2014 FBS 16-team playoff bracket


Journalist

Journalist

Listen up maggots! And that's an order!
As I've done for the past few years ... here's how a 16-team bracket would look for FBS

Using the computer analysis from FinalFour.com http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2014/09/15/college-football-computer-composite-ranking-week-3/15666409/


Automatic Bids (Conference champion)
ACC: Florida State
Big 10: Ohio State
Big 12: Baylor (by virtue of head-to-head win over TCU)
Pacific 12: Oregon
SEC: Alabama
MAC: Northern Illinois
Mountain West: Boise State
American Athletic: Cincinnati (by virtue of higher computer ranking)
Conference USA: Marshall
Sun Belt: UL-Lafayette (by virtue of Georgia Southern being ineligible for conference hours due to moving up to FBS)

At-Large Bids: TCU, Ole Miss, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Auburn, UCLA


1. Alabama*
2. Florida State*
3. Oregon*
4. TCU
5. Ohio State*
6. Baylor*
7. Ole Miss
8. Mississippi State
9. Michigan State
10. Auburn
11. UCLA
12. Boise State*
13. Marshall*
14. Northern Illinois*
15. Cincinnati*
16. UL-Lafayette*

* — Denotes Conference champion

First Round (higher seeded team at home; No. 1 and No. 2 seeds home field advantage through first two rounds)

No. 16 UL-Lafayette at No. 1 Alabama
No. 9 Michigan State at No. 8 Mississippi State
No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Ohio State
No. 13 Marshall at No. 4 TCU
No. 11 UCLA at No. 6 Baylor
No. 14 Northern Illinois at No. 3 Oregon
No. 10 Auburn at No. 7 Ole Miss
No. 15 Cincinnati at No. 2 Florida State
 
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I think a 16 team FBS football playoff is too much and too many games. A 8 team playoff would be better with the power 5 getting auto bids with 3 at large teams.
 



Fiyah said:
I think a 16 team FBS football playoff is too much and too many games. A 8 team playoff would be better with the power 5 getting auto bids with 3 at large teams.
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You can actually fit the first two weekends of games this weekend and next weekend...then have a week between and still have the national semis on New Year's Day/weekend and the championship the next week.

Let's take this season...Have the first round on Dec. 13/14 and the quarterfinals on Dec. 20/21...you break for Christmas....then the national semifinals Jan. 2 and the championship game Jan. 9...

Pretty much the same framework this actual playoff is using.
 
Yeah, some folks are saying that that is too many games for these kids to be playing. But I say get them ready for the next level.
 
PsychoJag said:
So why is it too many games for the FBS schools but not FCS?
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Because there is more demand (fair or not) -- on-the-field and off-the-field -- placed on FBS players than FCS players. FBS players, especially the kids who play at the Power 5 level are, in a lot of ways, being required to act as professionals when they are not compensated like professionals. And asking those kids to play what would amount to an NFL schedule (barring they make the postseason) when they aren't being compensated like that, is a little much.

The only reason we have a CFP now is because the suits realized that a whole bunch of money could be made -- money that isn't going in the pockets of the players. They are taking more of the risk than anyone else that would be involved in an expanded postseason.

Blacknbengal said:
They wouldn't make it to the next level if more or less games were played. They don't matter.
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~side-eye~
 
PsychoJag said:
So why is it too many games for the FBS schools but not FCS?
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Because a player's body at Mississippi State is more delicate than one at Mississippi Valley State University

Where's this concern at the high school, FCS, D2, D3, NAIA and JUCO level who all play 3-4 weeks straight weeks after a regular season?
 
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Blacknbengal said:
Yeah, some folks are saying that that is too many games for these kids to be playing. But I say get them ready for the next level.
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90% of them are not going to the next level. Also, on the next level.. it's their JOB. Having these kids play 16-17 games is too much. I can deal with 8 but 4 is good enough. The point is to name the champ. Marshall, etc.. are not the #1 team in the nation. Why put them in it? On any given year, you only have 3-4 teams MAX that can arguably be the best in the nation. Let's not forget why the +1 game was initiated!
 
Tigerpride said:
90% of them are not going to the next level. Also, on the next level.. it's their JOB. Having these kids play 16-17 games is too much. I can deal with 8 but 4 is good enough. The point is to name the champ. Marshall, etc.. are not the #1 team in the nation. Why put them in it? On any given year, you only have 3-4 teams MAX that can arguably be the best in the nation. Let's not forget why the +1 game was initiated!
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You could make the case that playing college football is a job, too.
 
Four is more than enough.

Eight is too many.

Sixteen is ridiculous.

If you are the 16th ranked team in the nation, you haven't earned the the opportunity to play for a championship.
 
Deuce said:
Four is more than enough.

Eight is too many.

Sixteen is ridiculous.

If you are the 16th ranked team in the nation, you haven't earned the the opportunity to play for a championship.
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If you're ranked 16th in the AP or the coaches poll you wouldn't be in the field as an at-large team ... you'd probably be in as a conference champion of one of the Group of Five conferences. 16 isn't ridiculous if pretty much all the other levels have done or are currently doing the same thing for decades...
 
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Tigerpride said:
Kendrick, stop trying to be relevant.

No matter how you spin it, college kids go to class, have practice hour restrictions, etc.... Pros practice, etc... 9-5.
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The National Labor Relations Board ruled that Northwestern football players could unionize.

Their job is to play football. That's why they're there. That's why they have those scholarships. Doing well in class won't save them from getting that scholarship taken if they don't perform on the field.
 
Journalist said:
If you're ranked 16th in the AP or the coaches poll you wouldn't be in the field as an at-large team ... you'd probably be a conference champion. 16 isn't ridiculous if pretty much all the other levels have done or are currently doing the same thing for decades...
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Just because something has gone on for decades, or that someone else is doing it, doesn't mean its a good thing. I would say the same thing to other leagues with ridiculously large playoffs . . . the NBA, for instance . . . about 30 teams, and over half of them make the playoffs? :smh: Even NCAA basketball - 64+ teams is ridiculous - regardless of how long they've been doing it.

Big-time college football is unique. Let's keep it that way . . .
 
Deuce said:
Just because something has gone on for decades, or that someone else is doing it, doesn't mean its a good thing. I would say the same thing to other leagues with ridiculously large playoffs . . . the NBA, for instance . . . about 30 teams, and over half of them make the playoffs? :smh: Even NCAA basketball - 64+ teams is ridiculous - regardless of how long they've been doing it.

Big-time college football is unique. Let's keep it that way . . .
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I'm speaking in terms of college football, where about nearly 20 percent of FCS teams see postseason play and so forth down the line in D2 and D3 ...

So if there are 126 FBS programs and a 16-team playoff...that means about nearly 13 percent of FBS schools make it into the playoffs. With the margin getting in being so slim, that puts an added emphasis on the regular season. That theoretically means no more cupcake games.

There are 122 FCS programs with a 24-team playoffs...that means about 1/5 of FCS schools reach the playoffs (or 19.67 percent of FCS membership)

Only reason why the NCAA basketball tournament is so "large" is that there are about 340 Division I schools (combining FBS, FCS schools and D-I schools with no football program) ...so guess what's 65 men's teams out of 340 is ... approximately 1/5 of all participating teams (or 19.11 percent of all Division I men's basketball programs make the tournament each year).

Also, some of y'all who talk about concern for the number of games played in college don't realize a lot of these kids come from high school programs that play 12-15 games anyway due to the regular season plus deep playoff runs. Some of these kids come in with 45-60 high school games in their careers. Only now in Louisiana due to the playoff split, that game load is being reduced because some of the divisions/classes don't have 32 teams ... thus not having that extra six wins to a state championship.
 
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Kendrick said:
Would you have felt that way if Bama didn't make it?
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If Bama was not a legitimate Top Four team, then they would not deserve to be in the playoffs. Period.
 
Journalist,

Big-Time College Football is Unique.

Period.

Who cares what FCS, DII, DIII, NAIA, or watever does.

The bottom line is that Big-Time College Football is unique. They have Bowl Games, and the other divisions do not. Does that mean that the other divisions should do what FBS does?

I just wish everybody would realize, understand, and appreciate the uniqueness of FBS football, and stop trying to make it like all other sports, and divisions . . .
 
Deuce said:
Journalist,

Big-Time College Football is Unique.

Period.

Who cares what FCS, DII, DIII, NAIA, or watever does.

The bottom line is that Big-Time College Football is unique. They have Bowl Games, and the other divisions do not. Does that mean that the other divisions should do what FBS does?

I just wish everybody would realize, understand, and appreciate the uniqueness of FBS football, and stop trying to make it like all other sports, and divisions . . .
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By unique you mean exclusive to only certain conferences, right?
 
Kendrick said:
By unique you mean exclusive to only certain conferences, right?
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And that there is the reason to move to 16 because those Group of Five schools will eventually sue for the access to the money the playoff generates. That way, you placate them by giving the automatic bids and the Power 5 schools still get their boys in there.

Only thing unique about "big-time college football" is that politics and BS has ruled it from Day 1. That's it. And they've mind****ed the fans for far too long saying the systems are good for the sport ... all the while screwing the students that play the sports ... and the fans.

Funny thing is, the 16-team bracket would be a BILLION DOLLAR proposition if done right. The ones blocking this are the mediocre 7-5 coaches and ADs with their contract clauses along with these miscellaneous bowls that don't mean squat.


So how unique is "big-time college football" ... unique enough that it's too damned hard to play two weeks of first- and second-round games before Christmas ... have Christmas off ... then come back to the semis and finals LIKE ORIGINALLY PLANNED on New Years?
 
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The only reason the CFP exists now is because the suits found out they could make a whole bunch of money. All that talk about kids missing class and the regular season not meaning anything went right out of the window.
 
Journalist said:
And that there is the reason to move to 16 because those Group of Five schools will eventually sue for the access to the money the playoff generates. That way, you placate them by giving the automatic bids and the Power 5 schools still get their boys in there.

Only thing unique about "big-time college football" is that politics and BS has ruled it from Day 1. That's it. And they've mind****ed the fans for far too long saying the systems are good for the sport ... all the while screwing the students that play the sports ... and the fans.

Funny thing is, the 16-team bracket would be a BILLION DOLLAR proposition if done right. The ones blocking this are the mediocre 7-5 coaches and ADs with their contract clauses along with these miscellaneous bowls that don't mean squat.


So how unique is "big-time college football" ... unique enough that it's too damned hard to play two weeks of first- and second-round games before Christmas ... have Christmas off ... then come back to the semis and finals LIKE ORIGINALLY PLANNED on New Years?
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You better get out of here making all that sense. That's the reason why almost everyone in the national media (like ESPN) is against it. Because they don't want those other schools to get a piece of the billion dollar pie. Only in FBS football.

The college blue bloods in basketball were griping last year that someone from MVSU has the same amount of voting power as someone from Duke. They were throwing that proposal out there about the best 64 teams out there instead of the auto bids... that is until all the upsets happened (as they usually do) and that killed off that talk. I'm glad CBS still has the Big Dance
 
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