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How bowl season is reshaping the College Football Empires Map

Each week, college football teams play for land. Check the rules!

By Nathan Bingham

Welcome to the post-semifinals edition of the 2018 College Football Empires Map. Here are the rules:

To begin the season, each FBS team was given control of its surrounding territory. Each game that involves one or two teams with territory results in the winner claiming all of it. Results carry on week to week, so teams are always in the process of trying to regain or expand land. For more detailed rules, check out Week 1’s explanation.

Here’s the updated 2018 map after the Playoff semifinals, with notes to follow.

So far, bowl season has featured six games for land.

  • North Carolina A&T defended East Carolina from the assault of the Alcorn State Braves in the Celebration Bowl. The Aggies join Albany as the only FCS teams to finish the season with land.
  • Army did what Army was literally built to do: defend land. They annihilated Houston in one of the most lopsided bowl games ever. The Cougars’ defeat resulted in the firing of their major, Major Applewhite. The Black Knights finish the season with control over Eastern Michigan and Buffalo.
  • Wisconsin showed superior force in the Pinstripe Bowl, taking Toledo from Miami. Miami leader Mark Richt announced his retirement following the game.
  • In possibly the least watched game of bowl season, Nevada pulled off the overtime defeat against Arkansas State to win Charlotte just weeks after losing its empire to UNLV.
  • The Fighting Irish didn’t have much fight in them, losing their land to Clemson, which takes the lead in population and reaches second in territories owned, land area, and counties.
  • The Crimson Tide of Alabama started off strong and were able to hold off the Oklahoma comeback late in the game to take the Sooners’ land. Alabama is now the leader in counties, land area, and territories and only trails Clemson in population.

With just a week left in the season, there are five more land games.

  • Oregon will try to protect its empire from the Spartans of Michigan State on New Year’s Eve in the Redbox Bowl.
  • Texas A&M will try to ensure NC A&T are not the only Aggies on the map, as they attempt to defend their land from the Wolfpack of NC State in the Gator Bowl on New Year’s Eve.
  • Undefeated UCF will try to earn respect and defend its empire from LSU in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day. A victory by the Knights would give them the most land by a G5 team. Otherwise the honor goes to UNLV.
  • Last year, the Rose Bowl was for the Empires Map Championship. This year doesn’t quite have the same implications, but Ohio State and Washington do enter the game with land and will finish near the top of the rankings when the season ends.
  • Clemson-Alabama IV has a little more on the line this year. The winner not only wins the meaningless CFP, but also the most meaningful prize in College Football, the Empires Map. They will not only win, they will nearly double the next highest team in every category.

GIF of the whole season so far

Stats!

Territories

1. Alabama- 40

2. Clemson- 33

3. Ohio State- 17

4. UCF- 12

5. Washington- 9

Counties

  1. Alabama - 1066
  2. Clemson- 563
  3. Ohio State - 546
  4. Oregon - 268
  5. UCF - 261

Population

  1. Clemson - 90,021,116
  2. Alabama - 66,486,769
  3. Ohio State - 58,966,973
  4. UCF - 32,921,294
  5. Washington - 18,393,638

Land Area (sq. miles)

  1. Alabama - 1,366,602
  2. Clemson - 483,253
  3. Oregon - 454,000
  4. Ohio State - 448,768
  5. Washington - 269,975

The Playoff also moved the 2017 map, a totally different map closer to consolidation

  • Bama defeated Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl to add the Sooners land to their kingdom.
  • Clemson’s defeat of Notre Dame put Clemson on the 2017 map for the first time since their loss to Syracuse in week 7 of 2017

All five teams on the Historical map still have games to play this year.

  • UCF will play LSU in the Fiesta Bowl.
  • Ohio State will play Washington in the Rose Bowl.
  • North Dakota State will play Eastern Washington in the FCS Championship.
  • Alabama and Clemson play each other in the CFP Championship.

The 2017 version will thus go two full years without fully consolidating, though it has at least one way it can do so in the 2019 regular season.

  • LSU, Washington, Eastern Washington, and Alabama win their last games this year.
  • Washington defeats Eastern Washington next season, then loses to Cal, who loses to Ole Miss. All the land is now in the SEC West.
  • Ole Miss and LSU don’t lose until they play Alabama. The whole map then belongs to the winner of Alabama-LSU.

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