Right now, that playoff committee chooses what four teams make the field. They can take many things into account, including a team's ranking, impressive wins, and who they lost to. They can think about injuries and off the field issues. They can think about tough road games and bad refereeing. They can look at the whole picture to choose which four teams they see as most deserving. The problem with this, in my eyes, is that everything is based on opinion. I would propose a system where most of the field is selected not by opinion, but by the champions of the five major conferences. You win your conference, you get into the playoff. It's just how it works in college basketball, and pretty much every other sport in the country. Leagues are made up of divisions; you win your division, you get into the playoff. The same theory should apply here. Many sports have wildcard or at-large playoff entrants, but in the end, teams who do not win their conference or division are never guaranteed a spot in the playoff. Just ask the 2008 New England Patriots, who finished 11-5 and missed the playoffs. Fair? Maybe not, but conference and division championships are the only way to guarantee a playoff spot.
The three remaining spots of the playoff would be filled with the three highest ranked non-champions. Yes, there is opinion in the creation of the poll, of course, but going this route will leave no question as to who will make the field. Win your conference, get in the playoff. If you don't win your conference, be one of the top three non-champion teams in the country, get in the playoff. There would be no guessing, no who-will-the-committee-select type questions. You then take the eight teams that made the playoff, and you order them based on their ranking, and that gives you the eight teams, seeded from 1 to 8. Done, let's play some football.
The 2016 playoff committee has just released its playoff bracket, which looks like this:
As an Ohio State fan, I am very excited that the Buckeyes are in the playoff. However, I'm not sure I would have given them the spot over Big Ten champion Penn State, considering the Nittany Lions beat the Buckeyes during the regular season.
Using the above described eight team playoff method, the playoff would look like this (I am using the AP poll for the rankings):
Conference Champions:
Alabama (SEC)
Clemson (ACC)
Washingon (Pac-12)
Penn State (Big Ten)
Oklahoma (Big 12)
At-Large Births:
Ohio State
Michigan
Wisconsin
This year's bracket would create a few oddities: all three at-large teams are from the Big Ten, meaning that four of the eight playoff teams are from that conference. In theory, there could be a rule in place that limits the number of teams from any particular conference. The bracket also creates a repeat matchup between Ohio State and Oklahoma.
However, I believe this eight team playoff provides the most straight-forward and fair way to determine a national champion for college football.
