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NIU in the Final Four?

April 1, 2011
WSJ bracket

Image courtesy Wall Street Journal

Darren Everson of the Wall Street Journal wasn’t joking when he published an article April 1 discussing a college football playoff replacement for the BCS.

However, Everson’s unique take on the current college football landscape places NIU in rare air among the nation’s elite programs.

Comparable to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, Everson and staff created a 64-team bracket based on the final regular-season BCS college football standings. The results of the bracket show the wild unpredictability of college sports.

To demonstrate, each basketball team from this year’s tournament was replaced with the corresponding college football team based on final BCS rankings. Each team progressed through the bracket just as their basketball counterpart did, creating upsets and unthinkable matchups.

Auburn, Oregon, TCU and Stanford were selected as the top four seeds in their regions representing the selections of Ohio State, Kansas, Pittsburgh and Duke. As for eighth-seeded Butler, they were replaced by none other than the Huskies of Northern Illinois University.