Introducing the 128-team Playoff

“The BCS was awesome! Let’s bring it back!”

“Coastal Carolina deserved a shot at Alabama!”

“Expand to 8!”

“The fact that UTEP doesn’t get a chance to prove themselves is ridiculous!”

Who else is tired of hearing these arguments? Alabama and Ohio State are going to play for the National Title on Monday. No matter what happened in the regular reason, that matchup was pretty much inevitable for the most part. It was unavoidable.

I believe all of these arguments are tiresome and get nowhere, mainly because the decision is in the hands (or pockets) of ESPN, powerful people and stuff. No one will ever agree, and ESPN will never change it! That’s why I won’t listen to any argument other than one.

A 130 team playoff that is played over the course of the season, including every single FBS team, giving every team a fair shot to play for a National Championship.

So what I did, is I randomly generated a ranking 1-130 of every single team in College Football to fairly create a ranking for the 2020-21 season. Naturally, Gary Patterson and the fighting Horned Frogs finished first and the stinky Iowa Hawkeyes finished last. Take a look at the rankings below before I get into the mega-bracket.

1. TCU
2. Middle Tennessee
3. North Texas
4. Kansas
5. Washington State
6. UCF
7. Wisonsin
8. Texas A&M
9. Buffalo
10. Stanford
11. Houston
12. Rutgers
13. Mississippi State
14. Tulsa
15. LSU
16. Georgia
17. Indiana
18. SMY
19. BYU
20. Penn State
21. Minnesota
22. Purdue
23. Temple
24. UConn
25. Colorado State
26. Air Force
27. Washington
28. Texas
29. Oklahoma
30. Memphis
31. California
32. Boston College
33. Michigan
34. Maryland
35. San Diego State
36. FIU
37. Ball State
38. New Mexico State
39. Georgia Southern
40. Liberty
41. Kansas State
42. West Virginia
43. Utah
44. UTEP
45. Oregon State
46. Arkansas State
47. Florida State
48. Ohio
49. Akron
50. Flordia Atlantic
51. Rice
52. UAB
53. South Florida
54. Texas Tech
55. Missouri
56. South Carolina
57. South Alabama
58. Duke
59. Army
60. Tennessee
61. Northwestern
62. Old Dominion
63. Utah State
64. Northern Illinois
65. Nevada
66. Florida
67. Wake Forest
68. Ole Miss
69. Kentucky
70. Troy
71. Georgia Tech
72. Baylor
73. UNLV
74. Wyoming
75. Nebraska
76. Southern Miss
77. Central Michigan
78. Virginia Tech
79. Syracuse
80. Georgia State
81. Oklahoma State
82. UTSA
83. Hawaii
84. Miami (FL)
85. Eastern Michigan
86. Arkansas
87. Oregon
88. Coastal Carolina
89. Texas State
90. San Jose State
91. Western Michigan
92. Louisiana Tech
93. Western Kentucky
94. Alabama
95. Appalachian State
96. Pittsburgh
97. Toledo
98. Tulane
99. Michigan State
100. Arizona
101. Colorado
102. Louisiana
103. Vanderbilt
104. Illinois
105. Bowling Green
106. Marshall
107. USC
108. UCLA
109. Charlotte
110. New Mexico
111. Navy
112. Miami (OH)
113. Louisville
114. Boise State
115. Auburn
116. Virginia
117. UMass
118. Fresno State
119. North Carolina
120. NC State
121. Ohio State
122. Arizona State
123. Clemson
124. Cincinnati
125. Louisiana-Monroe
126. Kent State
127. Iowa State
128. East Carolina
129. Notre Dame
130. Iowa

In 2017, the FBS expanded from 128 teams to 129 (thanks Coastal Carolina.) In 2018, it went from 129 to 130 (thanks Liberty.) If those teams didn’t join, we wouldn’t have had a highly entertaining Autocare Nation Cure Bowl in 2020 could’ve had an even 128-team bracket. Instead, we need two play-in games (that don’t count as tournament appearances) to get to an even 128.

Naturally, heated rivals, Notre Dame and East Carolina would need to play for a chance to take on TCU. While Iowa and Iowa State would play at Jack Trice Stadium to fight for their chance at a season.

Using, NCAAgamesim.com, this entire bracket is completely randomized to find the most-fair National Champion of all time.

Play-in game results

Notre Dame 46 @ East Carolina 7

Iowa 6 @ Iowa State 35:

The Iowa Hawkeyes finish as one of two teams to not make the 128-team 2020 NCAA Tournament.

Now let’s get into the bracket.

The Horned Region

This region includes the two biggest first-round games of the entire bracket, Notre Dame @ TCU and Ohio State @ Texas A&M A potential Georgia and Notre Dame sweet-16 matchup is a rematch of the 2019 classic. Perhaps the most noteworthy fact, the last-seeded team in the entire team would most likely open up as favorites over the top-seeded team in the country.

Rock Chalk Region

Kansas will most likely completely embarrass themselves as the top-rated team in this region, but no doubt has a chance to win an NCAA Tournament game at home for the first time in the program history. Colorado traveling to Austin is an old Big 12 matchup along with a 2020 Alamo Bowl matchup. However, the Vegas favorite for this region would be a Red River showdown to go to the Elite 8.

Blue Raiders Region

Your hometown Cyclones travel to Murfreesboro, Tennessee for the first time in school history. If they can manage a win in Gainesville, Matt Campbell has a very favorable road to the Elite 8. Oregon travels 39 hours by bus to take on the Mountaineers for the longest drive on this entire bracket in the first round. Outside of that, a whole lot of random in this region.

Mean Green Region

Self-proclaimed 2017 National Champions UCF gets to prove themselves against 2017 College Football (four-team) Playoffs Champions Clemson, isn’t this what you wanted Group of 5 weirdos?

After spending two hours using NCAAgamesim.com, I’ve simulated the entire 2020-21 season through the Elite 8. Below are the results for all four of the regions.

The Horned Region Results

Well, well, well.... The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers choke again. They were given a fair chance to win it all but lost by two touchdowns to Buffalo. The least surprising thing, the lowest-seeded in the tournament, the Fighting Irish steamrolled through the competition to make the Elite 8. Ohio State took the path of three Power 5 teams and Buffalo to make the Elite 8, putting an end to Lovie Smith’s cinderella run.

The Blue Pirates Region Results

Iowa State had a very easy route to the Elite 8 outside of the big win over Florida in Gainesville, but I’m sure Florida didn’t care because it wasn’t the National Championship. Other than that, Iowa State took advantage of the easy to set up a game with the Ducks. After winning against the Riot Bros, Oregon took advantage of an easy path to make the Elite 8.

The Rock Chalk Region Results

This site knows a thing or two when it comes to UAB and upsets, which is why I wasn’t shocked at all by UAB’s 6-3 win over Miami (FL) to get a shot at the Sooners. Another cinderella, UCLA carried the easiest path possible to the Sweet 16 before being knocked off by Texas, to set up the Red River Rivalry in the NCAA Tournament.

The Mean Green Region Results

Sigh. Nebraska made the Round of 32, oh well. Outside of a couple of upsets, Alabama is going to meet Clemson in the Elite 8. The Crimson Tide didn’t look like themselves in a 6-point win over San Diego State or in a 5-point win over Virginia Tech, but they will be ready for the matchup against the Tigers.

The Elite 8

Once we get to the Elite 8, it’s practically the New Years Six Bowls. No more home-field advantage, these games will be decided in the Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Cotton Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. Of course, the Big 10 will get their tie-in with Ohio State to face Notre Dame in Pasadena. Iowa State and Oregon will face off in the Fiesta Bowl because, well, I’ll let you figure that out. Texas and Oklahoma will play their Red River Rivalry where the game is normally played in the Cotton Bowl. Finally, Alabama and Clemson face off in the Sugar Bowl because I feel like it.

What’s interesting, through all of this randomness, every team that made the playoff in real life made the Elite 8. Along with that, only one team (Texas) didn’t make a New Years Six Bowl game. And of course, no group of five teams made the Elite 8, despite having a few cinderellas make the Sweet 16

Now, let’s see who wins this thing.

Notre Dame 38- Ohio State 20

Iowa State 27- Oregon 7 (no those aren’t the recruiting rankings)

Oklahoma 40- Texas 27

Alabama 48- Clemson 10

Final Four

The Final Four, in typical NCAA fashion, is played at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa because they forgot to book any other dome in the country. Iowa State takes on Notre Dame in a rematch of the 2019 Camping World Bowl and Oklahoma gets another shot in the semifinal against Alabama after losing in 2018 to the Crimson Tide.

To end Iowa State’s incredible run, Brian Kelly and Notre Dame were just a little bit too much for the Cyclones, knocking them off 29-25 to advance to the National Championship against.... Alabama. Did you really think it would be anyone else?

Alabama is the National Champion of the first-ever all-inclusive (except for Iowa and East Carolina) NCAA Football Tournament. Thanks to the complete randomness to prove that nothing matters and Alabama is going to win it no matter what.

I’m looking forward to 2022 when people are arguing if Vanilla Tech should’ve gotten in the playoff over LSU or not, so I can do this again.

If you made it this far to this complete and utter waste of time that was inspired by @CycloneLarry69’s Twitter fight on the night of Jan. 1, 2021, congratulations. This meant absolutely nothing. Go Cyclones.