Project Playoffs: End of season standings and seedings

Wouldn't this be a lot more fun than the bowls?

There would be no Fiesta Bowl featuring Oklahoma as a 17-point favorite over Big East "champion" Connecticut, no Boise State relegated to the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl as a 17-point favorite over Utah, and no bowls featuring 6-6 teams completely undeserving of playing in the postseason.

Instead, how about 16 teams getting a shot to play for the national championship -- on the field?

The Project Playoffs Foundation has taken the top 81 schools by football attendance and divided them into nine geographically correct conferences. Though it will never happen because the greedy college administrators don't want to part with their conference television money, this realignment plan is the most sensible solution and will fix what ails the greatest sport with the worst postseason.

Using the Massey Comparison Rankings, which take every poll and computer rating into account, below is a projection of how the standings would be in each of these realigned conferences as of Week 13 prior to the money grab that is better known as the conference championship games.

Each conference winner gets an automatic birth into the 16-team playoff, and the next best seven teams according to an all-encompassing rating system would also make the playoff. Then all 16 teams are seeded regardless of conference finish using the same all-encompassing rating system.

First-round match-ups:

16 West Virginia at 1 Oregon
15 South Carolina at 2 Auburn
14 Virginia Tech at 3 TCU
13 LSU at 4 Stanford
12 Oklahoma State at 5 Boise State
11 Alabama at 6 Oklahoma
10 Missouri at 7 Ohio State
9 Wisconsin at 8 Arkansas

Potential second-round match-ups:

8 Arkansas at 1 Oregon

7 Ohio State at 2 Auburn

6 Oklahoma at 3 TCU

5 Boise State at 4 Stanford

Click here for a full explanation of Project Playoffs.

Northwest
1 Oregon (12-0)
5 Boise State (11-1)
Utah (10-2)
Air Force (8-4)
Oregon State (5-7)
Washington (6-6)
Fresno State (8-4)
BYU (6-6)
Washington State (2-10)

Southern
2 Auburn (13-0)
11 Alabama (9-3)
13 LSU (10-2)
Mississippi State (8-4)
Southern Miss (8-4)
Tennessee (6-6)
Ole Miss (4-8)
Vanderbilt (2-10)
Memphis (1-11)

Mid-South
3 TCU (12-0)
6 Oklahoma (11-2)
8 Arkansas (10-2)
12 Oklahoma State (10-2)
Texas A&M (9-3)
Baylor (7-5)
Texas Tech (7-5)
Texas (5-7)
Houston (5-7)

West
4 Stanford (11-1)
Hawaii (10-3)
USC (8-5)
Arizona (7-5)
Arizona State (6-6)
California (5-7)
UCLA (4-8)
UTEP (6-6)
New Mexico (1-11)

Mid-North
7 Ohio State (11-1)
Michigan State (11-1)
Notre Dame (7-5)
Michigan (7-5)
Illinois (6-6)
Louisville (6-6)
Cincinnati (4-8)
Purdue (4-8)
Indiana (5-7)

Midwest
9 Wisconsin (11-1)
10 Missouri (10-2)
Nebraska (10-3)
Iowa (7-5)
Kansas State (7-5)
Colorado (5-7)
Iowa State (5-7)
Minnesota (3-9)
Kansas (3-9)

Atlantic
14 Virginia Tech (11-2)
North Carolina State (8-4)
Maryland (8-4)
North Carolina (7-5)
Kentucky (6-6)
East Carolina (6-6)
Virginia (4-8)
Duke (3-9)
Wake Forest (3-9)

Southeast
15 South Carolina (9-4)
Florida State (9-4)
Florida (7-5)
Miami (7-5)
Central Florida (10-3)
Georgia (6-6)
Clemson (6-6)
South Florida (7-5)
Georgia Tech (6-6)

Northeast
16 West Virginia (9-3)
Navy (8-3)
Pittsburgh (7-5)
Penn State (7-5)
Connecticut (8-4)
Boston College (7-5)
Syracuse (7-5)
Army (6-5)
Rutgers (4-8)