Bracketology Hits the Gridiron: the 2011-12 NCAA 1-A Football Tournament (NCAA 12)

[KingFiz]

Going off something I started last year, I am going to play out a college football postseason using NCAA 12 at the conclusion of the actual regular season.

It will consist of a 24-team national championship tournament and six bowl games. I'll break each of those down now.

The national championship tournament will feature the 11 conference champions and 13 at-large teams. There will be four regions of six teams, with the 1st and 2nd seeds receiving byes in the regional quarterfinals. No more than four teams from the same conference can make it into the tournament, and no more than one team from the same conference can be placed in the same region. Teams from the same conference will not be able to meet until the Final Four.

At-large teams will be selected by a ratings system that I use. The seeding will be done on an S-curve using the same ratings system. All at-large teams must win nine games to be eligible.

There will be four "pods" for the regional quarterfinals and semifinals. Each regional quarterfinal site has its own regional semifinal site that it feeds into. (For example: the winners of the two quarterfinal games played in Columbia, SC, will play their semifinal games in San Antonio, TX, regardless of the actual region they're in.) Any team that qualifies for the tournament will not be able to play on its home field for the first two rounds of the tournament.

Each week, I will post the bracket as it would look if the season ended today.

The six bowl games consist of the four BCS bowls plus the Cotton Bowl and a new bowl game set up in Indianapolis, known as the Hoosier Bowl. Each of these six sites will host the Final Four every six years.

To qualify for a bowl game, a team must finish in the overall top 40 in the ratings. The highest-ranked team outside the six power conferences that finishes in the top 40 automatically will get to go to a bowl game, regardless of its actual rank.

The tie-ins are as follows:
Rose: Big Ten vs. Pac-12
Orange: ACC vs. at-large
Sugar: SEC #1 vs. at-large
Fiesta: Big 12 #1 vs. at-large
Cotton: SEC #2 vs. Big 12 #2
Hoosier: Big East vs. at-large

Note that these are the highest-ranked teams in each conference that did not qualify for the tournament. If a conference's highest-ranked team does not fall within the top 40, it forfeits its automatic bid.

I will also be posting the projected bowl schedule along with the tournament bracket every week.

That's all for now...feel free to post. The bracket/bowls should be posted here shortly.

[KingFiz]

[KingFiz]

Rose Bowl (Jan. 2, 2012): Penn State vs. Arizona State
Sugar Bowl (Jan. 2, 2012): Florida vs. North Carolina
Cotton Bowl (Jan. 3, 2012): Auburn vs. Texas A&M
Hoosier Bowl (Jan. 4, 2012): Notre Dame vs. Michigan State
Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 5, 2012): Baylor vs. Washington
Orange Bowl (Jan. 6, 2012): Florida State vs. Tennessee

[KingFiz]

[KingFiz]

Rose Bowl (Jan. 2, 2012): Penn State vs. Washington
Sugar Bowl (Jan. 2, 2012): Auburn vs. Texas Tech
Cotton Bowl (Jan. 3, 2012): Texas A&M vs. Florida
Hoosier Bowl (Jan. 4, 2012): South Florida vs. Florida State
Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 5, 2012): Baylor vs. Michigan State
Orange Bowl (Jan. 6, 2012): North Carolina vs. Notre Dame

[KingFiz]

[KingFiz]

Rose Bowl (Jan. 2, 2012): Penn State vs. Arizona State
Sugar Bowl (Jan. 2, 2012): Auburn vs. Southern Mississippi
Cotton Bowl (Jan. 3, 2012): Georgia vs. Baylor
Hoosier Bowl (Jan. 4, 2012): Rutgers vs. Illinois
Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 5, 2012): Texas vs. TCU
Orange Bowl (Jan. 6, 2012): North Carolina vs. Notre Dame

[KingFiz]