SI’s Mock 12-Team Playoff Shows the Thrill of On-Campus Quarterfinals

Ole Miss vs. Michigan in the Big House?! In the expanded college football postseason, it’d be just one of the treats we get.

Imagine the icy breeze hitting your face, the windchill in the low 30s and snow flurries drifting from the heavens.

That’s what awaits Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss in our latest College Football Playoff 12-team mock as they march into the Big House for a first-round game in mid-December! Meanwhile, Lawrence, Kans., hosts the single-biggest event in the school’s history (basketball, be damned!), and the Vols travel to L.A. for a night in the Coliseum. Don’t forget about Jamey Chadwell and his Chanticleers, who drive five hours west for a Playoff game between the hedges.

Look, we all know that Bowl Season wants to host the four first-round Playoff games of the new expansion postseason. From their perspective, we get it. Neutral sites. At-the-ready amenities. Warm-weather climates.

But the beauty of college football (and college sports in general) is an on-campus, charged environment flowing with pageantry. It’s what separates college football from the NFL. It’s why we love it.

Our latest mock Playoff displays the different regions of this great country of ours: the South (Georgia); the Midwest (Michigan); the West (USC); and the Plains (Kansas). As a reminder, we are using the exact model that CFP executives adopted last month. The 12-team model features (1) automatic qualifiers to the six highest-ranked conference champions and (2) six at -large selections to the next six highest-ranked teams. The four highest-ranked conference champions get byes to the second round (independents are not eligible to receive a bye).

Something to keep in mind: We are seeding teams based not only on how they have performed, but also who they performed against! The tougher your schedule, the better seed.

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1. Alabama (SEC champion)
Sugar Bowl

2. Clemson (ACC champion)
Peach Bowl

3. Ohio State (Big Ten champion)
Rose Bowl

4. Oklahoma State (Big 12 champion)
Fiesta Bowl

***

5. Georgia (SEC at large)
vs.
12. Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt champion)
Athens, Ga.

***

6. Michigan (Big Ten at large)
vs.
11. Ole Miss (SEC at large)
Ann Arbor, Mich.

***

7. USC (Pac-12 champion)
vs.
10. Tennessee (SEC at large)
Los Angeles

***

8. Kansas (Big 12 at large)
vs.
9. Penn State (Big Ten at large)
Lawrence, Kansas

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Alliance’d: Notice anything about this Playoff that seems, er, off? There is just one team from the ACC and one team from the Pac-12! Those two leagues represent the new … Alliance, at one point a three-conference pact that the Big Ten imploded with its expansion. The remaining two got their champion into the field, but no one else. That seems unfair, because it probably is unfair if you’re a fan of either conference. It was not an easy decision to grant four Playoff spots to the SEC and another three Playoff spots to the Big Ten, but we did it anyway! Don’t worry, there is a long season to go, and your team can win its way into the field. The SEC’s Ole Miss and Tennessee nudged into the Playoff over the ACC’s Wake Forest, NC State and Syracuse, as well as the Pac-12’s UCLA, Oregon and Washington State. All have arguments to be in the field, but all have something left to prove. We don’t know much yet about the unbeaten Orange, but we soon will (they will host NC State in two weeks). The same goes for 5–0 UCLA, which will host Washington State on Saturday in a mock CFP bubble elimination game.

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Group of 5: Last week, it was James Madison, and, this week, because of their win over Georgia Southern, the Chanticleers have enough quality victories to vault into the CFP as our No. 12 seed. Remember, each year, at least the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion gets a bid into the Playoff. There were plenty of other options here. We could have plucked JMU again, but what’s the fun in that? Tulane, a winner at Houston, would have been a logical selection, too. After all, the Wave have got one of the best G5 wins of the year (at Kansas State). Cincinnati has to be in the conversation (its only loss is at Arkansas), and then there’s coach Kane Wommack and South Alabama, which, if not for a mystifying failed fake punt against UCLA could very well be 5–0.

Best matchup: USC vs. Tennessee. Two blueblood programs returning to glory. A pair of explosive offenses that zip up and down the field with furious velocity. Los Angeles in mid-December in the Coliseum. Caleb Williams and Hendon Hooker are two of the country’s most prolific quarterbacks. Lincoln Riley and Josh Heupel are rising offensive gurus who are resurrecting powerhouses. Count me in. This is a must-see event. And the winner’s award is to play Clemson in, likely, the Peach or Orange Bowl for a chance to advance to the CFP semifinals.