawed. I mean, the "National Champion" didn't even when their conference... or their DIVISION. Would a +1 game featuring Oklahoma State and Alabama have solved it? In some people's minds, yes. You guys know I prefer a tournament, and I've outlined my plan to restructure the system before.
But for this year, since I can't move the conferences around and still use the same records and rankings, I'll work with the current conference system and use my rankings... an average of the AP poll, ESPN poll, RPI, and strength of schedule. The winner of each 11 conferences in an auto bid to the 16-team tournament and the 5 highest ranked teams non-champs are the at-large bids. The rankings will determine the seeding.
Here are the final rankings (champs in bold):
1: LSU (SEC)
2: Alabama
3: Oklahoma State (Big 12)
4: Kansas State
5: South Carolina
6: Baylor
7: Clemson (ACC)
8: Oklahoma
9: Arkansas
10: Virginia Tech
11: Michigan
12: Georgia
13: Nebraska
14: Oregon (Pac-12)
15: Penn State
16: Stanford
17: West Virginia (Big East)
18: Wisconsin (Big 10)
19: TCU (MWC)
20: Boise State
21: Notre Dame
22: Missouri
23: Michigan State
24: Tulsa
25: Louisville
26: Houston
27: Louisiana Tech (WAC)
28: Northern Illinois (MAC)
29: Virginia
30: Florida State
31: Southern Miss (C-USA)
32: Rutgers
33: Georgia Tech
34: Cincinnati
35: Arkansas State (Sun Belt)
36: BYU
Which means, the seeding for the postseason tournament would be:
(1) LSU vs. (16) Arkansas State
(2) Alabama vs. (15) Southern Miss
(3) Oklahoma State vs. (14) Northern Illinois
(4) Kansas State vs. (13) Louisiana Tech
(5) South Carolina vs. (12) TCU
(6) Baylor vs. (11) Wisconsin
(7) Clemson vs. (10) West Virginia
(8) Oklahoma vs. (9) Oregon
The second round would be reseeded to (with my predictions):
(1) LSU vs. (12) TCU
(2) Alabama vs. (10) West Virginia
(3) Oklahoma State vs. (9) Oregon
(4) Kansas State vs. (6) Baylor
The semi-finals:
(1) LSU vs. (6) Baylor
(2) Alabama vs. (3) Oklahoma State
Final:
Oklahoma State over LSU
Wouldn't that have been more fun... and more importantly better television.
