PROTEST PLAYOFF '08: Sweet Sixteen (Day 1)

FIVE DAYS UNTIL KICKOFF!

Cotton Bowl: With the second pick, the Cotton Bowl took Oklahoma's region, nabbing the overall No. 1 seed and the top-ranked Big 12 team.

Capital One Bowl: The Capital One Bowl then took the remaining SEC team, Alabama, after the Sugar Bowl took Florida off the board.

Just a weird little footnote: Today represents sort of a full circle for this project. Three of the four games presented here actually were simulated in December 2008, well before I joined this blog.

I was first inspired to do this project after I read an article proposing a similar system for the 2008 season. Thus, 2008 was the first playoff I actually simulated all the way through, and only after that did I decide it might be fun and enlightening to go all the way back to 1998 and replace the entire BCS system - theoretically speaking.

The rest, as they say, is alternate history.

Today's Games

Game 1: No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners (12-1) VS. No. 16 Troy Trojans (8-4)

Oklahoma Memorial Stadium - Norman, Okla.
Friday, Dec. 12, 2008 - 10 AM CST

Precipitation: none
Temperature: 17
Wind: NE 5 MPH

Final Score: Oklahoma 38, Troy 3

Player of the Game
Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford

Box Score

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -

Game 2: No. 13 Virginia Tech Hokies (9-4) VS. No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1)

Bryant-Denny Stadium - Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Friday, Dec. 12, 2008 - 1 PM EST

Precipitation: none
Temperature: 22
Wind: calm

Final Score: Alabama 32, Virginia Tech 7

Player of the Game
Alabama RB Mark Ingram

Box Score

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -

Game 3: No. 5 USC Trojans (11-1) VS. No. 12 TCU Horned Frogs (10-2)

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - Los Angeles, Calif.
Friday, Dec. 12, 2008 - 1:30 PM PST

Precipitation: none
Temperature: 67
Wind: calm

Final Score: USC 23, TCU 0

Player of the Game
USC RB Stafon Johnson

Box Score

LOS ANGELES (AP) -

Game 4: No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions (11-1) VS. No. 9 Boise State Broncos (12-0)

Beaver Stadium - State College, Pa.
Friday, Dec. 12, 2008 - 8 PM EST

Precipitation: none
Temperature: 13
Wind: calm

Final Score: Penn State 23, Boise State 9

Player of the Game
Penn State RB Evan Royster

Box Score

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -

All helmet images are courtesy of The Helmet Project. Check it out - it's pretty cool.

Tomorrow's Games

#15 Buffalo @ #2 Florida
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Gainesville, Fla.

#14 ECU @ #3 Texas
Texas Memorial Stadium
Austin, Texas

#11 Cincinnati @ #6 Utah
Rice-Eccles Stadium
Salt Lake City, Utah

#10 Ohio State @ #7 Texas Tech
Jones AT&T Stadium
Lubbock, Texas

BracketCat's Protest Playoff Archives

1998: Selection Sunday | Sweet 16 (1) | Sweet 16 (2) | Elite 8 | Final 4 | Fiesta | Data | Encore

1999: Selection Sunday | Sweet 16 (1) | Sweet 16 (2) | Elite 8 | Final 4 | Sugar | Data | Encore

2000: Selection Sunday | Sweet 16 (1) | Sweet 16 (2) | Elite 8 | Final 4 | Orange | Data | Encore

2001: Selection Sunday | Sweet 16 (1) | Sweet 16 (2) | Elite 8 | Final 4 | Rose | Data

2002: Selection Sunday | Sweet 16 (1) | Sweet 16 (2) | Elite 8 | Final 4 | Fiesta | Data

2003: Selection Sunday | Sweet 16 (1) | Sweet 16 (2) | Elite 8 | Final 4 | Sugar | Data

2004: Selection Sunday | Sweet 16 (1) | Sweet 16 (2) | Elite 8 | Final 4 | Orange | Data

2005: Selection Sunday | Sweet 16 (1) | Sweet 16 (2) | Elite 8 | Final 4 | Rose | Data

2006: Selection Sunday | Sweet 16 (1) | Sweet 16 (2) | Elite 8 | Final 4 | Fiesta | Data

2007: Selection Sunday | Sweet 16 (1) | Sweet 16 (2) | Elite 8 | Final 4 | Sugar | Data

2008: Selection Sunday