In A Perfect World……The 2011 College Football Playoffs: The Seeds

This is a little something I like to do every year when College Football’s regular season comes to a heart-breaking end. And one day -if there is a God, which Tim Tebow has promised again and again!- maybe the powers that be in the NCAA Football office will come to their collective senses and do the same. Ready for it?I SEED THE NCAA FOOTBALL PLAYOFF TEAMS!

Here’s what we would have to look forward to over the next four weeks, instead of agonally waiting while teams get a month to prepare for one another. Which is perfectly normal, because every team gets a MONTH to prepare for their opponents, right?

I’ll give you what I believe would be the final scores of these matchups during the dark period of December. The top 12 teams make the playoffs with the top four getting a bye.

They’ve earned every thing they have right now, and some. Les Miles has guided his team through a QB controversy that would have derailed a lesser coach and program. But the Tigers rallied to beat Alabama and Arkansas along with some of the best programs in the country in route to a perfect 12-0 regular season record.

The SEC could probably hold their own post season tournament with the top four teams and nobody would have a problem naming the winner the National Champion. Alabama has everything except a star quarterback but the same can be said about the only team to best them this season, LSU. They sure have enough star power with Trent Richardson and a tremendous defensive squad to boot.

Andre Luck and his resume propel the Cardinal to the third seed and a home game for the first round of the College Football Playoffs. The most underrated aspect of this year’s squad is their toughness. They has an SEC-quality line to go along with a running game that helped ice a ton of games. Unfortunately, their run defense didn’t adopt the same tough attitude as their highly skilled O-line.

The Cowboys have enough offense to hang with anybody in the country but their defense was suspect for most of the season. That was at least until they played in-state rival Oklahoma and held them to 10-points, or about 39 less than what they had given up to the Sooners in their previous nine meetings!

Outside of the SEC the way to be dominant within your conference is to rack points up in a hurry, and the Oregon Ducks may have invented the formula. Their stable of horses in the backfield are among the most talented the college game has come across in quite some time and they confidently marched down the field on every team they played.

If Arkansas played in any other conference in the country we would probably be talking about them matching up against LSU in the title game but that could probably be said for three or four other SEC teams as well. When Ryan Mallett went down with an injury last season we caught a glimpse of what Tyler Wilson could do and he definitely didn’t disappoint when he was handed the reins in 2011. Instead of playing for a chance to win the National Title, as one of the top-8 teams college football should, they’ll match up with Kansas State in their Bowl Game. Really!?

Finally Kellen Moore and Co. get a chance to prove they’re a worthy opponent on the national stage. Don’t tell me every game matters in college football when more than half the teams in D1-A literally have NO chance to play for a title and know that fact when they start the season. I don’t care about “being fair”, nothing in life is “fair”. But the BCS simply doesn’t make sense and those in charge insult our intelligence every year by claiming it’s the best system they can come up with.

In my playoffs the best teams in college football make it, and we don’t put teams on probation for the sins of someone who hasn’t put their uniform on in five years. Matt Barkley’s crew is so hot right now that they go into the playoffs as one of the favorites to knock off one of the SEC powers.

The Old Ball Coach put together one of the most athletic rosters in college football in 2011 but due to the dominance of Bama and LSU they were overshadowed from beginning to end. Alshon Jeffery is one of the finest WR prospects in the country but Connor Shaw wasn’t the most gifted passer in the league, which prohibited him from reaching his full potential as a Gamecock.

The Badgers are two wild losses away from playing for a National Championship. But instead of realizing their season was over after a mid-season loss to Michigan State, they fought hard to win their conference and solidify their spot in the playoffs. Every game would truly matter under a playoff system as EVERY team would have a shot and would genuinely be playing for a chance at a title from start to finish.

The Bears make it in after a big win over Texas and supplant Kansas State during the selection process, probably based on the star power of Robert Griffin III. Baylor doesn’t necessarilly have enough defense to hang with the best teams in the country but nobody has an answer for RG3, someone who will give the best defensive coordinators nightmares.

They couldn’t find a way to beat Clemson but they found their way into the playoffs based on the fact that their losses were “better” than the rest of the teams in contention. Logan Thomas gets a chance to make his first statement for the 2012 Heisman Trophy, as the Hokies go on the road to Oregon in one of the most hostile venues in the country.

Original Story: http://www.theherdsword.com/2011/12/1...