What if an electoral college chose the College Football Playoff field?
By John Scimeca
![Trevor Lawrence, Clemson football (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) Trevor Lawrence, Clemson football (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/bf13351ec9a63e0f785fec098e1a242d074c5bda846b2dadca9e92f13afed56d.jpg)
The college football electoral college map
Looking at the above 2020 college football electoral college map, some things might initially jump out.
States with the largest populations, such as California, Texas and Florida do tend to have a high number of college football electoral votes here. Of course, two main categories are the overall number of FBS and FCS teams. California has seven FBS teams and four FCS teams which have combined four eight conference championships (FBS only) in the past decade — resulting in 19 electoral votes before moving on to additional categories.
Texas has an astounding 12 FBS and eight FCS squads, while Florida has seven and three, respectively. Sometimes, the pure number of people does make a difference.
Some states that punch above their weight on this map? Start with North Dakota, whose North Dakota State Bison have won eight FCS national titles in the past decade to give the state most of its 10 electoral votes. States such as South Carolina (23 votes) and Alabama (28 votes) have a higher electoral vote count than their more populated neighbor, Georgia (12 votes), due to the success of the Tigers and Crimson Tide in terms of conference titles, CFP appearances, and Heisman winners (in the Tide’s case).
Two states, unfortunately, came out with zero electoral votes — Vermont and Alaska. Neither state has a Division I football program (though the Catamounts should bring it back).
States like North Carolina (17 votes) benefit from the Sun Belt success of Appalachian State, and surprising states like Connecticut can drum up five votes to stand out among its New England neighbors.