Dominate the Super Bowl

Just like the NFL, the NCAA also has playoffs, but NCAA football and basketball are slightly different. The basketball playoffs are almost no different from professional leagues, while football uses the more traditional invitational bowl games—

In North America, many large stadiums are bowl-shaped, hence the term "bowl games".

So, how exactly does the invitation system work?

It's based on NCAA rankings and the internal rankings within each league.

The NCAA has numerous divisions and teams, but there are only twelve regular season games, nearly half of which are within a team's league. This means teams from different leagues may not play against each other for decades, which makes it impossible to solely rely on records for the overall North American rankings.

In a season, there may be more than one undefeated team, and there might be seven or eight teams with only one loss. Therefore, the league uses two authoritative polls along with six methods to create a composite computer ranking—considering team records, schedule strength, game performance, and other data to determine the NCAA's nationwide rankings for each season.

Then, based on the nationwide rankings and the various league outcomes, invitations to the playoffs are issued.

In 2006, the NCAA underwent a major reform and readjusted the playoff system, officially dividing the playoffs into two parts: the bowl games and the national championship tournaments.

First, the bowl games.

In 2016, the NCAA held forty bowl games across different divisions, meaning eighty teams participated in the playoffs; of those, the Division I's top-tier bowl games included six events: the Sugar Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, the Rose Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, and the Peach Bowl.

Each bowl game has its own tradition, such as the Sugar Bowl belongs to the Southeastern Conference, and it often features the champion of the Southeast facing another team; the Fiesta Bowl is for the Big Twelve Conference, the Rose Bowl is for the Pacific-12 Conference and the Big Ten Conference, and the Orange Bowl is for the Atlantic Coast Conference.

And so on and so forth.

Second, the national championship tournaments.

According to the NCAA rankings, the top four ranked teams compete in the national championship tournaments, which involve two rounds of knockout matches: the first round is the semi-finals and the second round is the final to determine the national champion.

The semi-finals are actually bowl games, with this year's locations being the Fiesta Bowl and the Peach Bowl.

That is to say, the champions of the Fiesta Bowl and the Peach Bowl will advance to the national championship game finals, contending for the 2016 season's ultimate national championship.

This year, the Fiesta Bowl is contested by the Atlantic Coast Conference champion, Clemson University, against the Big Ten Conference champion, Ohio State University, matching up second and third in the nation.

The Peach Bowl, on the other hand, pits the Southeastern Conference champion, the University of Alabama, against the Pacific-12 Conference champion, the University of Washington, in a clash of first and fourth nationwide.

Because the above four teams advanced to the national championship tournaments, the bowl games serve as the semi-finals of the national championship, naturally requiring adjustments to the other bowl game participant slots.

Take the Orange Bowl, for example.

It was supposed to be a showdown between the Atlantic Coast Conference champion and the Big Ten Conference champion, but since both champions went on to compete for the national championship game slots at the Fiesta Bowl, their places were filled by the runners-up from both leagues, the University of Michigan and Florida State University, vying for this year's bowl game championship.

From the NCAA rankings perspective, the University of Michigan is sixth and Florida State University is eleventh, but they are still invited to compete in the Orange Bowl.

The same principle applies to the other bowl games.

Different bowl games have different traditions. For example, if a particular league's top two ranked teams go to the national championship tournaments and other bowl games, the same bowl game can still invite the third-ranked team in the league, even if their NCAA ranking is not as high.

To put it simply, the right to issue invitations to the bowl games lies in the hands of the organizers; the NCAA rankings are just for reference.

Thus, it's not uncommon to see a scenario where a team ranked ninth in the NCAA misses out on a Division I bowl game and must attend a lower-tier bowl, while a team ranked sixteenth appears on the Division I bowl stage.

This year is no exception.

But the most unexpected and eye-opening revelation is—

Louisville Cardinals, the team led by Lamar Jackson.

They were once ranked third in the NCAA during the season, and Jackson was undoubtedly the biggest favorite for this year's Heisman Trophy, yet their season ended on a down note. They lost two absolutely crucial games in a row. Though Jackson rallied in the end, leading the team to two consecutive victories to conclude the season, their final NCAA ranking plummeted to fifteenth.

In theory, even so, with Jackson, the Louisville Cardinals should still be a hot topic of conversation. However, reality painted a different picture.

The Louisville Cardinals not only missed out on the Atlantic Coast Conference championship race, but they were also overshadowed by fellow conference rivals Clemson University and Florida State University. In the end, they were relegated to participating in the Citrus Bowl.

The Citrus Bowl, not the Orange Bowl.

In the Citrus Bowl, Jackson faced another strong defensive team, the Louisiana State University Tigers, who were the team that almost managed to stop Li Wei earlier in the season.

The Louisiana State University Tigers had a season full of ups and downs. Despite their outstanding strength, they always seemed a bit unlucky and failed to find the code to rise up. They finished nineteenth in the NCAA rankings, and as a result, they didn't receive an invitation to one of the six major bowl games, only managing to compete in the Citrus Bowl.

Regarding this, Jackson felt somewhat at a loss.

Clearly, Jackson hadn't anticipated his season would end up like this, confined to the Citrus Bowl while Li Wei and Watson embarked on the journey for the national championship, and the Heisman Trophy race was no longer under his control.

In a daze, Li Wei's words still echoed in his ears:

"Let's talk about it when he makes it to the national championship."

Jackson still thought, not only would he defeat Li Wei and claim the championship, but he would also decisively secure the Heisman Trophy. But now, he didn't even have the chance to face off against Li Wei.

It turned out, he was the fool.

How did things develop into this situation?

Yet, the nightmare was still not over.

At the Citrus Bowl, the Louisiana State University Tigers were united and full of fighting spirit, showcasing their top-notch defensive prowess. They thoroughly dominated Jackson throughout the game, causing the rising star to completely lose himself.

"29:9."

The Louisiana State University Tigers ended their season with a bowl championship, while Jackson, who had burst onto the scene at the beginning of the season, concluded his season without any accolades, dimmed and desolate, a classic case of starting strong and finishing weak.

But does anyone care?

No, not at all.

After the loss, Jackson thought the reporters would swarm him again, endlessly and irritatingly discussing Li Wei and Watson. But looking at the sparse few waiting in the players' tunnel, Jackson felt an unexpected sense of loss. Was this normal?

So, where is everybody?

"Li Wei, are you planning to enter the draft?"

"Li Wei, who do you consider the biggest opponent for Crimson Tide Storm in the national championship?"

"Li Wei, do you think the final of the national championship this year will be a repeat of last year?"

Amidst the bustling crowd and chirping voices, countless microphones surrounded Li Wei, making it impossible for him to get through the bus door.

Looking around in amazement, Li Wei exclaimed, "There's so many people."