2018 college football playoffs using the Australian NRL Finals System

I saw a twitter post by Dan Wetzel that mentioned the NRL finals system.  The system seems complex at first but after studying it I really started to love it.  Granted, this will never happen but it is fun to dream about doing something like this.  Here's the 2018 college football final standing with first-round matchups in parenthesis.

1. Alabama (home vs #4)
2. Clemson (home vs #3)
3. Notre Dame
4. Oklahoma
5. Georgia (home vs #8)
6. Ohio State (home vs #7)
7. Michigan
8. Central Florida

I think in real life the system would put Washington in since they won the Pac 12 and also keep Central Florida since they were the highest finisher of the Group of 5.  That would mean Michigan would be eliminated but I'm going to keep the standings as determined by the current system. 

Here's the games and the final score from one iteration at College Football Sim.com.  The home team is the one listed first:

41 Alabama (Alabama was projected winner in 57% of all simulations)
13 Oklahoma

41 Clemson (Clemson was projected winner in 56% of all simulations)
17 Notre Dame

35 Georgia (Georgia was projected winner in 88% of all simulations)
17 Central Florida

23 Ohio State
30 Michigan (Michigan was projected winner in 64% of all simulations)

Just imagine a weekend with these games.  The next weekend would pit the losers of the 1-4 and 2-3 matchups vs the winners of the 5-8 and 6-7 games.  Home teams listed first.

19 Oklahoma (1-4 Loser) (Oklahoma was projected winner in 52% of all simulations)
24 Georgia (5-8 Winner)

10 Notre Dame (2-3 Loser)
19 Michigan (6-7 Winner) (Michigan was projected winner in 64% of all simulations)

The visitor won in both simulations though both would be great games.  That would set up the semifinals with the winners from the 1-4 game in week 1 playing the winner of the opposite bracket from week 2.  The 2-3 winner from week 1 would play the other winner from week 2.

24 Alabama (Alabama was projected winner in 66% of all simulations)
15 Michigan

10 Clemson
20 Georgia (Georgia was projected winner in 70% of all simulations)

I know this seems confusing but it's not too bad once you see it in action (check out the NRL wiki as it explains it well).  Here's the final game played on a neutral field.

24 Alabama (Alabama was projected winner in 55% of all simulations)
30 Georgia 

Wouldn't this be amazing?  I'm not a big SEC fan but this would allow the 5th team a shot at redemption from their championship.  It also reward teams who had the best regular seasons.  The teams that finished #1-#2 would be guaranteed 2 home games.  The teams that finished #3-#6 would get 1 home game.

Just look at the matchups this system created:

• Ohio State - Michigan
• Alabama - Oklahoma
• Clemson-Notre Dame
• Oklahoma - Georgia
• Notre Dame - Michigan
• Alabama - Michigan
• Clemson - Georgia
• Alabama - Georgia
• UCF - Georgia

Can you imagine a season that ending like this?  There is not a dog game among them (except maybe UCF) and I'd bet all these games would get a 10+ share.

Here's the ratings for last year's games bowl playoff system:

• Peach: 4.6
• Cotton: 5.3
• Orange: 6.3
• Fiesta: 5.7
• Sugar: 11.7 (Semi-final)
• Rose: 13.7 (Semi-final)
• Championship: 15.6

ESPN is currently paying $470 million / year for these 6 bowl games plus the championship game.  How many of these games do people actually want to watch?  What would ESPN pay for 9 games that actually matter?  Would the number double?  I'd bet you could easily figure it at an extra $300 million in revenue and college football would own the month of December.

While this would add 3-4 games for the teams involved, the money would also help them head off a looming issue for the NCAA.

128 teams in Division 1-A x 85 scholarships = 10,880
$300 million / 10,880 = $27,574

My preference for this fund would be to enable the NCAA to make sure all schools can afford to allow their student-athletes go back to school to finish their education if circumstances force them to leave for some reason.  It would also enable the NCAA to pay a stipend for college football players  who graduate based on every year they were on scholarship.  Play football for four years, graduate, and get $100,000 to start the next phase of your life?  You could even add additional for the players that made it to the playoffs and played in these games.  Win - win - win.

I know there are Title IX issues along with a myriad of other things that make this impossible but it's fun to think about.