NCAAF News Report
The college
football season will be here before you know it but why wait for it to arrive
when we can get the lowdown on what’s transpiring throughout the offseason?
We are now
close enough to get a grasp on who might be starting and how the prospects are
faring in the early going. Let’s get started because it’s always valuable to
grab hold of information that you can use to your advantage in your NCAAF football picks!
College
Football Playoff Expanding?
Getting
college football to even contemplate a playoff series was hard enough but the
growing hue and cry of fans all over the nation eventually reached the powers
that be and they not only took it under advisement but actually implemented it!
It was long overdue but bureaucracy works at a glacial pace so it was
considered a monumental victory nonetheless.
Prior to the College Football
Playoff (CFP), a
national champion was crowned by a committee for about 130 years. Then, in
1998, the BCS National Championship Game came about which pitted the two top
teams in the nation to battle in a postseason bowl game to determine a
legitimate champion. However, a case could often be made for other teams that
could have been chosen for the championship game.
That
frustration led to the current CFP, a four-team postseason tournament that is
hugely popular among college football fans. It replaced the convoluted and
capricious nature of choosing the two best teams by widening the parameters to
include four teams. But even then, there are always teams on the bubble in
which a case could be made for their inclusion.
But now it
appears as though a 12-team playoff will happen thanks to the dogged efforts of
men like AAC commissioner Mike Aresco. The Power Five
conferences have
dominated the national championship but now the outcasts from conferences like
the AAC, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, and Sun Belt will be more apt to
get a shot at a national championship.
The current
proposal calls for the six highest-ranked conference champions and six at-large
teams comprising the field of twelve. The top four teams would get a Round One
bye and then play the lowest-ranked teams in the following round. A vote for
expansion could happen as early as June 22nd and the plan could go
into effect as soon as 2023.
What Would
CFP Look Like with 12 Teams in ’21?
As long as we
are discussing a 12 team CFP field, why not jump right in and make a few bold
predictions about how that might look at the end of this season? Now we have to
keep in mind that the top six must be conference champs so that the SEC gets
only one of those spots. And yes, it is true the SEC won’t automatically get
one of those six spots but unless the world stops spinning, you can bet that
the Southeastern Conference will have a seat at the VIP table.
The Big Six
1. Alabama
- Only an abject
contrarian would object to the Tide being chosen in this spot. Nick Saban not only
built a historically
great team last season but he has the top recruiting class entering Tuscaloosa
to fill any vacancies.
2. Oklahoma – This offense is
built to roll and will again this season as it sees their top talents returning
in the forms of quarterback Spencer Rattler who had 28 passing touchdowns,
seven picks, 3,031
passing yards, and six rushing TDs as well as receivers Marvin Mims and Theo
Wease, who combined for 74 receptions, 1,140 yards, and 13 touchdowns last
season. If the defense can pick up where it left off last year then watch out
for the Sooners!
3. Clemson
- D.J. Uiagalelei
will be starting in 2021 after Trevor Lawrence left to become the No. 1 overall
pick in the NFL Draft and will now be plying his trade as a member of the
Jacksonville Jaguars. Therefore, it won’t be known how good his successor is
but the Tigers routinely field a boatload of talent and will be getting
chaos-maker, Myles Murphy, back on their defense after he recorded four sacks
and 10 ½ tackles for a loss in 2020.
4. Ohio
State – Justin
Fields has left for greener pastures so the quarterback vacuum looms large for
the Buckeyes. Three contenders, C.J. Stroud, Jack Miller, and Kyle McCordare
are vying for one highly coveted position but how they will respond is the
great unknown. It’s not even a given this year that the Buckeyes will win the
Big Ten but if we have to choose, we choose Ohio State.
5.
Cincinnati Bearcats – And this is what makes the 12-team playoff with the caveat that only
conference champs get the first six spots such a kick. Instead of the usual
suspects from the Power 5 co-opting the first eight to ten spots, now we will
see an influx of new blood. The Bearcats could very well have been the
beneficiaries of the new system had it been instituted this season, but alas,
it’s not.
6. Boise
State – After all
those seasons of Broncos fans gnashing their teeth as to why their boys didn’t
get a shot at the national championship, their time is coming. Boise State has
one of the most prolific football programs not residing within the Power 5 and
now maybe, just maybe, the Mountain West will finally get some respect!
The Best of
the Rest
7. Georgia
8. Notre
Dame
9. Florida
10. USC
11. Iowa
State
12. Texas
