SU64: Midwest region first round

Moving right along with the Student Union 64-team College Football Playoff, let’s travel to the Midwest region, headlined by top seeds Alabama, Wisconsin, Penn State and Stanford. If you’ve missed any of the previous articles in this series, including an explanation of how the tournament works, you can find links in the schedule at the bottom of the article.

Tip of the cap to the Thundering Herd, who probably hung in better than any other 16-seed will. Jalen Hurts throws three interceptions, but Marshall barely manages 150 yards of total offense and the Tide move on as expected.

The resident Iowa fans on this site will NOT be pleased with this result. If you never see another post from me again it’s because I’ve been fired. Maybe you all will fare better after the actual bowl game between these two.

Computer Bryce Love runs for 132 yards at 6.9 yards per carry. Purdue runs for 34 yards as a team.

The B1G taking L’s on L’s as the classic 5 vs. 12 trap game hits again. This is.. not great, right?

Penn State won 52-0 when these teams actually played during the regular season, so it’s pretty reassuring for the sake of the entire tournament to see this result.

Mason Rudolph against a really good SDSU defense: 30-42, 429 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT.

Thought it might have been closer, but the Group of 5 gets its third win of the tournament over a Power 5 already.

Have a pretty hard time seeing an Alex Hornibrook-led team EVER scoring 63 points on anybody. But yeah, North Texas.

So a pretty bad showing by some mid-level Big 10 teams. But it wasn’t a complete doomsday for the conference, with Wisconsin and Penn State easily moving on. Looking ahead, Memphis is a scary matchup for Wisconsin. From watching two Memphis games this season, there is a possibility that even Hornibrook can put up big numbers for the second game in a row against the Memphis defense, though. Penn State-Oklahoma State might have a billion points scored, Alabama-Boston College might have 20. Michigan being upset puts Stanford in a good spot to advance and seriously heats up Jim Harbaugh’s seat.

The SU64 continues Friday with the East (Georgia) region. The bracket so far and the full schedule can be found below.

November 28 — Introduction
December 4 – selection Monday
December 8 – West region first round
December 11 – Midwest region first round
December 15 – East region first round
December 18 – South region first round
December 22 – West/Midwest regions second round
December 26 – East/South regions second round
December 29 – Sweet 16
January 1 – Elite Eight
January 5 – semifinals
January 8 – National Championship