With the end of the college football regular season just a game away, teams in contention start eying those conference championships and a spot in the playoffs. Especially the group of five schools, as they have limited chances to get into it. That posed the question though. Owen and I thought about what would happen if they didn’t have to worry about being a top 12 team in the nation, but rather a top 64 team? Maybe it changes recruiting. Maybe an unexpected champion emerges that wouldn’t have due to a weaker conference. So we put it to the test. What would happen if college football adopted a 64 team March madness like playoff system? We used the website NCAAGameSim.com for all simulated results.
Conference Championships
One of the most important things about March Madness is conference championships. 32 conference champions are guaranteed a spot in the big dance. However in college football only eight teams would receive that spot. We could’ve added FCS teams, but that would’ve added a whole complexity to it that maybe we weren’t looking for. But we decided although it won’t really affect the teams chances of qualifying, it can boost or decrease their seeding. We simulated the last few games of the season (simulated before last Saturday’s games) and these are the conference championships that we received.
American Conference
Memphis (10-2) 35-10 North Texas (11-1)
ACC
Miami (11-1) 23-16 Georgia Tech (11-1)
B1G Ten
Ohio State (12-0) 43-38 Indiana (10-2)
Big 12
BYU (11-1) 24-21 Cincinnati (10-2)
Conference USA
Kennesaw State (7-5) 6-30 Jaxonville State (7-5)
MAC
Western Michigan (7-5) 21-0 Ball State (7-5)
Mountain West
UNLV (11-1) 23-31 Boise State (8-4)
PAC-12
None
SEC
Alabama (11-1) 27-9 Vanderbilt (11-1)
Sun Belt
Troy (9-3) 3-14 James Madison (10-2)
With these results we were able to split up the 64 teams into four geographical regions. This included the south, east, midwest and west.
South Region
The south region was stacked. SEC Champs Alabama, SEC runner ups Vanderbilt, Georgia and more. Made up heavily by the SEC it was only expected that we’d have a winner from there. Not much happened in the first round, all chalk with the exception of 11 seeded Duke securing a second round spot over 6 seeded Arizona. We did have a game in the second round as Ole Miss took down Vanderbilt in OT 44-41. However all possible Cinderella stories ended after the second round as we had one seeded Alabama taking on four seeded Ole Miss as well as two seeded Georgia taking on three seeded Texas A&M. The region ended with a bang as two seeded Georgia shocked one seeded Alabama in double OT 47-44 as they punched their ticket into the final four.
East Region
The east region wasn’t nearly as high powered. Miami, although the three seed saw themselves as favorites. Georgia Tech was the clear one seed but was expected to fail as they did in the ACC championship. The first round teased us. Georgia Southern held it close against Georgia Tech. Eight seeded Maryland won in a crazy 27-24 OT game vs nine seeded Illinois, and Virginia put up a whopping 12 points as they edged out a victory over 13 seeded Kennesaw State. The second round had a shocker however, as six seeded Wake Forest took down three seeded, ACC Champs, Miami 30-20 to go to the sweet 16. They would continue their run into the elite eight after demolishing two seeded Louisville 41-16. This is where they would ultimately fall though as they would be demolished 44-17 by Georgia Tech. This would set up a Georgia Tech vs Georgia matchup in the final four.
West Region
This by far was the most entertaining region. 2 cinderella’s would emerge from here. Our first being 13 seeded New Mexico. In their first game they came in as big underdogs against 10-2, five seeded Houston. Despite the challenge they would win 16-13 after a game winning field goal. Their next match would be possibly even harder. Five seeded Utah awaited them ready to pounce and take their seat in the sweet 16. They would overcome the doubters again winning 35-31 booking their place to the sweet 16. Unfortunately the final hurdle was too much as one seeded BYU would smoke their shoes off 44-16. While that commotion was going on, the Huskies from the state of Washington were building something of their own. Coming into the tournament listed as a ten seed, it was very possible they could make a run. In the first round they would take on and beat seven seeded San Diego State 31-17. This would lead them into the next round versus two seeded Cincinnati. They would win in an intense 27-26 game. Sweet 16 arrived and so did they as they demolished three seeded UNLV 70-37. They then would march onto the elite 8 and beat one seeded BYU 34-27 to send themselves to the final four.
Midwest Region
This region was overall boring but had some of the highest scoring games. Especially in the sweet 16. The first round was all chalk, no upsets, just the better teams destroying the worse ones. The second round is where it gets all right. First both one seeded Ohio State and five seeded Michigan would advance themselves to set up a Michigan/OSU sweet 16 game. But six seed Nebraska would beat three seeded Oregon by one in a 21-20 final. The sweet 16 was the peak of the region. Two seed Indiana makes you think Nebraska shouldn’t have been in the tournament at all after winning 52-20 giving them a spot in the elite eight. Ohio State vs Michigan though, that’s where it gets fun. Ohio State would eventually win in the game of the tournament after a quadruple OT win over their arch nemesis’ 62-58. This would also set up an all anticipated rematch of the B1G Ten championship between one seed Ohio State and two seed Indiana. In the end the Buckeyes would come out victorious after a 45-37 win over the Hoosiers. Punching their ticket to the final four.
Final Four
Ohio State vs Washington
The first final four game that took place was one seeded east region champs Ohio State vs ten seeded west region champs Washington. Ohio State opened up quickly but Washington was having none of it. Jordan Washington ran 66 yards for the Huskies first touchdown of the game which tied it up at the time. Bo Jackson and Jeramiah Smith said not today however as they both combined for 4 total touchdowns as the Buckeyes led 31-10 at halftime. Washington tried to clap back in the second half but ultimately came short as their final four Cinderella run ended in a 34-24 loss to the best team in the nation.
Georgia vs Georgia Tech
Some clean old-fashioned hate is never too much for the average football fan. That’s where the second of the final four matches take us. Georgia opened up the game with a Gunner Stockton touchdown but Georgia Tech wouldn’t go away in the first quarter. The first big moment of the game came from a 73 yard rushing touchdown by Chauncey Bowens to give the Dogs a 14-7 lead just midway through the second quarter. By halftime Georgia had added another 31 yard touchdown to extend the lead to 21-10 and it was looking all Georgia. But in the second half it would be anything but that. Georgia Tech within the first half of the 3rd quarter had taken it back to a one-point game. They then kicked a game leading field goal from 36 yards away to take a two-point lead. Another field goal, this time from 50 gave the Yellow Jackets a 26-21 lead going into the 4th. From there they took control finishing the game with a 40-31 win over their rivals and giving them a spot in the national championship.
National Championship
The game that we/you were all awaiting for. One seeded Georgia Tech vs One Seeded Ohio State. The Buckeyes would receive the ball first and make the most of it, as Julian Sayin connected with Jeramiah Smith for a 44 yard touchdown on the opening drive. Georgia Tech would respond by Haynes King finding Brett Seither for a 2 yard touchdown making it 7-7 which would be all that would happen in the first half. The second half would have a lot in store however as Haynes King would find Malachi Hosely for a 4 yard touchdown pass on the opening drive of the second half. The Buckeyes would have trouble responding but eventually did as Bo Jackson would run for 17 yards and a second scarlet and grey touchdown. Georgia Tech would score a 34 yard field goal to take the lead again before Ohio State would do the same as the Buckeyes would tie it up again. The Yellow Jackets would punt and the Buckeyes would go 75 yards topping it off with a 17 yard Carnell Tate touchdown for a 24-17 lead. James Peoples would do similar and go 9 yards into the endzone just two drives later to make it 31-17. Haynes King in desperation would drive Georgia Tech to a touchdown to make it 31-24. But that would ultimately be it for their offense. Jayden Fielding would tack on another 2 field goals to end the game and the Buckeyes would be your national champions for the second time in a row after a 37-24 win.