You want a playoff? We've got one

You want a playoff? We have a playoff.

Some of the writers at eSports wondered what a playoff might look like and how it would end up. So, we decided we would make our own playoff with our own very sophisticated simulation.

What we did was invite the top twelve teams from the final regular season eSports Media Group college football poll and gathered together our own selection committee to determine the final four teams and final four seedings. Quite by accident, it ended up being the same as the last poll.

The rules of the playoff are as follows: There are sixteen teams and there will be four rounds. They will be played (simulated) in successive weeks with the winners being announced every Friday except for the Championship game. The winner of the Championship game will be announced the morning of the Rose Bowl, January 3, 2002.

The first round of games will be played at the home stadium of the higher ranked team.

The sites for the round of eight are: Orange (since they had last years championship game), Gator, Cotton, and Holiday Bowls, respectively. The three highest ranked teams get to select which site they want their section of the bracket to play at during the quarter finals (The fourth has no choice since the other three are already taken). No team is allowed to select its home field (i.e. Miami and the Orange Bowl). The number one seed is allowed to pick the semi-final site for its side of the bracket. The semi-final sites for this year are the Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl.

The seedings and brackets are as follows:

Section One - winners will play at the Gator Bowl and Sugar Bowl

#16 Virginia Tech at #1 Miami FL
#9 Texas at #8 Tennessee

Section Two - winners will play at the Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl

#13 Washington State at #4 Nebraska
#12 Louisiana State at #5 Illinois

Section Three - winners will play at the Holiday Bowl and Fiesta Bowl

#15 South Carolina at #2 Oregon
#10 Oklahoma at #7 Florida

Section Four - winners will play at the Cotton Bowl and Fiesta Bowl

#14 Michigan at #3 Colorado
#11 Stanford at #6 Maryland

This leaves us with some very interesting match-ups in our first round:

Virginia Tech gets a rematch with Miami, but it's in the Orange Bowl. I have to think that the Hurricanes would be favored, but the Hokies would have one thing, confidence. They know they can play with the 'Canes.

I would assume Major Applewhite would start this game and that would give it a whole different feel for the Longhorns. Tennessee would just be coming off a big loss in the SEC championship game (although it wouldn't be as big because they would still have a shot at the title). I would probably rate this a toss up.

Washington State would probably be in for a long day at Nebraska. The Cornhuskers were embarrassed by Colorado in their last game and they would be looking to take it out on somebody. The Cougs wouldn't stand a chance.

LSU would be sky high at Illinois. The Illini, having only played one top twenty team (a big loss to Michigan), would have a lot to prove. The Tigers would probably be a healthy favorite

South Carolina finished 3-3 with games in the last month against Tennessee, Florida, and Clemson. Oregon has too much on the line to lose this game. I would imagine the Ducks would be solid 10 point favorites in this one.

Bob Stoops brings the Sooners into the Swamp. This would be a classic game. I think the Sooners would be done in by their pathetic offense again. The Gators would be about a touchdown favorite.

Colorado and Michigan have a storied history and this one could rank right up there. Colorado would probably do what it's been doing and run all over the Michigan D like Michigan State did. The Buffs would be an easy touchdown favorite.

Stanford and Maryland both realize that they have a lot to prove. This game wouldn't do anything for either except eliminate one for the real test the next week. One thing is for sure, the over/under would be at least 75. I think Maryland would the favorite by about a field goal.

There you have it. The first round of the playoffs that we all desire and deserve. A system that's fair to all teams. A system that is fair to the bowls. A system that rewards the top eight teams with an extra home game. A system that will never be implemented because the powers that be are afraid of losing some of their power (a playoff system would give some power back to the NCAA).

We can dream though...

Read about the first weeks games on Friday.