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What the college football postseason would have looked like since 1998

Here is what would have happened had their been a playoff in place since 1998, and using the rules put in place at 2014.

By Jeremy Mauss
Christian Petersen

With the news of what the 2014 college football postseason will look like, SB Nation's Jason Kirk went back to through the BCS era to see what the format would look like. Even with the changes, it did not change the Mountain West teams who got into a major bowl game.

Some of the changes mostly involved Boise State. They would have made it to a major bowl in 2004, 2010 and 2011, but under the current/old system, Boise State went to the Las Vegas Bowl twice and the Liberty Bowl in 2004.

TCU would have been in the national semifinals in 2009 and 2010. In '09 TCU would have been matchup against No. 1 ranked Alabama in the Orange Bowl, and in '10 would have played Oregon in the Sugar Bowl.

Here is a nifty chart that shows what 1998-2012 bowl season would have looked like:

 Orange Rose Sugar Chick-fil-A Cotton Fiesta

12 2 Oregon vs. 3 Notre Dame 13 Stanford+ vs. 14 Nebraska 5 Georgia+ vs. 12 Oklahoma+ 6 Florida vs. 19 Louisville* 7 LSU vs. 10 Florida State++ 1 Kansas State vs. 4 Alabama

11 13 Michigan vs. 15 Clemson 2 Alabama vs. 3 Oklahoma State 6 Arkansas+ vs. 8 Kansas State+ 9 South Carolina vs. 10 Wisconsin++ 1 LSU vs. 4 Stanford 5 Oregon++ vs. 9 Boise State*

10 6 Ohio State vs. 13 Virginia Tech 5 Wisconsin vs. Arizona+ 2 Oregon vs. 3 TCU 1 Auburn vs. 4 Stanford 7 Oklahoma++ vs. 9 Michigan State 8 Arkansas vs. 10 Boise State*

09 1 Alabama vs. 4 TCU 7 Oregon vs. 8 Ohio State 5 Florida+ vs. 19 Oklahoma State+ 9 Georgia Tech++ vs. 6 Boise State* 10 Iowa vs. 11 Virginia Tech 2 Texas vs. 3 Cincinnati

08 10 Ohio State vs. 19 Virginia Tech 2 Florida vs. 3 Texas 7 Texas Tech+ vs. 15 Georgia+ 8 Penn State++ vs. 6 Utah* 1 Oklahoma vs. 4 Alabama 5 USC++ vs. 8 Boise State

Orange Rose Sugar Chick-fil-A Cotton Fiesta

07 12 Florida vs. 14 Boston College+ 7 USC vs. 13 Illinois+ 2 LSU vs. 3 Virginia Tech 1 Ohio State vs. 4 Oklahoma 6 Missouri vs. 9 West Virginia* 5 Georgia vs. 8 Kansas

06 1 Ohio State vs. 4 LSU 5 USC vs. 7 Wisconsin+ 9 Auburn+ vs. 10 Oklahoma 11 Notre Dame vs. 14 Wake Forest++ 6 Louisville* vs. 8 Boise State 2 Florida vs. 3 Michigan

05 6 Notre Dame vs. 22 Florida State 1 USC vs. 4 Ohio State 7 Georgia vs. 15 Texas Tech 9 Auburn vs. 11 West Virginia* 2 Texas vs. 3 Penn State 5 Oregon vs. 8 Miami

04 7 Georgia vs. 8 Virginia Tech 5 Cal vs. 13 Michigan 1 USC vs. 4 Texas 2 Oklahoma vs. 3 Auburn 11 LSU vs. 10 Louisville 6 Utah* vs. 9 Boise State

03 2 LSU vs. 3 USC 5 Ohio State+ vs. 16 Washington State+ 6 Texas+ vs. 8 Tennessee+ 7 Florida State++ vs. 11 Miami (Ohio)* 10 Kansas State vs. 9 Miami 1 Oklahoma vs. 4 Michigan

Orange Rose Sugar Chick-fil-A Cotton Fiesta

02 5 Iowa vs. 14 Florida State 2 Ohio State vs. 3 Georgia 7 Oklahoma vs. Alabama 15 West Virginia* vs. 6 Washington State++ 1 Miami vs. 4 USC 9 Notre Dame vs. 8 Kansas State

01 5 Florida vs. 10 Maryland 8 Illinois vs. 9 Stanford+ 2 Nebraska vs. 3 Colorado 1 Miami vs. 4 Oregon 7 Texas vs. Virginia Tech* 6 Tennessee vs. 13 LSU

00 2 Florida State vs. 3 Miami 6 Oregon State+ vs. 17 Purdue 7 Florida vs. 8 Nebraska 5 Virginia Tech* vs. 10 Oregon 11 Notre Dame vs. 9 Kansas State 1 Oklahoma vs. 4 Washington

99 8 Michigan vs. 17 Georgia Tech+ 2 Virginia Tech vs. 3 Nebraska 5 Tennessee+ vs. 6 Kansas State+ 9 Michigan State vs. 22 Stanford++ 1 Florida State vs. 4 Alabama 7 Wisconsin++ vs. 12 Marshall*

98 8 Florida vs. 12 Virginia+ 5 UCLA vs. 9 Wisconsin 2 Florida State vs. 3 Kansas State 1 Tennessee vs. 4 Ohio State 6 Texas A&M++ vs. 10 Tulane* 7 Arizona vs. 11 Nebraska

Orange Rose Sugar Chick-fil-A Cotton Fiesta

Details of the chart:

  • Bold boxes for the access bowl game with first pick.
  • * "Group of Five" automatic qualifier.
  • + Contract bowl team replacing a conference champ.
  • ++ Contract bowl team forced out of its spot by semifinal game.

With the guaranteed spot to the top "group of five" (yes, that is official name), that should lead to a reasonable chance for a Mountain West champion to be in the running every year.

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