Imagine a Sweet 16 game between Alabama and Georgia.
Or a first-round matchup between Clemson and Arkansas.
Would Auburn be able to upset Florida State in the second round?
If you always wondered if the FBS had a 68-team tournament like the NCAA does in basketball, The Sporting News put together a field with this year's top football teams. It's a slideshow, but only has five pages.
Ohio State (Midwest), Alabama (South), Florida State (East) and Oregon (West) are the top seeds in the hypothetical field that features 12 of the SEC’s 14 teams (no Kentucky or Vanderbilt) and eight from the ACC (no Syracuse, Wake Forest, Virginia, Pittsburgh, North Carolina or Miami).
Teams had to finish with a record of 7-6 or better to qualify.
Alabama, Georgia Tech (No. 2), Clemson (No. 3) and Georgia (No. 4) would be the top seeds in the loaded South Region, which also would include Louisville, Oklahoma, Arizona and Texas A&M as a No. 12 seed and Arkansas, which was hot to end the season, as an upset-minded No. 14 seed.
The Gamecocks are a No. 15 seed in this scenario and would have to play second-seeded TCU in the first round of the Midwest Region.
Auburn would be a No. 8 seed and have a chance to meet FSU in the second in the East. UCF stands in the way of the Tigers, though.
Obviously, a 68-team playoff isn’t feasible in college football. Too many games and not enough time.
But it’s interesting to check out the possibilities.
