What If? How would a FCS style playoff look in FBS (2021 edition)

[jasontoddwhitt]

True college football fans know that the FCS playoffs began a couple of weeks ago. While FBS didn't adopt a playoff till 2014 and only a four-team one at that, FCS has been conducting a playoff since the Division I split in 1978, operating as a four-team playoff and expanding through the years to the current 24 team format in 2013.

So how would this look in FBS? Utilizing the BCS rankings I simulated, we're about to take that deep dive.

How do teams get into the FCS Playoffs?

The field of 24 is split into two different qualifiers: 10 automatic and 14 at-large.

The 10 automatic bids go to the conference champions while a committee selects the 14 at-large teams. We'll be using the BCS simulation to choose those 14 teams.

Automatic Bids
Cincinnati (American Athletic champion)
Pittsburgh (Atlantic Coast champion)
Baylor (Big 12 champion)
Michigan (Big Ten champion)
UTSA (Conference USA champion)
Northern Illinois (Mid-American champion)
Utah State (Mountain West champion)
Utah (Pac-12 champion)
Alabama (Southeastern champion)
Louisiana (Sun Belt champion)

At-Large Bids
Georgia
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Oklahoma State
Ole Miss
Michigan State
Oklahoma
BYU
Iowa
Oregon
Clemson
Wake Forest
NC State
Wisconsin

How does seeding for the FCS playoff work?

The selection committee seeds the top eight teams. The seeded teams receive a first-round bye.

Top Eight Seeds
1. Alabama
2. Michigan
3. Georgia
4. Cincinnati
5. Notre Dame
6. Ohio State
7. Baylor
8. Oklahoma State

The remaining 16 teams play first-round games and are paired according to geographic proximity. The rules governing first-round games are...

- Teams cannot travel more than 400 miles (where possible).
- No rematches in the first round.
- Teams from the same conference can play each other provided they did not play each other during the season.

In the pool of 16 teams for the first round, three teams (Oklahoma, UTSA, and Oregon) do not have opponents within 400 miles. Three teams (Ole Miss, Louisiana, and Pittsburgh) only have one opponent within 400 miles.

FBS Playoff



How did I arrive to those first round matchups.

Basically, I used the BCS rankings and started at the top, using the selection criteria.

#9 Ole Miss - the only team within 400 miles was Louisiana.
#10 Michigan State - had three teams within 400 miles. Northern Illinois was the lowest-ranked of those schools.
#11 Oklahoma - no teams within 400 miles. UTSA was the closest school
#12 Utah - had the two other Utah schools to pick from. Utah played BYU this season, but not Utah State.
#13 Pittsburgh - closest school was Michigan State, but they already have a game. The closest school that wouldn't result in a rematch was NC State.
#14 BYU - They played both Utah schools during the season. The next closest school was Oregon.
#15 Iowa - closest remaining school was Wisconsin, but they played during the regular season. Not much difference in distance between Clemson and Wake Forest. Wake was the lower-ranked school.
#18 Clemson - only school left available was Wisconsin.

Personally, I'm all for ditching meaningless bowl games. The increase of players sitting them out, the fact there are so many of them, and we see how important they are to head coaches when some don't stay with their teams through their bowl game.

Bowl games are dinosaurs that have lived past their usefulness. If you guys want to use that thread to have that debate, go right ahead...though keep it civil.