Open Rants by RatedRWes

The talk among College Football is the desire for the Playoffs to expand from 4 to 8. I think the magic number is actually 28. With 28 teams we still only have 21.9% of Division 1A (I refuse to use the term FBS) teams qualifying for the Postseason. This year we have 84 yes 84 out of 128, a disgusting 65.6% of Division 1A teams playing in the Postseason. This field features the winner of ALL 10 conferences and 18 at-large teams.

In my 28 team tournament the current Bowl system dies, however first (round of 28) and second (round of 16) round Playoff games become the "lesser" Bowls (the Independence and Belk Bowls are 1st round games for example). The Sugar, Orange, Cotton and Rose Bowls are the Round of 8 games and are Regional Finals much like the NCAA Basketball Tournament. 28 teams also "keeps the regular season relevant" (more crappy Pro-current system rhetoric) because the #1 seed in each region, the top four teams in the College Football Playoff "CFP" Poll each get a first round bye. To make matters more exciting, there's no good reason why the tournament could not start the Thursday after Championship Saturday making a bye all the more important and coveted. (I know Army/Navy is supposed to be the week after Championship Weekend, but I think it would be better played on Veteran's Day Weekend as part of Salute to Service.)

Anyway, time for the Tournament breakdown. The 28 teams breakdown is clear this year as there are only 3 unranked Conference Champions (San Diego State - Mountain West, Western Kentucky - Conference USA, Appalachian State - Sun Belt [7-1 Appalachian State gets nod over 7-1 Arkansas State due to higher FPI ranking and no head-to-head matchup]) That leaves the entire Top 25 of the CFP Poll to complete the field of 28.  The seeding is based on the final CFP Poll and the final three teams are ranked based off ESPN's FPI.

Sugar Bowl Region            Orange Bowl Region           Cotton Bowl Region                  Rose Bowl Region

1. Alabama (#1 Overall)    1. Clemson (#2 Overall)      1. Ohio State (#3 Overall)        1. Washington (#4 Overall)

2. Wisconsin                      2. Oklahoma                        2. Michigan                               2. Penn State

3. USC                               3. Colorado                          3. Florida State                        3. Oklahoma State

4. West Virginia                 4. Western Michigan             4. Auburn                                4. Louisville

5. Florida                           5. Stanford                           5. Utah                                    5. LSU

6. Temple                          6. Pittsburgh                         6. Virginia Tech                        6. Tennessee

7. Navy                             7. San Diego State                7. Western Kentucky               7. Appalachian State

First round matchups are:

Belk Bowl (Charlotte NC)                                                                    Dollar General Bowl (Mobile AL)

4 West Virginia vs 5 Florida                                                                4 Western Michigan vs 5 Stanford

Birmingham Bowl (Birmingham AL)                                                     Boca Raton Bowl (Boca Raton FL)

2 Wisconsin vs 7 Navy                                                                       2 Oklahoma vs 7 San Diego State

Liberty Bowl (Memphis TN)                                                                Citrus Bowl (Orlando FL)

3 USC vs 6 Temple                                                                             3 Colorado vs 6 Pittsburgh

Holiday Bowl (San Diego CA)                                                             Independence Bowl (Shreveport LA)

4 Louisville vs 5 LSU                                                                          4 Auburn vs 5 Utah

Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas NV)                                                        New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque NM)

2 Penn State vs 7 Appalachian State                                                2 Michigan vs 7 Western Kentucky

Arizona Bowl (Tucson AZ)                                                                  Sun Bowl (El Paso TX)

3 Oklahoma State vs 6 Tennessee                                                    3 Florida State vs 6 Virginia Tech

Second Round matchups are:

Peach Bowl (Atlanta GA)                                                                    TaxSlayer Bowl (Jacksonville FL)

1 Alabama vs West Virginia/Florida                                                    1 Clemson vs Western Michigan/Stanford

Music City Bowl (Nashville TN)                                                            Outback Bowl

Wisconsin/Navy vs USC/Temple                                                          Oklahoma/San Diego State vs Colorado/Pittsburgh

Foster Farms Bowl (Santa Clara CA)                                                   Texas Bowl (Houston TX)

1 Washington vs Louisville/LSU                                                          1 Ohio State vs Auburn/Utah

Fiesta Bowl (Glendale AZ)                                                                   Alamo Bowl (San Antonio TX)

Penn State/Appalachian State vs Oklahoma State/Tennessee           Michigan/Western Kentucky vs Florida State/Virginia Tech

My picks are Alabama over USC in the Sugar Bowl, Oklahoma over Clemson in the Orange Bowl, Michigan over Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl and Louisville (I believe Lamar Jackson could go on a run) over Penn State. I have Alabama over Louisville and Michigan over Oklahoma in the semifinals with Alabama winning the Championship. Just imagine how exciting a "December Madness" style tournament would be instead of the current almost 4 weeks of lull/meaningless "Winter Exhibition" Bowl games we have now.