Using Divisional Records

Let's take a quick look at how the conference championships might look different if divisional records were given preference over conference record.




ACC

Atlantic:  Clemson's only conference loss came from the Coastal, so they still come out on top.

Coastal:  VT only went 5-1 in their division, losing to Georgia Tech, who went 3-3 in division.  UNC was the second team, going 4-2 in division, so VT still wins the division.

SEC

West:  Alabama beat everybody.

East:  Florida went 5-1, only losing to Tennessee who went 4-2 in division.

Big Ten

East:  There is a three way tie of 1 loss teams in PSU, OSU, and Michigan.  Michigan would get disqualified by their extra conference loss, and it would come down to head-to-head between PSU and OSU, which PSU wins.

West:  Wisconsin swept their division.

Pac-12

North:  Washington swept their division.

South:  We have Colorado and USC both at the top with 4-1 divisional records.  USC would actually win the head-to-head.

Across eight divisions, only one would turn out differently based on divisional records.  However, I think the last couple weeks of the season would have played out differently.  For instance, Tennessee might have had more of a sense of urgency in their final game.  If they had won that, they could have been division champs.  Although they might have been satisfied with already being champions of life.