NCAA Football 2011: How a Playoff Would Have Played Out

Many people have always wondered what would happen in a playoff. Well this may shock some people, but this16-seed playoff is the closest thing to perfection and equality as possible.

Now, after much consideration, and deliberation, I believe the Oregon Ducks would have won in a playoff as long as they didn't play Auburn or LSU.

Oregon can beat teams at the line and get to the second level as long as the offensive linemen can manage their one-on-one blocks. Since in this bracket, they wouldn't play either one of them, they would win, but to appease the masses, here's how it would've gone down.

Qualifications

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GLENDALE, AZ - JANUARY 10: LaMichael James #21 of the Oregon Ducks celebrates during their Tostitos BCS National Championship Game against the Auburn Tigers at University of Phoenix Stadium on January 10, 2011 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Kevin C. Co

This is a 16-team bracket.There are 35 bowl games. As far as I'm concerned, these should be the only games played and then a CBI-esque bowl game or tournament, alternating days with this one. 

These qualifications almost mirror the BCS. 

The eleven conference winners will receive a bid (six major conferences and the non AQ's like WAC, MWC, SunBelt, MAC, C-USA)

The next five teams based on BCS standings prior to any bowls being played.

Notre Dame will not be given any special privileges.

If a team without a conference wishes to participate they must be with in the top 10 of the BCS, OR one of the top five teams that does not win its conference (i.e. this year LSU, the last at large bid, was ranked No. 11 in the AP, thus being one of the top five teams that did not win its conference).

Unlike the BCS though, I will include teams even if there are more than two from the same conference. So there very well could be two SEC teams playing for the National Championship. I am not a fan of this, but it is the only democratic way to establish that the best teams play in this tournament.

SPOILER ALERT:

Also, I have West Virginia in this bracket and not Connecticut. Both went 5-2 in conference play and UConn may have won the head-to-head, but WVU was higher in the BCS rankings, which, would put them in this bracket.

Another thing, is that if the two teams played in a bowl game this year so if Stanford were to play Va. Tech in the second round of the playoffs, Stanford would win because of the Orange Bowl.

The 16 Teams

These rankings are according to the BCS polls prior to all bowl games

1) Auburn (SEC Winner)

2) Oregon (PAC-10 Winner)

3) TCU (MWC Winner)

4) Stanford (At Large No. 1

5) Wisconsin (Big Ten Winner)

6) Ohio State (At Large No. 2)

7) Oklahoma (Big 12 Winner)

8) Arkansas (At Large No. 3)

9) Michigan State ( At Large No. 4)

10) Boise State (WAC Winner)

11) LSU (At Large No. 5)

12) Virginia Tech (ACC Winner)

13) West Virginia (Big East)

14) Central Florida (C-USA Winner)

15) Miami-Oh (MAC Winner)

16) Florida International (Sun Belt Winner)

The First Round Matchups (Sweet 16)

1) Auburn 

16) FIU

8) Arkansas

9) Michigan State

5) Wisconsin

12) Virginia tech

4) Stanford

13) West Virgina

3) TCU

14) UCF

6) Ohio State

11) LSU

7) Oklahoma

10) Boise State

2) Oregon

15) Miami-Oh

First-Round WInners

There was not one upset among the bunch. These eight teams were simply better.

Auburn over FIU

I hope I do not need to explain this one any more than I have to.

Arkansas over Michigan State

A toss-up in many cases, but the Michigan State offense simply wasn't sexy enough to pick over an SEC defense. It's not because they don't run any type of spread, triple-option, air-raid attack, or anything like that, it's just that it was a bland offense that barely scored 30 points a game. Ryan Mallett may not always have the perfect passes, but I don't think they would have had the personnel to cover a Mackey Award-winning tight end and a possible top five quarterback in this year's NFL draft.

Wisconsin over Virginia Tech

Another toss-up in most cases. I know that Va. Tech had one of the best finishes of any season in college football that I can remember, but it was the upstart ACC after all and Wisconsin seems to be a more complete team averaging a staggering 245 rushing yards a game and 5.5-plus yards a carry and could steamroll over any opponent if they don't decide to throw the ball when going for two to tie up the game (Rose Bowl reference).

Stanford over West Virginia

This game I would have actually liked to see. Stanford averaged 40 points a game, while West Virginia only gave up 13.5 points a game. However, seeing that Stanford could stop an option team like the Oregon Ducks, the Cardinal would win handily against another spread option team, but unlike the Ducks, the Mountaineers do not run a no-huddle offense.

TCU over UCF

I actually think this game would have been better than most people think. UCF coach George O'Leary commands a good pro-style team that does well in Conference USA. But it's an obvious win for TCU.

Ohio State over LSU

A rematch of the 2008 National Championship. The Tigers of LSU trounced the Buckeyes that day, winning convincingly. However, this is not 2008, but 2010 when LSU, never seemed to have their act together, escaping by the hairs on their chinny-chin-chin, week after week, after week.

Ohio State wins with a high-powered offense and a defense that capitalized off the inconsistent play of Jordan Jefferson. If LSU had more than one Patrick Peterson on their, team, the outcome may have been different.

Oklahoma over Boise St.

Finally, some fans can exercise the demons of letting this non-AQ team crash the party. This season showed that the Broncos were too good to be a 60-minute team. Until they played the Nevada Wolfpack, the Broncos were putting in their second and third stringers in for nearly an entire half of football. Starters were never conditioned to be the best that they could be for 60 minutes.

Oregon over Miami-Ohio

How many of you knew that Miami-Ohio won the MAC. My point exactly.

Second-Round Matchups (Elite Eight)

1) Auburn

8) Arkansas

5) Wisconsin

4) Stanford

3) TCU

6) Ohio State

7) Oklahoma

2) Oreogn

Second-Round Winners

Auburn over Arkansas

The Razorback defense was not always on par this season, although they could hold their own at times. But they could not handle the Tigers in their first matchup and I doubt that they could've matched up with them the second time.

Stanford over Wisconsin

The way Wisconsin played in the Rose Bowl was horrendous. I should clarify that; their play-calling was horrendous. By the second half it should have been obvious that the TCU linebackers were cutting underneath the pulling linemen to hit the ball carrier in the backfield. Now I'm not saying that would happen in this game, but that the athletic linebackers of Stanford would've had a field day.

TCU over Ohio State

The Ohio State Buckeyes tied for the Big Ten title, but failed to repeat a trip to Pasadena. TCU became the first team, from a non-AQ conference to participate in the Rose Bowl in the BCS era. Either way, the TCU Horned Frogs would have beat any Big Ten representative. The speed on the edge set by the weak and strong safeties could contain Terrell Pryor. 

Oregon over Oklahoma

Oklahoma threw the ball a lot. They had the second-most passing yards this year and first among the AQ schools. A great stat but unfortunately it works against them. The Ducks' back seven were better than their front seven, and an unbalanced offense that the Sooners use, well, the speed they posses could cover and contain that offense.

Third-Round Matchups (Final Four)

1) Auburn

4) Stanford

3) TCU

2) Oregon

Third-Round Winner

Stanford over Auburn

I know that I'm going to get a lot of flack for this. I know that Auburn was one of two undefeated teams this year. But I also know that Auburn never saw a team like Stanford.  

Stanford is the most complete, balanced football team this year. Simply put, Andrew Luck would have had a field day against the Tigers and with a great offensive line to protect him, I could see Luck throwing for at least 4 touchdowns and 350 yards. The Tiger secondary was atrocious at times, look at what Julio Jones, A.J. Green, and other starting receivers put up against them.

TCU over Oregon.

As a writer I try and leave my bias to the side and publish the best articles I can without influence of my school. I may have done that too much when my father said "I think [Oregon] would beat TCU" when he saw the rough draft of this on a sheet of paper. But that Gary Patterson 4-2-5 defense is just deadly. At least that's my opinion. He hasn't lost a regular season game since Week 11 in 2008 to the only undefeated team that year.

My point is, TCU has experience and great leadership. And even now looking at it, Oregon has had its toughest times when facing big defensive linemen, which the Horned Frogs do not have. But still, something tells me that TCU had that intangible quality to edge out the Ducks. This also goes out to Phil Caldwell. This is how to write an objective based piece.

National Championship Game

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TALLAHASSEE, FL - OCTOBER 26: ESPN College GameDay announcer Lee Corso dons an FSU headress as co-announcers (l to r) Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit comment during the NCAA football game between Notre Dame and Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium on

Stanford vs TCU

Surprisingly enough, but these teams have a lot in common. They both have good quarterback based teams. They have an outstanding defense. Both commit very few mistakes and penalties. After that they seem to separate. But these teams did both win their BCS Bowl games and finished in the top five in all of the final polls.

Your New National Champion

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MIAMI, FL - JANUARY 03: Ed Reynolds #29 and Corey Galewood #2 of the Stanford Cardinal celebrates after Stanford won 40-12 against the Virginia Tech Hokies during the 2011 Discover Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium on January 3, 2011 in Miami, Florida. (P

Stanford

Jim Harbaugh, Andrew Luck, Shane Skov, Owen Marecic.

The mastermind, the talent, the tenacity, the team. All at the peak of the college level.

They were the highest ranked one-loss team. And if the BCS system has shown us anything, it's that if you play good enough football, you'll still get screwed by the system.Thank God this is not the BCS. LSU won a championship with two losses. They were the first team to do it, and they will be the last team to do it. That is how messed up the system is. So if a two loss team can win a BCS title, why can't a one-loss team win a national championship in a playoff system. 

If you saw the Rose Bowl, you saw, at times, how Wisconsin could have moved the ball on the ground and how that translated to the play-action pass. Now imagine that same ability to run the ball, with a quarterback twice as good. Also the Stanford defense would have caused at least one turnover.

This is nothing against Garry Paterson or TCU, but I just think that Stanford was a better team.