College football: Imagining a 64-team playoff from 2022 season
By John Scimeca
Results – Second Round
East
No. 1 Ohio State 52, No. 8 Ole Miss 37
No. 4 Florida State 16, No. 5 UCLA 10
No. 6 Troy 30, No. 3 Washington 24
No. 2 Alabama 41, No. 7 North Carolina 17
South
No. 1 Georgia 41, No. 8 South Alabama 14
No. 4 Tulane 28, No. 5 LSU 20
No. 11 Louisville 34, No. 14 William & Mary 19
No. 7 Central Florida 43, No. 2 Clemson 37
Midwest
No. 1 Michigan 26, No. 9 Air Force 13
No. 5 Texas 31, No. 13 South Dakota State 17
No. 3 Kansas State 23, No. 6 NC State 20 (OT)
No. 2 Tennessee 52, No. 7 Cincinnati 31
West
No. 1 TCU 37, No. 8 Fresno State 17
No. 12 BYU 27, No. 4 Oregon 24
No. 6 Notre Dame 31, No. 3 Penn State 19
No. 2 Utah 41, No. 7 UTSA 23
Results – College Football Playoff Round of 16
East
No. 1 Ohio State 34, No. 4 Florida State 17
No. 2 Alabama 38, No. 6 Troy 13
South
No. 1 Georgia 26, No. 4 Tulane 16
No. 7 Central Florida 30, No. 11 Louisville 27
Midwest
No. 5 Texas 42, No. 1 Michigan 38
No. 2 Tennessee 35, No. 3 Kansas State 27
West
No. 1 TCU 28, No. 12 BYU 21
No. 2 Utah 36, No. 6 Notre Dame 24
Worthy contenders for the national title failed to advance past the Round of 16, such as No. 2 seed Clemson following a second-round upset loss to Central Florida and No. 1 seed Michigan after its disappointing loss to No. 5 seed Texas. The Knights defeated in revenge another upset-minded team, Louisville, in a regular season rematch from earlier in the fall.
TCU sets up an enticing Quarterfinal matchup with Utah in the West Region final, as the two programs were once both members of the Mountain West before finding their way to separate power conferences.
Two other mid-major programs which could have made the most noise had a difficult draw for the Round of 16: No. 6 seed Troy fell to No. 2 seed Alabama and No. 4 seed Tulane loses to the consensus overall No. 1 seed Georgia.