This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/MemeofMemeJTG999999 on 2023-06-26 02:54:56+00:00.
Welcome to a new series where I will look at every conference championship game since their inception in 1992 when the SEC introduced theirs and see how the postseason system used would have been impacted had the results of all of the conference championship games had the team who lost in our timeline win. I will be starting with the most recent playoff in 2022 and go down in descending order. There are a few rules that I will go through before I start with the scenario in 2022.
- The conference must have a championship game. This isn’t important currently as every current conference has a championship game. But as this goes into the 2020 season which was the last time a conference (The Sun Belt) did not hold a championship game and eventually into earlier seasons as the NCAA had tighter restrictions on the requirements to host conferences championship games, I will just be designating the team who won the conference that year without a championship game as the conference champion like in our timeline.
- If the conference did have a situation where two teams were playing each other for a conference championship in the final week in the regular season, as was the case with the Big Ten in 2006 with Ohio State and Michigan, or in 2009 with Cincinnati and Pitt, the game will not have their results changed as they were not officially designated by the conference as championship games and were just coincidentally games that were scheduled months earlier that just so happened to be for a conference championship when the game came around.
- Obviously, these results do not all take place in the same alternate timeline, as the results of these conference championship games could have impacted various events in college football history. For example, Nebraska winning the 2009 Big 12 Championship over Texas would have likely placed Cincinnati in the National Championship and could have either kept Brian Kelly at Cincinnati and/or made Notre Dame have to look for some else to hire.
Entering 2022 Conference Championship Weekend, the CFP top fifteen looked like this:
- Georgia (12-0) (SEC Champ vs LSU (9-3))
- Michigan (12-0) (B1G Champ vs Purdue (8-4))
- TCU (12-0) (B12 Champ vs Kansas State (9-3))
- USC (11-1) (PAC Champ vs Utah (9-3))
- Ohio State (11-1) (Bye)
- Alabama (10-2) (Bye)
- Tennessee (10-2) (Bye)
- Penn State (10-2) (Bye)
- Clemson (10-2) (ACC Champ vs North Carolina (9-3))
- Kansas State (9-3) (B12 Champ vs TCU (12-0))
- Utah (9-3) (PAC Champ vs USC (11-1))
- Washington (10-2) (Bye)
- Florida State (9-3) (Bye)
- LSU (9-3) (SEC Champ vs Georgia (12-0))
- Oregon State (9-3) (Bye)
Other notable ranked teams included:
- Tulane (10-2) (AAC Champ vs UCF (9-3))
- UCF (9-3) (AAC Champ vs Tulane (10-2))
- North Carolina (9-3) (ACC Champ vs Clemson (10-2))
The 2022 Conference Championship Weekend had these results in our timeline:
- C-USA Championship: UTSA (11-2) 48-27 North Texas (7-6)
- Pac-12 Championship: #11 Utah (10-3) 47-24 #4 USC (11-2)
- Big 12 Championship: #10 Kansas State (10-3) 31-28 (OT) #3 TCU (12-1)
- MAC Championship: Toledo (8-5) 17-7 Ohio (9-4)
- Sun Belt Championship: Troy (11-2) 45-26 Coastal Carolina (9-3)
- SEC Championship: #1 Georgia (13-0) 50-30 #14 LSU (9-4)
- MW Championship: Fresno State (9-4) 28-16 Boise State (9-4)
- American Championship: #18 Tulane (11-2) 45-28 #22 UCF (9-4)
- ACC Championship: #9 Clemson (11-2) 39-10 #23 North Carolina (9-4)
- Big Ten Championship: #2 Michigan 43-22 Purdue (8-5)
Had these results been changed, things would have likely looked like this:
C-USA Championship: North Texas (8-5) over UTSA (10-3)
North Texas actually led 10-7 in the second quarter until a pick by Clifford Chattman followed by a Frank Harris touchdown run would shift the momentum to UTSA. Had UNT kept their momentum, the results may have been played differently. The Mean Green win their first and last C-USA title due to them joining the American in 2023.
Pac-12 Championship: #4 USC (12-1) over #11 Utah (9-4)
USC actually led by as much as 14 for most of the first half until Utah went on a 44-10 run. In this timeline, USC keeps their momentum from the first half going and cruises to a win over the Utes, guaranteeing the Trojans a spot in the CFP while relegating the Utes to a non-NY6 bowl as Washington (10-2) takes their Rose Bowl spot with USC in the CFP.
Big 12 Championship: #3 TCU (13-0) over #10 Kansas State (9-4)
Rather than in our timeline where K-State gets a goal line stand in OT followed by a game winning field on the boot of Ty Zentner, TCU instead does score on the one of the goal line plays and stops K-State’s scoring attempt shortly thereafter. Not much changes, as TCU still makes the playoff like in our timeline, and K-State still becomes the Big 12’s representative in the Sugar Bowl by virtue of being the next best available B12 team (even though Texas (8-4) had the same number of losses plus the H2H over the Wildcats).
MAC Championship: Ohio (10-3) over Toledo (7-6)
Not necessarily a defined turning point in this game, but in this timeline, Ohio does win their first MAC title since 1968 and becomes the first MAC champion with double digit wins since 2017.
Sun Belt Championship: Coastal Carolina (10-2) over Troy (10-3)
Similar to the MAC Championship, this game doesn’t have a turning point, as in our timeline Troy pretty much dominated from start to finish, but had Coastal won, they would have had their third consecutive double digit win season and their second SBC championship in three years (2020 was technically a split championship with Louisiana). By virtue of both AAC Championship teams being ranked, while Coastal likely does get ranked after this win like Troy in our timeline, they do not contend for the G5 auto bid in an NY6 bowl.
SEC Championship: #14 LSU (10-3) over #1 Georgia (12-1)
LSU makes the field goal early that in our timeline was blocked and returned for a UGA touchdown which keeps the momentum in favor of LSU, which eventually results in an LSU win rather than a convincing win by the Dawgs. Georgia will still make the playoff as there really aren't many teams that can jump them based on their mostly dominant regular season. LSU is bumped up from the Citrus Bowl to the SEC's spot in the Sugar Bowl based on them being a non-playoff SEC Champion. LSU becomes the first SEC Champion to not make either the playoff or the BCS national championship since Georgia in 2005.
Mountain West Championship: Boise State (10-3) over Fresno State (8-5)
Boise State had led until late in the second quarter after a Fresno punt return touchdown, and following that run Fresno State had led by as much as 19 until a Boise touchdown cut the lead to 12 with five minutes remaining. Had Boise either kept their momentum from most of the first half or made a late 4th quarter comeback, they would have won their first MW championship since 2019 and clinched their first double digit win season also since 2019. Similarly to Coastal, by virtue of UCF and Tulane both being ranked, Boise does not contend for a NY6 bowl and is instead likely stuck in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl.
American Championship: #22 UCF (10-3) over #18 Tulane (10-3)
UCF nearly made a comeback early in the 4th quarter with two touchdowns to cut their deficit to three points, before Tulane responded with two touchdowns to seal the game. Had UCF been able to come back fully and held off Tulane's attempts to regain the lead, UCF would have won the AAC Championship for the first time since 2018 in their final season before departing for the Big 12. By virtue of being the highest ranked Group of 5 conference champion, UCF would receive an auto bid to a NY6 bowl game, which based on the 2022-23 tie ins, would be the Cotton Bowl.
ACC Championship: #23 North Carolina (10-3) over #9 Clemson (10-3)
UNC had an opportunity to cut the deficit to 7 while in the red zone with five minutes remaining in the third, which instead resulted in a pick six by Nate Wiggins of Clemson which would ultimately ice the game. In this timeline, UNC scores a touchdown and ends up eventually winning the game to take home their first ACC Championship since 1980. UNC is guaranteed a spot in the Orange Bowl by virtue of being a non-playoff ACC Champ. Clemson would obviously be relegated to a non-NY6 bowl.
Big Ten Championship: Purdue (9-4) over #2 Michigan (12-1)
Purdue had actually kept it close in the first half, being down only 14-13 as both teams entered the locker room, but ultimately failed to keep it close as Michigan outscored Purdue 29-9 in the second half. Had Purdue been the team to pull away in the second half and played Spoilermaker to #2 Michigan in the B1G Championship, they would have clinched their first conference championship and Rose Bowl appearance since 2000 with Drew Brees under center. Michigan would still make the playoff as the committee would see them beating Ohio State (11-1) convincingly enough the week prior as a reason to keep them in the playoff.
The top ten playoff rankings entering bowl season likely look like:
- TCU (13-0) (Big 12 Champions) (up 2)
- USC (12-1) (Pac-12 Champions) (up 2)
- Georgia (12-1) (SEC East Champions) (down 2)
- Michigan (12-1) (Big Ten East Champions) (down 2)
- Ohio State (11-1) (Big Ten East Runners-Up) (no change)
- Alabama (10-2) (SEC West Runners-Up) (no change)
- LSU (10-3) (SEC Champions...
Content cut off. Read original on https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/14j582u/what_if_the_results_of_every_conference/
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