The final week of the college football season is here. With the BCS Title Game a Notre Dame vs. Alabama/Georgia affair, the weekend schedule feels anticlimactic. For fun, we broke down which games would “count” for the national title under the present BCS, the upcoming four-team playoff and a hypothetical eight-team playoff (six highest ranked conference champions, two at large teams). Here is how it plays out.

BCS Title Game

Alabama vs. Georgia – Neither school proved conclusively it was the best team in the SEC, though they won the divisons and they lost at the right times to sidle up the Harris and Coaches polls.

Four-Team Playoff

Alabama vs. Georgia – Probable playoff elimination game.

Texas at Kansas State – Kansas State might be the front-runner in the race for the fourth slot not taken by Notre Dame and the two SEC teams. The Wildcats could get in with a win and a conference championship?

Stanford vs. UCLA – The Kansas State result would still be in doubt. Another Stanford win could pit them at 11-2 as Pac 12 Champions vs. 11-1 Oregon who lost to Stanford. Still think a selection committee will provide a definitive result to that debate?

Eight-Team Playoff w/Auto Bids

Alabama vs. Georgia – Still a playoff elimination game with Notre Dame and Florida taking the at large bids over the loser of this game.

Texas at Kansas State – KSU gets into the playoff by winning the Big 12. They need a win to hold off Oklahoma.

Oklahoma at TCU – The Sooners can still reach a playoff spot by winning and having Kansas State lose.

Stanford vs. UCLA – Winner gets an automatic bid to the playoff.

Nebraska vs. Wisconsin – Nebraska gets in by winning the Big Ten. Would Wisconsin be ranked among the top six conference champions with a win?

Florida State vs. Georgia Tech – The Seminoles would finish among the top six champions by winning the ACC. Georgia Tech would not.

Kent State vs. Northern Illinois – The MAC winner would finish among the top six champions and have a chance to play for the national title.

Boise State at Nevada – The MWC does not have a tie-breaking procedure. Boise State would be the highest ranked co-champion. If Nebraska or Florida State loses, Boise State might sneak into the playoff.

Louisville vs. Rutgers – We’ll save the ACC/Big Ten challenge jokes for game time. Still possible for the Big East champion to slip in as the sixth team, though those meaningless losses these teams suffered the past few weeks would prove devastating.

Possible games: Kent State (8) at Notre Dame (1), Florida State (7) at Alabama (2), Nebraska (6) at Florida (3), Stanford (5) at Kansas State (4)

Conclusion

The present BCS reduces the number of games that count, without adding any urgency. The four-game playoff adds a little bit of intrigue. Our eight-team playoff builds the regular season into a massive final weekend (people would give a crap about the title games) before having the Saturday with the four quarterfinal games, also known as the greatest Saturday on the sporting calendar.

[Photo via Presswire]