How a 16-team College Football Playoff would have played out last season
By John Buhler
College Football Playoff (Semifinals and National Championship)
Semifinals
- Allstate Sugar Bowl: No. 5 Texas A&M Aggies (10-1) vs. No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide (13-0): (Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana)
- Rose Bowl Game presented by Capital One: No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes (8-0) vs. No. 2 Clemson Tigers (12-1): (AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas)
And we have now arrived in the new College Football Playoff. While the Rose Bowl will still be played between No. 3 Ohio State and No. 2 Clemson in Jerryworld of all places, Texas A&M will get their second crack at Alabama in the Sugar Bowl down in New Orleans. Since we know how the Rose Bowl went, nothing changes there. As for Texas A&M, well, they are still Texas A&M…
National Championship
- 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship Game: No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes (9-0) vs. No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide (14-0): (Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida)
Even though Texas A&M put up a slightly better fight vs. Alabama than did Notre Dame, we still end up with the same national championship game between the Buckeyes and the Crimson Tide. Regardless of if Fields gets spear by Ben Skalski in the Sugar Bowl or not, Alabama has too much firepower for Ryan Day’s team to ever hope to contain. It might be a tad closer, but Alabama wins.
Ultimately, expanding to 16 teams from four only gives us about three more high-quality games. In this simulation, two Round of 16 games live up to the hype with Georgia and Iowa State advancing over Cincinnati and Florida, respectively. While the revamped Cotton Bowl tells us Texas A&M was better than Notre Dame all along, the Aggies were still only Crimson Tide cannon fodder.
Expanding to six, eight, 12 or even 16 teams is inevitable, but it does not make the product better.
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