Bilo's Quick Camellia Bowl Recap

Appalachian State 31, Toledo 28

Toledo was on the move until a missed FG with just under 2 minutes remaining handed the Mountaineers their second bowl win in just two seasons of being bowl eligible after their transition from FCS football.
Marcus Cox led the way offensively for ASU, as he rushed for 143 yards and a score, while QB Taylor Lamb added another 123 yards rushing on the day. Lamb added another 119 yards passing and a score on an uneven 14/32 passing day.
Toledo just missed out on their 3rd straight bowl win, and the loss ruined the bowl debut of head coach Jason Candle, who took over when Matt Campbell left for Iowa State after last season. Toledo fell to 12-5 all-time in bowls with the loss.
Kareem Hunt rushed for 120 yards and a pair of scores, while star QB Logan Woodside finished the night with 247 yards passing on 18/26 completions. He added 2 TD passes for the Rockets, and was not intercepted in the game. Cody Thompson and Michael Roberts added TD receptions in the loss.
Deltron Hopkins caught the lone TD pass of the night for App State, and caught just 2 passes on the night for 19 yards. No receiver caught more than 2 passes on the night for the Mountaineers in the win.
App State collected 25 1st downs to Toledo's 14, and outrushed the Rockets 297-127. Woodside rushed for just -1 yards on 3 carries for Toledo.
The Mountaineers finished with 416 total yards, to Toledo's 374, while ASU hammered Toledo with 82 total plays run, while Toledo ran just 54.
ASU converted 8/19 on 3rd downs, while Toledo converted on just 4/12.

2017 Season Openers: Appalachian State at Georgia (9/2); Elon at Toledo (9/2)

Bilo's Quick Las Vegas Bowl Recap

San Diego State 34, Houston 10

Houston jumped out to a 10-0 lead before the Aztecs scored 34 unanswered points and Donnel Pomphrey broke the all-time NCAA rushing record, as San Diego State won easily in Las Vegas in cold temps.
The Houston loss spoiled the debut of new head coach Major Applewhite, who had just been hired last week by the Cougars, creating a shift from the leadership of interim Todd Orlando to Applewhite in a surprise move.
Pomphrey finished the season with 2133 yards, and finished his career as an Aztec with 6405 rushing yards, breaking Ron Dayne of Wisconsin's previous mark early in the 4th quarter.
Houston held SDSU to just 5 yards of offense in the 1st quarter, and then SDSU started their 34-0 run by holding the Cougars to just 6 total yards in the 2nd quarter.
San Diego State RB Rashad Penny also finished the season with over 1000 yards rushing, giving the Aztecs the first team in FBS history with one back rushing for over 2000 yards, with another rushing for over 1000.
Houston star QB Greg Ward had the nightmare game of his life, as he was sacked 8 times and was picked 4 times. Due to the INT count, the Aztecs led the nation with 26 total picks on the year. Houston's run game was no better, as the Aztecs held them to just 25 yards on 41 carries.
After starting the season as the G5 team to watch who could have potentially broken into the final 4, Houston finished the year just 4-4, as the Tom Herman drama likely caused some divisions and a lack of focus in the program.
Neither team had a prolific day on offense, with just 29 total 1st downs collected between the two teams, with just 13 coming for the Aztecs in the win.

Bilo's Quick New Mexico Bowl Recap

New Mexico 23, UTSA 20

Lobo leading rusher Tyrone Owens went down after just three carries, and the New Mexico run game slowed significantly, but the Lobos were able to do just enough to hold off a late UTSA rally in the win. UNM has now won 9 games for the first time since 2007, and has won their second bowl game since 1961. UTSA fell to 6-7 with the loss, falling short of their first 7 win season since 2013. Richard McQuarley rushed for a pair of TDs, while Lamar Jordan led the Lobos with 81 yards from his QB spot while completing 3/4 passes for 77 yards.
Jarveon Williams rushed for 125 yards in the loss for UTSA. The Roadrunners held the Lobos 141 yards short of their game average on the ground, allowing UTSA to keep the game relatively close throughout.
Since the start of the 2015 season, New Mexico is 12-3 at home. UTSA lost for the first time in 2016 while scoring first, falling to 5-1 in that category.

Bilo's FBS Coaching Hire Grades

With just days to go before the first bowl games of the season, every FBS coaching position for the 2017 season has been filled...head coaches anyway.
Here is my look at each of the 17 hires, and how I grade each along the way:

Baylor
Art Biles, Jim Grobe Out
Matt Rhule In
Rhule's non history in the state of Texas has been well documented. Rhule was not the first choice for Baylor by far, as a deal with Chad Morris went south, and Tom Herman never really had any interest in the job. Rhule is a heavy discipline guy, which Baylor needs, and so far he is tapping the Texas High School coaching community for assistants, which is smart. Baylor may take a dive for a couple of seasons while Rhule fixes this mess, but winning is not outside of possibility here. Still, there are a lot of wait and see issues, so that is what I will do.
Grade: B-

Cincinnati
Tommy Tuberville Out
Luke Fickell In
I think that this was addition by subtraction here. I have never been a Tuberville fan as far as his coaching style is concerned. I would rather watch grass grow than watch his teams over the years. I have long felt that he was one of the most overrated coaches in America, so losing him does not hurt the Bearcats one bit.
Fickell is a bit of a mystery to me. He has one season as interim coach at Ohio State between Tressel and Meyer, and it was not a great run for him, as he finished 6-7. To give him credit, however, was the fact that he held that team together during major turbulence, and for that to happen, he had to have some special skills. There is enough talent at UC to win now, but Fickell has to toughen up the culture first, and that is going to take some doing.
Grade: B-

Florida Atlantic
Charlie Partridge Out
Lane Kiffin In
Partridge was a mess in this job, and was never the right hire to move the needle at FAU. Kiffin's misadventures are well documented, and he was likely a coach too soon, without the maturity to properly handle the opportunities that he was being given. I still do not think that this is nearly thie hire that FAU hopes it is, but I may be wrong. If Kiffin gets this boat moving forward quickly, and he proves not to be as toxic as some feared during a nation spanning search for a head coaching job by Kiffin, this could work. He would also bail before getting a firm grip if given half the chance. If working with Nick Saban has not changed him for the better, we could have a possible mess on our hands.
Grade: C+

Florida International
Ron Turner, Ron Cooper Out
Butch Davis In
Butch Davis was a huge get for FIU, but he does come with baggage. He has been in some messy situations with the NCAA, and if he has not learned how to behave, this could be a huge risk hire for the Panthers. If he has the energy and drive, and if he can follow the rules, this hire could be huge. He has been trying to get back into the game for some time, and FIU has wanted him for a while, so this could be a perfect pairing.
Grade: B

Fresno State
Tim DeRuyter, Eric Kiesau Out
Jeff Tedford In
Fresno State went for comfort in the hiring of Tedford, but it may not have been the right move, and Fresno State may have been better off waiting things out a bit longer before jumping here. Tedford won at Cal, true, but in the end, he lost his energy, lost his team, and started not caring about academics at all. He has had other tenures as head coach at BC in the CFL, and worked on the staff at Tampa Bay in the NFL recently, with neither assignment ending well. This seems like all flash and little substance, but how much worse could it be than the DeRuyter era?
Grade: C-

Georgia State
Tim Miles Out
Shawn Elliott In
Elliott's experience as an FBS head coach was six games at South Carolina in the wake of Steve Spurrier quitting mid season. He went 1-5. With several high profile FCS coaches available, it is really an unknown as to why Georgia State felt compelled to go with Elliott here. He was hardly the best choice for this job.
Grade: D

Houston
Tom Herman Out (To Texas)
Major Applewhite Promoted
This has been a while in coming for Applewhite, who has been gunning for a head job for years now. Herman put Houston football back to good after the dip during the Tony Levine era, and now Houston is thinking huge. The Cougars will find a Power Five home between now and 2025, so they can hardly afford to slip back.
This job was given to Kiffin, if you believe Tilman Fertitta (you should not have), which spurred a full court denial by the AD. A day later, the job belonged to Applewhite with the major blessing of a majority of area high school coaches who do business with the Cougars. Kiffin and Les Miles, who were both finalists, did not have that.
Grade: B+

Indiana
Kevin Wilson Out
Tom Allen In
I have no issue with Wilson being fired here (resigned, fired, same thing) as I never have thought that he was moving the needle upward quickly enough here. Indiana still played in the Big 10 like a backwater program, winning just enough to get bowl eligible the last two years while finishing at .500 or below in league play. Now that there are abuse allegations against players, I am totally good with this.
What I am not good with is just handing over the job to Allen with a 6 year deal after being on the staff for one season. He did improve the defense a decent deal, but this was a ridiculous, knee jerk reaction to a bad situation, and could end in disaster.
Grade: F

LSU
Les Miles Out
Ed Orgeron Promoted
I like Orgeron, and promoting him feels like the right hing on some levels, but not on all levels. When LSU felt like they became a bargaining chip for Tom Herman, they knee jerked back to Orrgeron, who a week earlier was out of the job. Jimbo Fisher declined as well, and it seems like Orgeron, after a hord of swings and misses on other candidates, happened to still be in the building. He calimed that he would hire Kiffin away from Alabama, and has already missed the mark on that, so the clock is ticking to fulfill some promises he made regarding the offense as part of the deal to get him the job.
Grade: C

Nevada
Brian Polian Out
Jay Norvell In
I really hate this hire. Norvell has been around forever as an assistant, and gets too much love for his role in the Arizona State offense. He has never been more than an average coordinator on offense, and was only a WR coach at ASU. Funding is at the bottom of the Mountain West for Nevada, and this hire certainly does nothing to raise the profile for more money and revenue. Norvell was on a path to being a career assistant, and this was the best that the Pack could get?
Grade: F

Oregon
Mark Helfrich Out
Willie Taggart In
Poor Mark Helfrich suffered the curse of Chip Kelly's shadow the entire time he was at Oregon. Hiring Brady Hoke to fix the defense was an abject failure in 2016, and it cost Helfrich his job in the end. His over reliance on FCS transfers at QB stung him badly as well as bad decisions on the field, such as going for 2 and missing 4 times against Nebraska in a 3 point loss. Helfrich always seemed like an odd fit for a program that was becoming a major power, and he allowed the program to plummet during his tenure.
Willie Taggart was one of the smartest hires of the season. All he does is build and win, as he has done at stops like Western Kentucky and USF. Both programs were disasters when he entered, and were major players when he left. That is what we call legacy coaching. Taggart will win at Oregon, and with the right staff, could do so right away.
Grade: A+

Purdue
Darrell Hazell Out
Jeff Brohm In
Brohm is a wiz on offense. That can not be denied. He won at Western Kentucky by scoring points by the truck load. What does not fit for me is that he is being hired to build up an offensive power house in a league that has crushing defenses at Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Brohm had better hire on hell of a defensive coordinator, because he knows nothing on the subject. This could be a disaster if he does not bring in the right guy to run his defense.
Grade: C

San Jose State
Ron Caragher Out
Brian Brennan In
This hire was just the worst hire made this year. Brennan has been a WR coach at Oregon State, a school who had one of the worst passing offenses the last two years running nationally. He was hired because he had served on the SJSU staff from 2005-2010 (hardly glory years), his father played football there, and his mother was a cheerleader. Those are awful reasons to hire a head coach. This was a cheap and lazy way out of actually doing some work and finding someone who can take you to the next level. San Jose State should be bounced out of FBS football for purely not giving a damn.
Grade: F-------

USF
Willie Taggart Out (To Oregon)
Charlie Strong In
This is what we call a home run, win-win, slam dunk hire. Willie Taggart moved on to Oregon, and USF wasted no time in moving in on Strong to replace him, making the hire in just days. Strong is a Florida guy, knows how to recruit the state in a huge way, and will be able to navigate the USF political system a hell of a lot easier than he had it at Texas. There is a massive amount of talent on the current roster (thanks, Willie), and with Quinton Flowers coming back to play in 2017 at QB, he may have the best QB he has ever had waiting for him. This is a huge move, proving that USF is ready to become a national player.
Grade: A+

Texas
Charlie Strong Out
Tom Herman In
Strong was never really a good fit at Texas. He was never fully accepted, and even though there was talent in place to win in 2017, it seemed as if the administration and boosters were intent on pushing him out a very high window.
Herman checks all the boxes, but he fell well short of expectations in 2016, just his second season as a head coach. It seemed once placed in a fish bowl, he faltered somewhat. He will be in an even smaller bowl in Austin than he was in Houston, and losses such as the ones he suffered this season against Memphis, Navy, and worst of all SMU will not be tolerated at Texas. Too much has been invested in this move, right or wrong. I like Herman, and his potential, but this has some risks.
Grade: B

Temple
Matt Rhule Out (To Baylor)
Geoff Collins In
This is the second time in recent years that Temple has tapped the Florida staff to find a head coach, as they had hired Steve Addazio before. Rhule replaced Addazio when he left for Boston College. Collins has had a strong hand in the recent semi-success of Florida football, as defenses have carried the Gators during his tenure, and he also had a strong run as DC at Mississippi State. Collins never did, however, beat Alabama, and that is a point to consider when you look for big time win when he was on staff. Collins has been rumored for a long while for a job of his own, but he is still an enigma, and the players wanted Phil Snow to stay as the head coach from the former staff. There may be some sore feelings in Philly on this one. Collins has also never worked the northeast before, so that is a concern as well.
Grade: C

Western Kentucky
Jeff Brohm Out (To Purdue)
Mike Sanford In (Apparently)
No official word has been given, but it appears that Notre Dame OC Mike Sanford will be the new coach at Western Kentucky. Sanford's last head coaching job was at Indiana State, where he took an abysmal Sycamore team to the FCS playoffs in short order. Western Kentucky does not need to reinvent the wheel here, and they just need someone who can keep the offense running as it has since Willie Taggart was there. Maybe coaching some defense may help as well, but that hasn't stopped the Hilltoppers before. There is no word on what the contract will be, but Sanford has some issues at Notre Dame, as he had plenty of talent, but yet often struggled to score, or at least score consistently as the Irish fell to 4-8. I will update on this move when I am able.
Grade: Incomplete

Note: I will be writing a separate piece on the FCS hires next week, as several jobs remain open at this point. 

Bilo's FBS Conference Power Rankings: 201

SEC	615.21
PAC-12	537.25
Big 10	506.71
ACC	505.07
American	435.25
Big 12	410.9
Mountain West	244.75
MAC	143.5
Conference USA	-30.46
Sun Belt	-32.73
Independents	-81.75

The SEC once again led all conferences in power rankings based on my PRS rankings, which are released weekly, starting after the first games are played in September. The saying that "a chain is only as strong as its weakest link" holds very true when power ranking conferences. That was what allowed the SEC, despite having only one ten win or above team in Alabama, to lead the way. The bottom of the conference held up well, with Ole Miss being the worst team in the SEC, scoring in the -280 point range. 

The PAC-12 finished second, despite not being able to fulfill their Las Vegas Bowl slot, again, because the bottom half held up better slightly than the Big 10, which was plagued by Purdue, Illinois, and Rutgers, with Rutgers finishing next to last nationally in total points this season in the PRS rankings. 

The ACC finished 4th, as other than Clemson at the top, the rest of the conference was fairly average overall, with no other team in double digit win totals. Even Virginia Tech, a division winner, lost 4 times, including the ACC title game. That did not help. 

The American Athletic Conference was bolstered by a strong top 5, including USF, Temple, Navy, Houston, and Tulsa, and Memphis also finished strong with 8 wins total. The top five in the AAC all finished above the 1000 point mark, a seriously impressive run for a non power 5 conference. 

The Big 12 hung outside of the top 5 in conference power rankings, as they did all season long, making one wonder how the AAC is left out of the big boy club as they are. Oklahoma's rebound helped matters with their 9 game win streak to finish out the season, but after Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Oklahoma State, there was a huge drop off in point totals, which dropped the Big 12 down to 6th. 

The G5 program who made the biggest stride outside of the AAC this season was the MAC. For the first time in my history of power ranking conferences, the MAC scored a positive average at the end of the season. This was on an incredibly strong run by Western Michigan having beaten two Big 10 teams early to eventually finish 13-0, and Toledo also had a strong run as well. Add Ohio, and a couple of other strong runs, and the MAC finally finished outside of the negative point bracket.

Of course, the Independents brought up the rear, and that can be attributed to Notre Dame's awful 4-8 run this season. BYU was the best of the bunch, and Army finishing 7-5 was a pleasant surprise, but the Irish and U Mass buried this group on the bottom. With the Independents finishing on the bottom, that was one plus for the Sun Belt, who for the first time, managed to get out of the cellar of FBS football by the end of a season. 

Please check back again once the bowls are complete, as I will produce a post bowl analysis and power ranking to close out the season. 

Bilo's College Football FBS PRS Rankings: Final Pre-Bowl Edition

Rank	Points	Team	Record	Opponent
1	2970	Alabama	13-0	Def. Florida 54-16
2	2959	Western Michigan	13-0	Def. Ohio 29-23
3	2641	Washington	12-1	Def. Colorado 41-10
4	2554	Ohio State	11-1	Regular Season Over
5	2496	Clemson	12-1	Def. Virginia Tech 42-35
6	2204	Penn State	11-2	Def. Wisconsin 38-31
7	2134	Michigan	10-2	Regular Season Over
8	2116	Oklahoma	10-2	Def. Oklahoma State 38-20
9	1982	Boise State	10-2	Regular Season Over
10	1858	Louisville	9-3	Regular Season Over
11	1818	South Florida	10-2	Regular Season Over
12	1815	Western Kentucky	10-3	Def. Louisiana Tech 58-44
13	1714	San Diego State	10-3	Def. Wyoming 27-24
14	1646	West Virginia	10-2	Def. Baylor 24-21
15	1642	Temple	10-3	Def. Navy 34-10
16	1632	Colorado	10-3	Lost to Washington 41-10
17	1594	Wisconsin	10-3	Lost to Penn State 38-31
18	1574	Southern California	9-3	Regular Season Over
19	1544	Appalachian State	9-3	Regular Season Over
20	1499	Houston	9-3	Regular Season Over
21	1484	Toledo	9-3	Regular Season Over
22	1458	Tulsa	9-3	Regular Season Over
23	1442	Stanford	9-3	Regular Season Over
24	1421	Navy	9-3	Lost to Temple 34-10
25	1410	Troy	9-3	Lost to Georgia Southernn 28-24
26	1401	Florida State	9-3	Regular Season Over
27	1379	Virginia Tech	9-4	Lost to Clemson 42-35
28	1376	Old Dominion	10-2	Regular Season Over
29	1370	Oklahoma State	9-3	Lost to Oklahoma 38-20
30	1369	Nebraska	9-3	Regular Season Over
31	1367	Air Force	9-3	Regular Season Over
32	1192	Washington State	8-4	Regular Season Over
33	1097	Florida	8-4	Lost to Alabama 54-16
34	1089	Memphis	8-4	Regular Season Over
35	1063	Louisiana Tech	8-5	Lost to Western Kentucky 58-44
36	1061	Pittsburgh	8-4	Regular Season Over
37	1057	Miami (FL)	8-4	Regular Season Over
38	1025	Kansas State	8-4	Def. Texas Christian 30-16
39	1021	New Mexico	8-4	Regular Season Over
40	997	Texas A&M	8-4	Regular Season Over
41	982	Auburn	8-4	Regular Season Over
42	977	Iowa	8-4	Regular Season Over
43	964	Tennessee	8-4	Regular Season Over
44	963	Utah	8-4	Regular Season Over
45	946	Brigham Young	8-4	Regular Season Over
46	895	Minnesota	8-4	Regular Season Over
47	829	Georgia Tech	8-4	Regular Season Over
48	816	Wyoming	8-5	Lost to San Diego State 27-24
49	798	North Carolina	8-4	Regular Season Over
50	764	Ohio	8-5	Lost to Western Michigan 29-23
51	726	Middle Tennessee State	7-5	Regular Season Over
52	708	Louisiana State	7-4	Regular Season Over
53	688	Colorado State	7-5	Regular Season Over
54	641	Idaho	8-4	Def. Georgia State 37-12
55	632	Arkansas State	7-5	Def. Texas State 36-14
56	505	Eastern Michigan	7-5	Regular Season Over
57	471	Kentucky	7-5	Regular Season Over
58	469	Arkansas	7-5	Regular Season Over
59	461	Georgia	7-5	Regular Season Over
60	268	Baylor	6-6	Lost to West Virginia 24-21
61	245	Central Florida	6-6	Regular Season Over
62	244	Indiana	6-6	Regular Season Over
63	229	Southern Mississippi	6-6	Regular Season Over
64	224	Army	6-5	Bye
65	199	Northwestern	6-6	Regular Season Over
66	172	Miami (OH)	6-6	Regular Season Over
67	168	Texas Christian	6-6	Lost to Kansas State 30-6
68	126	Central Michigan	6-6	Regular Season Over
69	118	Vanderbilt	6-6	Regular Season Over
70	104	Texas San Antonio	6-6	Regular Season Over
71	93	North Carolina State	6-6	Regular Season Over
72	91	Louisiana Lafayette	6-6	Def. Louisiana-Monroe 30-3
73	60	Maryland	6-6	Regular Season Over
74	38	Texas	5-7	Regular Season Over
75	29	California	5-7	Regular Season Over
76	-32	Northern Illinois	5-7	Regular Season Over
77	-34	Boston College	6-6	Regular Season Over
78	-38	Wake Forest	6-6	Regular Season Over
79	-43	Texas Tech	5-7	Regular Season Over
80	-80	South Carolina	6-6	Regular Season Over
81	-140	Hawaii	6-7	Regular Season Over
82	-160	South Alabama	6-6	Def. New Mexico State 35-28
83	-184	Georgia Southern	5-7	Def. Troy 28-24
84	-197	Mississippi State	5-7	Regular Season Over
85	-222	Arizona State	5-7	Regular Season Over
86	-235	Missouri	5-7	Regular Season Over
87	-268	Nevada-Reno	5-7	Regular Season Over
88	-272	Mississippi	5-7	Regular Season Over
89T	-292	Akron	5-7	Regular Season Over
89T	-292	Notre Dame	4-8	Regular Season Over
91	-300	Southern Methodist	5-7	Regular Season Over
92	-345	North Texas	5-7	Regular Season Over
93	-432	UCLA	4-8	Regular Season Over
94	-550	Oregon	4-8	Regular Season Over
95	-554	Ball State	4-8	Regular Season Over
96	-592	Florida International	4-8	Regular Season Over
97	-596	Nevada-Las Vegas	4-8	Regular Season Over
98	-670	Tulane	4-8	Regular Season Over
99	-675	Oregon State	4-8	Regular Season Over
100	-677	Duke	4-8	Regular Season Over
101	-708	Charlotte	4-8	Regular Season Over
102	-730	Syracuse	4-8	Regular Season Over
103	-741	Bowling Green State	4-8	Regular Season Over
104	-746	San Jose State	4-8	Regular Season Over
105	-747	Louisiana Monroe	4-8	Lost to Louisiana-Lafayette 30-3
106	-779	Texas-El Paso	4-8	Regular Season Over
107	-787	Cincinnati	4-8	Regular Season Over
108	-870	New Mexico State	3-9	Lost to South Alabama 35-28
109	-912	Iowa State	3-9	Regular Season Over
110	-1023	Utah State	3-9	Regular Season Over
111	-1033	Michigan State	3-9	Regular Season Over
112	-1037	East Carolina	3-9	Regular Season Over
113	-1072	Georgia State	3-9	Lost to Idaho 37-12
114	-1077	Florida Atlantic	3-9	Regular Season Over
115	-1101	Marshall	3-9	Regular Season Over
116	-1107	Rice	3-9	Regular Season Over
117	-1147	Arizona	3-9	Regular Season Over
118	-1155	Connecticut	3-9	Regular Season Over
119	-1164	Purdue	3-9	Regular Season Over
120	-1177	Kent State	3-9	Regular Season Over
121	-1213	Illinois	3-9	Regular Season Over
122	-1365	Virginia	2-10	Regular Season Over
123	-1450	Massachusetts	2-10	Regular Season Over
124	-1492	Buffalo	2-10	Regular Season Over
125	-1567	Kansas	2-10	Regular Season Over
126	-1645	Texas State	2-10	Lost to Arkansas State 36-14
127	-1726	Rutgers	2-10	Regular Season Over
128	-1878	Fresno State	1-11	Regular Season Over

What a Proposed 24 Team FBS Playoff Would Look Like (Full Simulation)

There have been many debates about the college football world as to what the next step should be with the evolution of the college football playoffs. With ESPN losing subscribers at what some would see as an alarming rate, that answer may come sooner or later as the once sports leader starts to lose ground in contract negotiations and loses their financial well that they use to dominate the TV contract landscape when it comes to all sports. Once the ESPN well goes dry, and at this rate it will, the system that supports the current bowl environment becomes untenable, and many of the current bowls will go away, as nobody other than ESPN is showing the desire to pay for 40 bowls or more. A choice will have to be made between a bowl system that largely is outdated and irrelevant and a playoff environment that makes a ton of cash, and does not require 40 locales to make it work. Here is what a 24 team playoff model would look like in 2016, of course, if I were in charge of laying it out...

The first 8 seeds are from the 8 highest ranked conference champs. Divisional champs, even if they lose in their conference title games, will still be seeded higher than any teams ranked below them, or reside under them in the standings. This would eliminate a scenario such as USC bypassing Colorado, or Ohio State bypassing Penn State. Group of Five schools are eligible. As long as they reside in "FBS" football, or the renamed Division 1-A, they play in the playoffs. The highest ranked G5 school will be entitled to one of the top eight spots annually.

Here are the top 24 teams for a 2016 playoff

1. Alabama (13-0)
2. Washington (12-1)
3. Clemson (13-1)
4. Oklahoma (10-2)
5. Penn State (10-2)
6.  Ohio State (11-1)
7. Wisconsin (10-3)
8. Western Michigan (13-0)

These 8 teams get a first round bye. Here are the next 16, as seeded based on AP rankings...

9. Colorado (10-3)
10. Michigan (10-2)
11. USC 9-3
12. West Virginia (10-2)
13. Virginia Tech (9-4)
14. Florida (8-4)
15. Oklahoma State (10-2)
16. Florida State (9-3)
17. Temple (10-3)
18. Louisville (9-3)
19. Stanford (9-3)
20. Auburn (8-4)
21. Utah (8-4)
22. Western Kentucky (10-3)
23. San Diego State (10-3)
24. Appalachian State (9-3)

1st Round matches are as follows:

#24 Appalachian State at #9 Colorado
#23 San Diego State at #10 Michigan
#22 Western Kentucky at #11 USC
#21 Utah at #12 West Virginia
#20 Auburn at #13 Virginia Tech
#19 Stanford at #14 Florida
#18 Louisville at #15 Oklahoma State
#17 Temple at #16 Florida State

2nd Round simulation as follows:

#16 Florida State at #3 Clemson
#18 Louisville at #2 Washington
#19 Stanford at #1 Alabama
#13 Virginia Tech at #4 Oklahoma
#12 West Virginia at #5 Penn State
#11  USC at #6 Ohio State
#10 Michigan at #7 Wisconsin
#9 Colorado at #8 Western Michigan

3rd Round Simulation:

#4 Oklahoma vs. #6 Ohio State...Ohio State wins
#1 Alabama vs. #12 West Virginia...Alabama wins
#2 Washington vs. #10 Michigan...Washington wins
#3 Clemson vs. #9 Colorado...Clemson wins

Semifinals:

Alabama vs. Ohio State...Alabama wins
Washington vs. Clemson...Washington wins

Finals: Alabama vs. Washington...Alabama wins

Bilo's 2016 All Missouri Valley Conference Team

QB Taryn Christion, South Dakota State

QB Easton Stick, North Dakota State

QB Josh Straughan, Southern Illinois

RB Martin Ruiz, Youngstown State

RB Jody Webb, Youngstown State

RB Steve McShane, Western Illinois

RB King Frazier, North Dakota State

WR Jake Wieneke, South Dakota State

WR Dallas Goedert, South Dakota State

WR Anthony Warrum, Illinois State

WR Robert Tonyan, Indiana State

DL Karter Schult, Northern Iowa

DL Derek Rivers, Youngstown State

DL Greg Manard,North Dakota State

DL Avery Moss, Youngstown State

LB Dylan Cole, Missouri State

LB Brett Taylor, Western Illinois

LB Christian Rozeboom, South Dakota State

LB Jet Moreland, South Dakota

DB Tre Dempsey, North Dakota State

DB Davontae Harris, Illinois State

DB Craig James, Southern Illinois

DB Danny Rambo, South Dakota

PK Jerry Nunez, Indiana State

P Miles Bergner, South Dakota

KR Deion Holliman, Missouri State

PR Lance Lenoir, Western Illinois

Coach of the Year: Chris Klieman, North Dakota State

Bilo's 2016 All MEAC Team

QB Larry Brihm, Bethune-Cookman

QB Lamar Raynard, North Carolina A&T

QB Malcolm Bell, North Carolina Central

RB Tarik Cohen, North Carolina A&T

RB Anthony Philyaw, Howard

WR Rashwan Proctor, Hampton

WR Lavontis Smith, North Carolina Central

WR Elijah Bell, North Carolina A&T

WR Frank Brown, Bethune-Cookman

DL Stefan Banks, Savannah State

DL Elijah Price, Florida A&M

DL Jai Franklin, Morgan State

DL Chris Lee, Norfolk State

LB Darius Leonard, South Carolina State

LB Marquis Smith, Savannah State

LB TC Livingston, Norfolk State

LB Kyle Archie, Norfolk State

DB Phillip Henry, South Carolina State

DB Isaiah Bennett, Savannah State

DB Sandy Chapman, Norfolk State

DB Jeremy Taylor, North Carolina A&T

PK Cameron Marouf, Norfolk State

P Kenny Faberm Hampton

KR Khris Gardin, North Carolina A&T

PR Khris Gardin, North Carolina A&T

Coach of the Year: Lee Fobbs, Jr., North Carolina A&T

Bilo's 2016 All Ivy League Team

QB Alek Torgersen, Penn

QB Chad Kanoff, Princeton

QB Dalton Banks, Cornell

RB Tre Solomon, Penn

RB Chris Walker, Cornell

RB Semar Smith, Harvard

WR Justin Watson, Penn

WR Justince Shelton-Mosely, Harvard

WR Hunter Hagdorn, Dartmouth

DL Kurt Holuba, Princeton

DL Richard Jarvis, Brown

DL Kyle Mullen, Yale

DL DJ Bailey, Harvard

LB William Twyman, Brown

LB Richard Jarvis, Brown

LB Folarin Orimolade, Dartmouth

LB Gianmarco Rea, Columbia

DB Nick Gesualdi, Cornell

DB Christian Conway, Columbia

DB Hayden Carlson, Yale

DB Mason Williams, Penn

PK Oren Milstein, Columbia

P Cameron Nizialek, Columbia

KR Hunter Hagdorn, Dartmouth

PR Alex Jette, Brown Coach of the Year: Bob Surace, Princeton

Bilo's 2016 All-Colonial Athletic Association Team

QB Kyle Lauletta, Richmond

QB Bryan Schor, James Madison

QB Zach Bednarczyk, Villanova

RB Khalid Abdullah, James Madison

RB Elijah Ibitokun-Hankerson, Albany

RB Kendall Anderson, William & Mary

RB Stacey Bedell, Stony Brook

WR Brian Brown, Richmond

WR Micah Wright, Maine

WR Christian Summers, Towson

WR Neil O'Connor, New Hampshire

DL Tanoh Kpassagnon, Villanova

DL Patrick Ricard, Maine

DL Malachi Hoskins, Albany

DL Simeyon Robinson, James Madison

LB Michael Nicastro, Albany

LB Austin Calitro, Villanova

LB Charles Bell, Delaware

LB Christopher Mulumba Tshimanaga, Maine

DB Taylor Reynolds, James Madison

DB Prince Smith, Jr., New Hampshire

DB Chris Blair, Elon

DB Raven greene, James Madison

PK Aidan O'Neill, Towson

P Jake Ryder, Towson

KR Harold Cooper, Rhode Island

PR Micah Wright, Maine

Coach of the Year: Mike Houston, James Madison