Sometimes when I day dream during class I think over a lot “what if” scenarios, and I recently had one that pertains to my favorite sport, football. So the question is what would the NFL look like if every NFL team was replaced by the closest college. There are only two rules to this hypothetical question, and those are that the school has to be D1–FBS or FCS– and they have to be in the same state. Also, since the Giants and Jets share a stadium (lame), I did the two closest colleges. Finally, I give some brief insight as to who I think would make the playoffs and win the Super Bowl.
Teams
AFC East
Miami Dolphins– Miami Hurricanes
New England Patriots– Boston College Eagles
Buffalo Bills– Buffalo Bulls
New York Jets– Princeton Tigers (2nd closest, but I don’t like the Jets so they get the nerds)
AFC South
Jacksonville Jaguars– Florida Gators
Tennessee Titans– Vanderbilt Commodores
Indianapolis Colts– Indiana Hoosiers
Houston Texans– Rice Owls
AFC North
Pittsburgh Steelers– Pittsburgh Panthers
Cincinnati Bengals– Cincinnati Bearcats
Baltimore Ravens– Navy Midshipmen
Cleveland Browns– Akron Zips
AFC West
Los Angeles Chargers–UCLA Bruins
Oakland Raiders– California Golden Bears
Denver Broncos– Colorado Buffaloes
Kansas City Chiefs– Kansas Jayhawks
NFC East
Philadelphia Eagles– Temple Owls
Dallas Cowboys– TCU Horned Frogs
New York Giants– Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Washington Redskins– George Mason Patriots
NFC South
Tampa Bay Bucs– South Florida Bulls
Atlanta Falcons– Georgia State Panthers
New Orleans Saints– Tulane Green Wave
Carolina Panthers– Charlotte 49ers
NFC North
Green bay Packers– Wisconsin Badgers
Chicago Bears– Northwestern Wildcats
Minnesota Vikings– Minnesota Golden Gophers
Detroit Lions– Eastern Michigan Eagles
NFC West
Los Angeles Rams– USC Trojans
Seattle Seahawks– Washington Huskies
Arizona Cardinals– Arizona State Sun Devil
San Francisco 49ers– San Jose State Spartans
Who Would Make The Playoffs?
AFC
- Miami Hurricanes (AFC East Champs)
- Cincinnati Bearcats (AFC North Champs)
- Florida Gators (AFC South Champs)
- UCLA Bruins (AFC West Champs)
- Navy Midshipmen (WC1)
- Boston College Eagles (WC2)
NFC
- Wisconsin Badgers (NFC North Champs)
- USC Trojans (NFC West Champs)
- TCU Horned Frogs (NFC East Champs)
- South Florida Bulls (NFC South Champs)
- Washington Huskies (WC1)
- Northwestern Wildcats (WC2)
Super Bowl
UCLA Bruins vs Wisconsin Badgers
For UCLA their hypothetical path was rather difficult. Starting with the very slow-paced Navy team would definitely get them out of their rhythm, but in the end they should win. Then there is Miami, who is probably the most talented roster in this imaginary league. However, since Mark Richt is the head coach and his teams coincidentally always under perform when the stakes are high, I am giving UCLA the upset here. Then the conference championship, where they beat Boston College. Boston College barely squeaks in but beats Florida and Cincinnati with ease since both are bad teams winning bad divisions. UCLA is definitely better than Boston College as their Chip Kelly offense would be too much for Boston College on defense, and don’t have the offense to match it. UCLA wins easily.
For Wisconsin, their path was rather easy. They get the bye and home field throughout the playoffs. Their first hypothetical match up would be against the Washington Huskies who would beat USF in the wildcard game. This game would be a very good defensive game, but Wisconsin wins because it is more their style, and they would be able to run the ball better against this Washington front seven. Then their conference championship match up would be against USC. While USC made it this far by beating TCU in the previous round, they–much like Mark Richt–don’t normally perform well when the stakes are high. Once again Wisconsin moves on.
So who would win between Wisconsin and UCLA? Well much like USC, UCLA will run a fast paced offense and Wisconsin will run their slow paced, heavy-run offense and try to control the tempo. It is really hard to see Wisconsin losing to UCLA when UCLA is the little sister to USC. That being said I think hangs around UCLA hangs around for a while but Wisconsin’s defense and run game will take over in the second half. Final Score: Wisconsin 34 UCLA 17
Champion: Wisconsin Badgers
