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thecollegefootballguy · 5 years

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Bizarro Football: An Alternate History of College Football in 2015

Welcome back to Bizarro Football, an alternate reality created to imagine what would have happened if the 2010 conference realignment cycle never occurred.

Check out the previous seasons first if you’d like to catch up: 2011, 2012, 2013 , 2014

This post is basically an amalgamation of the various other conference posts I’ve made throughout this (and part of last) off season. Check those out here:

ACC: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Big East: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Big Ten: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Big 12: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 PAC-10: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 SEC: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

I’ve made some adjustments for games that were never played as well as incorporating the G5 and Notre Dame, but otherwise things haven’t changed from these earlier posts.

2014 was a particularly wild year in college football, so it made the new Playoff pretty difficult. We’ll see if 2015 makes it easier on the new 4 team championship.

ACC

Atlantic Division

Clemson 13-0 (8-0) Florida State 11-1 (7-1) NC State 7-5 (3-5) Wake Forest 5-7 (2-6) Maryland 5-7 (2-6) Boston College 4-8 (1-7)

Coastal Division

North Carolina 9-4 (6-2) Miami FL 8-4 (5-3) Virginia Tech 7-5 (5-3) Duke 7-5 (4-4) Virginia 4-8 (2-6) Georgia Tech 5-7 (2-6)

ACC Championship Game: Clemson over North Carolina

Clemson finally wrests control of the Atlantic away from Florida State. Dabo Swinney’s Tigers become the premier team in the ACC and as a result basically have a stranglehold on one of the four Playoff berths for the forseeable future. Outside of the Seminoles, the conference isn’t all that good at the top. In this scenario, North Carolina plays both Clemson and FSU in the regular season so the Tar Heels’ best season under Larry Fedora doesn’t quite feel as successful. Also Georgia Tech suffers one of the worst reversals in recent history, going from winning the Coastal in 2014 to dead last the next year.

Big East

West Virginia 11-1 (6-1) Pittsburgh 9-3 (6-1) South Florida 8-4 (6-1) Louisville 7-5 (4-3) Connecticut 5-7 (2-5) Cincinnati 5-7 (1-6) Rutgers 5-7 (1-6) Syracuse 4-8 (1-6)

Honestly I am so tired of pretending that the Big East was a real power conference. I don’t want to rain too much on this hypothetical 11-1 West Virginia team, but they went 7-5 in the Big 12 so they just don’t belong in the Playoff race. But here we are. The Big East is once again a steaming pile taking up a space in the NY6 bowls away from a more deserving team.

Big Ten

Iowa 11-1 (7-1) Ohio State 11-1 (7-1) Michigan State 8-4 (5-3) Michigan 8-4 (5-3) Wisconsin 8-4 (5-3) Northwestern 8-4 (4-4) Penn State 7-5 (4-4) Indiana 7-5 (3-5) Minnesota 5-7 (2-6) Purdue 1-11 (1-7) Illinois 3-9 (0-8)

The Big Ten was really solid in the top half. Obviously this was the year Iowa went undefeated in real life. I don’t have the Hawkeyes doing quite that well in my Bizarro simulation (losing at Penn State). Ohio State, meanwhile, was amazing, but also ended up with a blemish on their resume. All I can say is, the Playoff rankings are about to get super controversial due to the Big Ten AGAIN having two 11-1 champions who didn’t play each other in the regular season. Who’ll get in? Last year neither Ohio State nor Wisconsin did. For what it’s worth, outside of their loss to Michigan State, the Buckeyes completely blew out everybody they played. Meanwhile Iowa had to scrape by to get several of their wins. Michigan State, Michigan, and Wisconsin were all good like usual, but non-conference losses and the odd upset kept them out of the conversation. Oh yeah, and the Spartans are NOT making the Playoff. They really shouldn’t have done it in real life.

Big 12

North

Nebraska 8-5 (6-2) Missouri 8-4 (4-4) Iowa State 6-6 (4-4) Kansas State 7-5 (3-5) Colorado 5-7 (2-6) Kansas 0-12 (0-8)

South

Oklahoma 12-1 (7-1) Baylor 10-2 (6-2) Oklahoma State 8-4 (4-4) Texas A&M 8-4 (4-4) Texas Tech 8-4 (4-4) Texas 6-6 (4-4)

Big 12 Championship Game: Oklahoma over Nebraska

Hey! Nebraska wins the North for their first time since 2010! Just in time for Oklahoma to also break out of their half decade away from running the Big 12. The Sooners finally regain their mojo under Bob Stoops and do their usual routine: lose to Texas then break a broom handle off in the rest of the conference before burying the Cornhuskers in the Championship Game. OU is back! Oh yeah and Baylor had a good season, but the Bears had their chance in 2014 so they don’t really contend for a championship here.

PAC-10

Stanford 10-2 (8-1) Oregon 8-4 (6-3) USC 8-4 (6-3) Washington State 7-5 (5-4) Arizona State 7-5 (5-4) UCLA 8-4 (5-4) California 7-5 (4-5) Washington 6-6 (4-5) Arizona 5-7 (2-7) Oregon State 2-10 (0-9)

The Stanford-Oregon duopoly over the PAC-10 wasn’t as clean as the Clemson-Florida State game that was going on in the ACC at the same time, but it’s fitting that the Cardinal and Ducks end their run atop the conference as the #1 and #2 teams. And of course, Stanford misses out on the Playoff because they lost at home to Oregon. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

SEC

East

Florida 9-4 (6-2) Tennessee 8-4 (5-3) Georgia 9-3 (5-3) Kentucky 4-8 (1-7) South Carolina 3-9 (1-7) Vanderbilt 3-9 (1-7)

West

Alabama 12-1 (7-1) Ole Miss 9-3 (6-2) LSU 8-3 (5-3) Arkansas 7-5 (5-3) Mississippi State 8-4 (4-4) Auburn 6-6 (2-6)

SEC Championship Game: Alabama over Florida

Jim McElwain’s Gators make their way through the SEC East, which is a very solid accomplishment. Tennessee and Georgia were both very good in 2015. Then the Gators got to play Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and we remember who really runs this conference. The Crimson Tide bury the rest of the conference other than, of course, Ole Miss. Hugh Freeze’s Rebels threw a monkey wrench into the West race, but once again Mississippi wasn’t consistent enough to win out and secure division.

Notable non-BCS Conference Teams

Memphis 13-0 (8-0)* TCU 12-0 (8-0)* Utah 11-1 (7-1) Notre Dame 10-2 Navy 10-2

*conference champions **co-champion

TCU once again runs the table, this time the Horned Frogs are joined by Memphis. The Tigers weren’t really that great as far as undefeated G5 teams go, but hey, they beat Ole Miss which probably gets them a lot of play. At this point, TCU has gone undefeated for two straight seasons, so I think the Horned Frogs still rank higher than the Tigers. Oh yeah and Notre Dame had a good year and will likely make the NY6.

Projected CFP Rankings

#1. Clemson 13-0 (8-0) #2. Alabama 12-1 (7-1) #3. Oklahoma 12-1 (7-1) #4. Ohio State 11-1 (7-1) #5. Florida State 11-1 (7-1) #6. Iowa 11-1 (7-1) #7. TCU 12-0 (8-0) #8. Stanford 10-2 (8-1) #9. West Virginia 11-1 (6-1) #10. Notre Dame 10-2 #11. Baylor 10-2 (6-2) #12. Memphis 13-0 (8-0) #13. Ole Miss 9-3 (6-2) #14. Florida 9-4 (6-2) #15. Utah 11-1 (7-1)

Good for the G5 for putting three teams in the top 15. Still-Independent Navy probably gets in the top 25 somewhere. Ohio State makes the top 4 over Florida State and Iowa because they honestly deserve it way more. The rest of the field would not be controversial at all: Clemson went unbeaten and Alabama and Oklahoma went 12-1 against tough schedules, Bama specifically plowed through an insanely tough division.

With the Rose and Sugar Bowls being in the non-Playoff rotation, there are only two at-large spots, so don’t be mad if your favorite top 15 team doesn’t make it.

Projected NY6 Games

Peach Bowl: #5 Florida State vs #9 West Virginia

Florida State snags one of the two at-large spots in the NY6 and it was well deserved. What’s more, the Seminoles get to tee off against West Virginia, who wouldn’t be there except for the fact that they won a terrible conference. I mean, I’m sure the Mountaineers could theoretically upset FSU in 1 or 2 out of 10 tries, but it’s just not likely they win here.

Fiesta Bowl: #7 TCU vs #10 Notre Dame

Now this would be a pretty good game. TCU was clearly the best of the G5 teams and Notre Dame was very solid. Since this isn’t some Big East induced mismatch, I won’t pick a winner here. I think you could say it’s a real 50-50 game or at least close. I’m sure the Irish are stoked to be meeting the Horned Frogs instead of the scorned Ohio State squad like they did in real life.

Rose Bowl: #6 Iowa vs #8 Stanford

We’ve seen this one. Iowa had a great season. The Hawkeyes were a grind-it-out, hard nosed, trench digging, etc. etc. kind of team. And they just were not ready to play a truly elite team. Stanford’s last great team, this time with a flashy offense that could run circles around the Hawkeyes, just torched Iowa in a way that you don’t normally see in the Rose Bowl.

Sugar Bowl: #11 Baylor vs #13 Ole Miss

With the conference champions in the Playoff, the SEC and Big 12 send their runners-up to the Sugar. This is another real good matchup where I’m not bold enough to declare a winner. I’m just curious how high the score goes.

Orange Bowl (semifinal): #1 Clemson vs #4 Ohio State

I know we’re all in love with the 2015 Clemson team that nearly won the national championship, but Ohio State really was no joke. I think the Buckeyes are just as likely to win this game as the Tigers. This game would probably come down to personnel grouping advantages and/or preparation. Given how Clemson treated Oklahoma in their real life semifinal, and what OSU did to Notre Dame in the Fiesta, I just really can’t come down hard for either team.

Sugar Bowl (semifinal): #2 Alabama vs #3 Oklahoma

God I’d love to see this one. I mean, Alabama probably wins and on paper the Tide were the better team. The Tide were better than the Clemson team that beat OU in the Orange Bowl in real life, so there’s that. I mean, at this point Bama was more used to seeing Oklahoma’s offense, so I can’t make the same argument that would have made the game more interesting in 2011 or 2012.

Let me just say this: Alabama was the best team in 2015 according to the computers. They’re as likely as anybody to win the National Championship Game, but with this field, the REAL TOP FOUR best teams, it’d have been difficult.

In year 2, the College Football Playoff gets things absolutely right. I think that whichever teams wins against this stacked field should certainly be able to call themselves champions.

#college football #Clemson Tigers #Alabama Crimson Tide #Oklahoma Sooners #Ohio State Buckeyes #Florida State Seminoles #West Virginia Mountaineers #Iowa Hawkeyes #Stanford Cardinal #TCU Horned Frogs #Notre Dame Fighting Irish #Baylor Bears #Ole Miss Rebels

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