What if College Football Had a March Madness Style Playoff?
March has come and for basketball fans. and even some non-basketball fans they are excited for March Madness. There is plenty of brackets being filled out, and pools being run from friends, offices, schools and etc. Everyone seems to love the 64-team bracket, which is often filled with unexpected upsets from the underdog teams. This is what makes March Madness so much fun. It also creates viewers. The one and done tournament's final four has averaged more viewers than the NBA finals on several occasions.
This leads to believe what would college football look like if they had a March Madness style playoff. It couldn't be of the 64-team type, but they could do 32 teams. This would never happen because the SEC/ESPN run college football and they would never allow it. The say it would take away from regular season viewers. This may be true, but I feel the benefits of having a march madness style playoff would provide more benefits than any negative it would occur. Check out this link on current Mississippi State Coaches Mike Leach's rant about a better playoff system a few years ago.
Just like March Madness every FBS conference would get an automatic bid from their championship game winner. This would bring a whole new meaning to the conference championship games. This would create a much better environment around the MAC, MT. West, Sun Belt, C-USA and other non-power 5 conference championship games. Earning a berth in the College football dance would mean more to the team than just an invitation to the Dollar General Bowl. A march madness playoff style would keep college coaches employed longer and fans of other teams more excitement because if their team is playing in the playoff no matter if it would be the #2 team or #24 team in the country, they would believe they at least had a chance. So, what would a 32 team March Madness style playoff looked like in 2021. Take a look below and see for yourself.
One Region
Georgia vs 8. Northern Illinois (MAC Champion)
Michigan State vs 7. Texas A&M
Utah vs 6. Oregon
Clemson vs 5. Houston
Second Region
Alabama vs Coastal Carolina
Oklahoma State vs 7. San Diego State
Ole Miss vs 6. BYU
Kentucky vs 5. Louisiana
Third Region
Michigan vs 8. UTSA (C-USA Champion)
Baylor vs 7. Wisconsin
Oklahoma vs 6. Iowa
Wake Forest vs 5. NC State
Fourth Region
Cincinatti vs 8. Minnesota
Ohio State vs 7. Air Force
Notre Dame vs 6. Utah State
Pitt vs 5. Arkansas
Would a March Madness make a difference of who made the final four? Probably not except for possibly Ohio State being Cincinatti. But still this would have been a lot more fun than bowl games.