College Football Playoff 2015: How would an eight-team format play out?
By John Buhler
No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners vs. No. 7 Ohio State Buckeyes (College Football Playoff National Championship)
Fate again would have it that the two teams that have scheduled a home-and-home in 2016-17 would play each other in the eight-team College Football Playoff National Championship a year early to cap off the 2015 college football season.
This game would have no more than a three-point spread to either side, possibly ending up as a pick ’em, according to Las Vegas. The game being played in Glendale favors Oklahoma both out of proximity and that the Sooners would have already beaten the Iowa Hawkeyes in the National Quarterfinals two weeks prior.
The 2015 eight-team College Football Playoff would not end in disappointment, as the hypothetical National Championship between Oklahoma and Ohio State would be decided by one score. Since Oklahoma earned their spot in this year’s College Football Playoff in real life, while Ohio State will play in this year’s Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame, the higher seed will come out on top.
Ohio State won’t sneak up on the Sooners in this hypothetical National Championship Game. Bob Stoops will win his second National Title while leading the Sooners in his fourth opportunity. Oklahoma’s victory over Ohio State would, for the meantime, delay the necessity of the Big 12 needing to expand to 12 teams to have the conference championship game. Stoops would emerge as one of the greatest college football head coaches ever with his second National Title at Oklahoma.
Prediction: Oklahoma Sooners 31, Ohio State Buckeyes 28