In the college environment, teams adopt a mascot to represent their team. Some choose animals (Tigers, Wildcats, Bulldogs), some choose people (Aggies, Cowboys, Spartans), some choose birds (Eagles, Owls, Falcons), some choose weather (Hurricanes), a color (Orange, Cardinal), or something that uniquely represents their team or their area (Cornhuskers, Hoosiers, Crimson Tide, Blazers, Zips, Buckeyes, Tar Heels, etc.). But, what mascot name would win out?
First I organized all mascots into one of three categories: People, Animals, and Other. I then divided Animals by Birds and Non-Birds and combined the birds with the other category. From there I had 5 divisions of 9 teams for Birds/Other, 5 divisions of 9 teams for Non-Bird Animals, and 5 divisions of 9 teams for People.
In establishing the 9 teams for the division I combined all the Owls into one division, all the Tigers into one division, all the horses into one division and so on. Inside each division, they will be split into 3 groups of 3 so as to pit all the Aggies against each other (for instance) or all the Eagles.
Those groups of 3 will play the other two opponents in their mini group. One game at home, one on the road. Wheel of Names determined who hosted the first game and who the opponent is (consequently determining the home and road team of the other two games).
Each mini division will have one champion emerge. A team must win both games to advance. If all teams are tied at 1-1, the same process will be done, but home and road will be swapped for all games. If all teams are tied 2-2 then the two teams with the best PD will battle on a neutral field to determine a winner.
Once the three winners of the mini divisions are established they will play against the other two mini division winners within their division to establish seeding for the knockout round. Teams are then ranked 1-15 based on FPI with #1 seeds taking slots 1-5, #2 seeds 6-10, #3 seeds 11-15. The top #1 seed will get a first round bye.
Each conference (Birds/Other, Land Animals, People) will advance a final 4 creating an ultimate 12 team tournament to determine the ultimate winner. Each conference will have a winner that will receive a 1st round bye in the ultimate 12 team tournament. The best runner-up will receive the last bye. The ultimate 12 team will be seeded with champions 1-3, runner-ups 4-6 and semi final losers 7-12 using preseason FPI to order from there.
Below are the Groups:
Click here to see the Results (LINK COMING SOON)