2024 - What If we still had the New Year's Six?

I'm sure there's a lot of folks underwhelmed by how the first round of the first 12-team CFP played out.  So let's go down the "what if" rabbit hole and see what our postseason would most likely look like in last year's format.

The rotation for this year would have put the semi finals in the Cotton and Orange Bowls.  With the ACC champ displaced from the Orange Bowl, there is no guarantee of a second team getting in the pool.  Also, we don't have to worry about that SEC/B1G/ND group for the Orange Bowl.  The Peach Bowl would be the most likely destination for the G5 team.

But there are a few variables due to the changes that occurred prior to the 2024 season.

First, if we go strictly by the final CFP rankings, the semi-finals would have been immediate rematches of the B1G and SEC championship games.

Second, with the fall of the Pac-12, the Rose Bowl would have needed to make a determination about who would fill that slot in the game.  I feel like the Rose Bowl would have had two options -- pick another at-large from the CFP rankings, or pick from the pool of the former Pac-12 teams as the other bowls with Pac-12 contracts did.

Four options here.

Option #1 - avoid the conference championship rematches and use the "old Pac-12" pool for the Rose Bowl:

Cotton Bowl - #4 Texas vs. #1 Oregon (really #3 and #1)
Orange Bowl - #3 Notre Dame vs. #2 Georgia (really #5 and #2)
Sugar Bowl - #7 Tennessee (SEC replacement) vs. #12 Arizona State (Big 12 champ)
Rose Bowl - #5 Penn State (B1G replacement - really #4) vs. #23 Colorado (Pac-12 replacement)
Peach Bowl - #9 Boise State (G5 champ) vs. #6 Ohio State (B1G at-large)
Fiesta Bowl - #8 Indiana (B1G at-large) vs. #16 Clemson (ACC champ)

Option #2 - use the existing rankings and the "old Pac-12" pool:

Cotton Bowl - #3 Texas vs. #2 Georgia
Orange Bowl - #4 Penn State vs. #1 Oregon
Sugar Bowl - #7 Tennessee (SEC replacement) vs. #12 Arizona State (Big 12 champ)
Rose Bowl - #6 Ohio State (B1G replacement - really #4) vs. #23 Colorado (Pac-12 replacement)
Peach Bowl - #9 Boise State (G5 champ) vs. #5 Notre Dame
Fiesta Bowl - #8 Indiana (B1G at-large) vs. #16 Clemson (ACC champ)

Option #3 - avoid the rematches and the Rose Bowl gets an at-large:

Cotton Bowl - #4 Texas vs. #1 Oregon (really #3 and #1)
Orange Bowl - #3 Notre Dame vs. #2 Georgia (really #5 and #2)
Sugar Bowl - #7 Tennessee (SEC replacement) vs. #12 Arizona State (Big 12 champ)
Rose Bowl - #5 Penn State (B1G replacement - really #4) vs. #10 SMU (ACC at-large)
Peach Bowl - #9 Boise State (G5 champ) vs. #6 Ohio State (B1G at-large)
Fiesta Bowl - #8 Indiana (B1G at-large) vs. #16 Clemson (ACC champ)

Option #4 - use the existing rankings and the Rose Bowl gets an at-large:

Cotton Bowl - #3 Texas vs. #2 Georgia
Orange Bowl - #4 Penn State vs. #1 Oregon
Sugar Bowl - #7 Tennessee (SEC replacement) vs. #12 Arizona State (Big 12 champ)
Rose Bowl - #6 Ohio State (B1G replacement - really #4) vs. #5 Notre Dame (at-large)
Peach Bowl - #9 Boise State (G5 champ) vs. #16 Clemson (ACC champ)
Fiesta Bowl - #8 Indiana (B1G at-large) vs. #10 SMU (ACC at-large)

Clearly, in any case, we're still mostly getting the same teams in the mix -- with just some minor differences based on contractual obligations regarding the Rose Bowl and former Pac-12.