NCAA Pipe Dream Playoffs: Death to the BCS Edition

I finished off my version of the playoffs here earlier today, but I did admit in an earlier post that yes, there are flaws to the system. After I finished reading Death to the BCS, I realized I left out a crucial detail in that I didn't give all the conference champions a chance to play for the national title, instead taking the top 16 teams from the BCS rankings. This left out a number of teams that should have stayed. To correct this injustice, I will redo the playoffs quickly with an adjusted bracket. The playoff teams are as follows:

1. LSU (13-0, SEC champions)
2. Oklahoma State (11-1, Big 12 champions)
3. Oregon (11-2, Pac-12 champions)
4. Alabama (11-1, at large berth)
5. Stanford (11-1, at large berth)
6. Wisconsin (11-2, Big 10 champions)
7. Boise State (11-1, at large berth)
8. TCU (10-2, Mountain West champions)
9. Houston (12-1, at large berth)
10. Virginia Tech (10-2, at large berth)
11. West Virginia (9-3 Big East champions)
12. Clemson (10-3, ACC champions)
13. Southern Mississippi (11-2, Conference USA champions)
14. Arkansas State (10-2, Sun Belt champions)
15. Northern Illinois (10-3, MAC champions)
16. Louisiana Tech (8-4, WAC champions)

It's definitely a change from the Pipe Dream playoff system, but I like this one just as much. Only 9 of the 16 teams from those made it here (which we can attribute to adding in the conference champions and changing around at large bids). The at-large decisions were very tough to make. Alabama, Boise State, Houston and Stanford were the easiest picks since they all only lost once in the regular season. Virginia Tech was the toughest decision to make with how many 2-loss teams there were, but I felt they had the best argument (both losses came to teams in the playoffs).


Now comes the fun part: simulation! Because of the fact that I'm doing this all at once, I'm only simulating each game once. Too much clutter otherwise. Higher seeds play at home still, weather is taken into account, and all simulations once again provided by WhatIfSports.com.

1st Round
(16)Louisiana Tech 29, (1)LSU 17     (2) Oklahoma St. 38, (15)No. Illinois 26
(8)TCU 27, (9)Houston 16                 (7)Boise State 48, (10)Virginia Tech 17
(4)Alabama 48, (13) So. Miss. 28      (3)Oregon 21, (14)Arkansas State 0
(5)Stanford 38, (12)Clemson 36         (11)West Virginia 37, (6)Wisconsin 34


Quarterfinals
(8)TCU 37, (16) Louisiana Tech 34
(4)Alabama 48, (5)Stanford 27
(2)Oklahoma State 55, (7)Boise State 36
(3)Oregon 35, (11)West Virginia 17

Semifinals
(4)Alabama 42, (8)TCU 10
(2)Oklahoma State 43, (3)Oregon 13

Championship Game
Oklahoma State 55, Alabama 7

Tournament bracket can be found here.

This is why a playoff would be great. I was astounded when LSU got knocked off in the first round, and it's exactly that sort of drama that a playoff would bring. There's also a sick sense of satisfaction for me seeing a Big 12 team win over an SEC team (I hate their arrogance). Again, money is an issue here, but it's good to see everyone get a chance to play for a title, especially when upsets happen.