Golden: How the Texas Longhorns (and others) would have fared in a 12-team CFP last season
There were several teams capable of winning it all and unbeaten Florida State and two-time defending national champion Georgia being excluded cast a pall over whatever went down between semifinalists Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama.
So what would have happened in a 12-teamer? FYI, I used a bracketed tournament, not the NFL model that rewards the top seeds with the worst teams remaining.
More: Texas basketball needs Tyrese Hunter at his best to make the NCAA Tournament | Golden
Now we know the Pac-12 as we know it is as dead as fried chicken, hence the CFP’s change from five to four first-round byes in this new 5+7 model.
For the sake of this discussion, we’re using last season’s CFP rankings to examine what I think would have happened with the new system.
The first-round matchups would have been No. 12-Oklahoma at 5-Florida State, 11-Ole Miss at 6-Georgia, 10-Penn State at 7-Ohio State and 9-Missouri at 8-Oregon.
These are some delicious games. Mind you, these predictions come with the understand that the higher seeds host in the first round.
Let’s have some fun.
First Round
12-Oklahoma 24, 5-Florida State 20
The Sooners muster up just enough offense to take out the Seminoles who just aren’t the same without quarterback Jordan Travis. Always take the better quarterback and Dillon Gabriel is the easy choice here over whoever the Seminoles decided to start in place of the injured playmaker Jordan Travis. He was the one player the Noles could not afford to lose.
More: Ferocious new SEC lineup very likely to get the lion's share of expanded CFP field | Bohls
6-Georgia 48, 11-Ole Miss 21
The Bulldogs, quiet as it’s kept, are probably the best team in the country, rankings be damned.. A toe-stubbing against Bama happens sometimes. They crushed the Rebels 52-17 in the first meeting. No surprise here.
7-Ohio State 17, 10-Penn State 14
Who took the under in Vegas? It’s a throwback to the 1970s, back to the days of Archie Griffin and John Cappalletti. America is awoke from a deep slumber as the final kick splits the uprights. Too much defense makes for a good nap.
8-Oregon 38, 9-Missouri 28
Bo Nix is built for this. The Tigers have been pretty solid but the Oregon quarterback’s legs are a real difference maker. His 50-yard late fourth-quarter scramble breaks it open and costs emotional CBS Austin sports director/Missouri alum Bob Ballou a flat screen television. Throw socks the next time, Bobby B.
More: Kansas basketball's KJ Adams got away from Texas. What other star players left Austin?
On to the quarterfinals.
4-Alabama 34, 12-Oklahoma 24
OU’s rebound season comes to an end two games too early at the Sugar Bowl. Coach Brent Venables promises the Sooners won’t be a jobber in the SEC as folks in Stillwater yell “Good riddance!” at their flat screens.
More: Texas baseball takes a swing at SEC stadiums with fan-friendly Yeti Yard seating section
3-Texas 28, 6-Georgia 21
Sound familiar? The Longhorns never had any problems with the Georgia Bulldogs since Craig Curry’s fumble and the ghost Sam Ehlinger emerges in Quinn Ewers’ body. Texas takes care of the Bulldogs in their Cotton Bowl appearance since Mack Brown’s 2002 team whupped up on Nick Saban Saban’s LSU Tigers. The Horns appear SEC ready a year early.
2-Washington 34, 7-Ohio State 21
“Is it really going to be this easy in the Big Ten?” Washington fans ask as they file out of the Peach Bowl after an easy romp over the Buckeyes, who score late to make it respectable.
Easy in the Big Ten? Nah, not without Michael Penix and Kalen DeBoer.
1-Michigan 34, 8-Oregon 31
The Ducks were game but Michigan was even gamer and ultra prepared after disgraced former staffer Conner Stallions made a surprise appearance on film day.
Oregon showed up ready for a fight but the Wolverines are built shootouts and ground-and-pound. Running backs Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards are unstoppable when it matters most.
And then were four.
1-Michigan 20, 4-Alabama 17
We didn’t know it yet but Nick Saban just coached his last game as a college football coach.That is, until he returns over a decade later at age 85, refreshed and ready to resume business in Tuscaloosa after head coach Kalen DeBoer leaves to replace Jerry’s Jones’ grandson John Stephen as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
“I feel rejuvenated,” Saban tells reporters. “I’m down from running eight miles a day to only three but I’m still throwing around 250 in the gym.”
3-Texas 30, 2-Washington 27
Was that another multiverse that consumed Texas’ defensive backs in a blurry memory of a Washington loss in New Orleans or just a nightmare?
Well, the Horns make it back to the championship game for the first time since 2009. Penix gets his numbers but cornerback Ryan Watts exorcises some old Alabama demons with a late sack to clinch it.
The Longhorns and Wolverines give us a preview of their 2024 regular season meeting with a shootout reminiscent of their meeting in the 2005 Rose Bowl.
3-Texas 38, 1-Michigan 37
And they said after that Texas-Southern Cal classic that I’d never again write about the Horns winning a football championship.
Until now.
Bert Auburn channels his inner Dusty Mangum with a 45-yard field goal at the buzzer and scores a Head and Shoulders NIL deal two days later.
Sarkisian gets that long-coveted natty and a Gatorade bath. He re-renogotiates his contract and athletic director Chris Del Conte adds another 10 years with an additional $2 million tacked on annually.
Well worth it.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: How-Texas-football-would-have-fared-in-a-12-team-CFP-in-2003
