This time of year — the middle of November, a few weeks before Thanksgiving and the end of the regularly-scheduled portion of the season — represents the perfect time for college football to adopt and implement the “Bracket Buster” event from past years in college basketball.
Matching teams of note in non-conference games — late in the season — didn’t succeed to the extent that it could have in college hoops. The specific games and the way in which they were arranged both failed to hit the mark. Nevertheless, the concept always contained a great deal of potential.
College football could do this if it wanted to. Home and road dates would need to be known before the season began. Teams would trade on an annual basis so that long-term imbalances did not emerge. Television (ESPN, let’s be honest) would be in the room to facilitate the pairings. The basic plan would be to pair teams in various groups (the top 20, 21-40, 41-60, and so on) for one late-season non-conference game.
The logic is simple and convincing: So many non-conference games are:
A) cupcakes;
OR
B) played in September;
OR
C) home games;
OR
D) all of the above.
In a season with such a small sample size to begin with, the number of profound tests and games played outside a team’s own geographical region is conspicuously small.
A bracket buster system, devised and implemented well, would produce a non-cupcake game (countering Point A), played in the middle of November (countering Point B), away from home every other year (partly countering Point C).
What could that system look like?
The envelope, please, in the form of 10 big non-conference matchups we won’t see before the bowls (and maybe even including them):
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10 – IOWA vs. NORTH CAROLINA
Not the same styles, but certainly teams that play in weaker divisions and did not have to play the strongest teams in the opposite division until the conference title game. The Hawkeyes and Tar Heels come from similar situations; a meeting between them would be grand.
9 – FLORIDA at UTAH
Notice the “at.” Most of these games don’t require a location, but seeing the Gators leave their region to play a similarly good team from a relatively foreign conference is the mysterious kind of event college football could stand to have more of.
8 – HOUSTON vs. MICHIGAN STATE
Wouldn’t you love to see Houston play a top-tier non-conference game? Better yet, wouldn’t you want to see Tom Herman match wits with Mark Dantonio? Sweet mercy, that would be a treat… and also a revealer of how good these teams are.
7 – LSU vs. OKLAHOMA STATE
Les Miles against his old school, in high-stakes mid-November poker? How could you resist?
6 – CLEMSON vs. STANFORD
The hitting in this game would be off the charts. The matchup between Clemson’s defense and Stanford’s offense would be fascinating.
5 – NORTH CAROLINA vs. TCU-OKLAHOMA LOSER
Is North Carolina the second-best team in the ACC? Play this game in Chapel Hill. Let’s see how it would end. If UNC prevails, yes, the Tar Heels would be legit. Don’t you wish college football tested its teams this way?
4 – IOWA vs. TCU-OKLAHOMA LOSER
The Hawkeyes against the Big 12 No. 4. It’s not as though we’re asking Iowa to beat one of the top two in the Big 12, just the likely fourth-place team. This would be such a proving-ground game for the Hawkeyes, the kind of game a college football regular season ought to provide.
3 – LSU vs. STANFORD
More Pac-12 versus the SEC, especially when the teams are really good. No two conferences are segregated more than these, and it’s a great stain on college football in the BCS and (now) CFB Playoff era.
2 – ALABAMA vs. BAYLOR-OKLAHOMA STATE LOSER
Alabama might very well play the winner, but what about the other team?
1 – OHIO STATE vs. BAYLOR-OKLAHOMA STATE LOSER
Ohio State versus the Big 12 No. 2 is one of the most delicious non-playoff non-conference games one could possibly hope for within the confines of a regular season.
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Keep in mind: These are just SOME of the non-conference games we’re simply not going to see before the bowls (with several of them not taking place at all). This is what happens in a sport which gives teams so many non-conference bites at the apple… or should I say, cupcake?
