2016 Death to the BCS Playoffs: Championship

It's Tuesday morning, the National Championship Game in the College Football Playoff saw a titan toppled at the last second, but in an alternate reality, the Death to the BCS Playoffs reaches its conclusion tonight as well.

About a month ago, at the conclusion of the regular season, I took the ten conference "champions" (in quotations because Penn State was banned from the Death to the BCS Playoffs, and I cannot tell you how much schadenfreude I got from them losing to USC) and six deserving at large teams entered a tournament to decide a national champion slightly differently from what the College Football Playoff did.

Our first round saw a few upsets, including reality's national champion getting bounced by a #14 seed. The quarterfinals and then the semifinals saw the home teams advance, however, so we got a #1 versus #2 matchup in this year's title game.

Like in prior years, the Death to the BCS Championship Game is played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, so the weather in Pasadena at kickoff time is taken into account. I decided to just simulate this title game as a best of three, with the "clinching" game serving as the official result. Depth chart information for each team will be taken from Don Best's handicapping website. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's crown a champion.



(2) Ohio State vs (1) Alabama
Game 1: ALA 30, OSU 13
Game 2: OSU 42, ALA 36 (6OT)
Game 3: ALA 44, OSU 10

Photo by Tony Gutierrez (AP)

Ohio State started great, as Bo Scarbrough fumbled on the first play from scrimmage and the Buckeyes recovered. Unfortunately for Ohio State, they stalled and had to settle for a chip shot field goal to go up 3-0. The Tide returned the ensuing kickoff almost to midfield, and took the lead two plays later on a 47 yard Damien Harris scamper. Ohio State would turn the ball over on downs in Alabama territory, but it wasn't until the Tide's next drive that they were able to get something going, but Ohio State's defense made a goal line stand and limited the damage to a field goal. Ohio State went three and out, and the Tide needed less than two minutes to tack on another touchdown, this one by Scarbrough from 20 yards out to make it 17-3. Both offenses struggled for much of the rest of the quarter, though the Tide also turned it over on downs in Ohio State territory, but they would score on a 64 yard Joshua Jacobs sweep to make it 24-3. Ohio State went three and out, and the Tide tacked on a field goal at the buzzer to make it 27-3 at halftime. The Buckeyes got a 66 yard Mike Weber touchdown run in the opening minute of the third quarter to make it interesting, would later force an Ar'Darius Stewart fumble and recover it, but Alabama blocked a 45 yard Tyler Durbin field goal. A drive later, J.T. Barrett was picked off by Tony Brown, who returned it to Ohio State's 14, and the Tide scored four plays later. Alabama would tack on another monster touchdown run by Damien Harris and a field goal with 13 seconds left for the final margin and the Death to the BCS title.

Damien Harris ran wild for 185 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, Joshua Jacobs had 10 carries for 83 yards and a score, Bo Scarbrough ran 13 times for 57 yards and a touchdown, and Jalen Hurts finished the day 14 of 20 for 162 yards and also ran for 52 yards and a touchdown on 19 tries. J.T. Barrett struggled, completing 11 of 21 passes for 157 yards and two picks, Mike Weber gained 90 yards on 18 carries and scored the Buckeyes' only touchdown, and Robert Landers picked up the only sack for Ohio State.

To see the final bracket, click here.

Photo by John Bazemore (AP)

I was reminded of 2013 this morning. In that Death to the BCS Playoffs, Stanford won the national title despite getting blasted in the Rose Bowl by Michigan State, who was a first round out in the Death to the BCS Playoffs. This year was similar; the actual national champion was bounced by Western Kentucky, of all teams, in the Death to the BCS Playoffs, but at least the Death to the BCS Champion was in the national title game. It kind of validates the whole thing.

That does it for college football for this season here on Confessions of a Sportscaster! I hope you enjoyed the tournament, and I look forward to doing it all again next year!