This past winter I came up with a very simple and objective points system to determine the teams that get into the College Football Playoff. Points are awarded for victories, indeterminate of location or margin. Here is how the points system breaks down:
- 0 points awarded for a loss of any kind, including away loss, or loss to a ranked team, or overtime loss.
- 0 points awarded for a victory over an FCS team.
- 1 point awarded for a victory over a Group of 5 team (American, C-USA, Independents (other than Notre Dame), MAC, Mountain West, and Sun Belt).
- 2 points awarded for a victory over a Power 5 team (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac 12, SEC, and Notre Dame - because the majority of ND's schedule is played against Power 5 teams).
- 2 additional points awarded for being a Conference Champion (so a team that wins their conference championship gets a total of 4 points for that victory).
After the regular season is concluded, bonus points are awarded for victories over teams that have reached certain points thresholds.
- 1 bonus point is awarded for a victory over a team that accumulated between 10 - 14 points in the regular season and conference championship games.
- 2 bonus points are awarded for a victory over a team that accumulated 15 or more points in the regular season and conference championship games.
Here are the standings after week 10. Note that no bonus points have been awarded yet.
1. Clemson - 15
2. Alabama - 14
3. Ohio State / Penn State / Oregon - 13
6. Baylor / Michigan / Minnesota / Utah / LSU / Auburn - 12
12. Oklahoma / Georgia - 11
14. Wake Forest / Indiana / Iowa / Illinois / Notre Dame / Florida - 10
There are a bunch of teams with 8 or 9 points so far, including Cincinnati and Wisconsin, who could both give Ohio State a bonus point at the end of the year. Half of the Big Ten has already accumulated 10 points, which is the most, by far, of any conference (the SEC has 5, and no other team is higher than 7), and Wisconsin just needs one more win to get there.
