It was obviously a huge success and I disagree with the idea that 8 is too many. If you had had 8 teams this year it would've been OSU, Oregon, Bama, FSU, TCU, Baylor, Miss State and Michigan State. 6 of those 8 teams were either conference champs or co-champs and none of those teams had more than 2 losses. Considering we had a year in the BCS where a 2 loss LSU team won the title I don't think 8 teams devalues the regular season at all. You still essentially have to win your conference or be the next best team.

One thing that people are forgetting as well is that the Big 12 is still pretty unstable and there is a chance that conference realignment is not over. I could still see Texas, Baylor, OU and Oklahoma State ending up in the Pac 12 (which would then be the Pac 16) and that would be the end of the Big 12. At that point the Big Ten would pick up Kansas and Kansas State and the SEC would most likely pick up WVU and TCU. After all that ND really has no choice but to join the ACC in football and the ACC also adds Connecticut or Cincinnati. Iowa State and Texas Tech essentially get left out and have to join the Mountain West Conference.

At that point you have your 4 power conferences with 16 teams each. You go to an 8 team playoff and the conference championship games would be your first round. The semifinals and finals would remain the same.

If we had this system this year your first round would've been the following:

SEC: Alabama vs. TCU (due to realignment Alabama and Auburn would move to the East and Missouri would move the West)
ACC: FSU vs. GT
Big Ten: Ohio State vs. Wisconsin
Pac 12: Oregon vs. Arizona

This would allow the system to expand for 8 games and even satisfy the academic side by not even adding an additional game. Not only does it not devalue the regular season but IMO it enhances the regular season. You want to be in the playoff, you have to win your division. It also eliminates the possibility of a team being a National Champion without being the champion of their conference. Again it won't happen but it would truly be the best solution.

This post was edited on 1/13/15 at 10:18 am