re: So. I had an idea.

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IMO 16 should be the max and you could probably even whittle it down to 12 and do the autobids D3 style w/conference tiers where the P5 champs get autobids, the other 6 conferences get 2 or 3 autos, and then the rest of the slots go out to at large bids.

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This was my first plan. Only give two bids to the Group of 5, all power 5, and then 5 at large bids as it made a much more elegant bracket, but I decided against it for a few reasons. Mainly, weaker conferences like the Big 12 would be placed on equal footing with the rest of the Power 5. There would be no distinction between the grueling SEC schedule and the powderpuff two star armies along the I-35 corridor. I think the fight for a "top two conference slot" would be the biggest story line in college football throughout the year.

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I swear, I saw those brackets and the first thought I had was:

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For reference, this is what the FCS Playoff Bracket looks like. Aside from the bye to the quarterfinals for the top 3 seeds, it's pretty identical.

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That is just a 16 team bracket with 4 play in games. Its the double byes lack of uniformity that kind of ruin it for me.

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Well Mine is just a 16 team bracket, with a few more play in games, and a few extra byes. I know the lack of uniformity that we typically see in brackets is jarring at first and messes with our sense of symmetry, but there are 10 conferences. 5 of which are "power" conferences, and one or two of those(Big 12 and Pac-12) shouldn't really get that status some years. There are also Independents like Notre Dame.

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It looks fair to me, and we all know even though the current system is better than the BCS, it still fricks deserving teams.

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The problem is the playoff system isn't about picking the best team. Nor is it about being fair. It's about making money.

The only reason the BCS system way back when was agreed to was the huge payday it brought. Blue Blood teams in college football benefitted more in the old bowl system when multiple ones had a claim to the top prize every year and the bowl matchups did little to disprove those claims. They blatantly traded that ability for BCS money, under the correct assumption that just getting to a "BCS Bowl" would be an accomplishment equal to the old mythical and disputed national titles.

The problem with the 4 team playoff from the standpoint of those in charge has 0% to do with the system not being fair. They don't care about that. What they care about is the loss of prestigious games at the top. That is the problem they will fix when they eventually go to an 8 team system.

You see, in the old BCS system there were five games that mattered- the national title plus the four BCS games. Getting to a BCS bowl was a huge deal and therefore all five games got good ratings nationally. The single national title game was basically a two team playoff, but with only two teams participating we had to have some other metric that teams had a "great" season and the BCS Bowl metric filled that gap. It was a massive success.

In the new system they expected to expand the number of relevant games as the the two semifinal games rotates among six major bowl games plus a championship game, giving them seven total prestigious games. But it isn't working out that way, because the playoffs are sucking all the air out of the room. No one nationally really cares about the Rose Bowl or the Orange Bowl when it isn't one of the Semi-Final games, and the ratings are providing that. So instead of having seven games that mattered as intended with the change, or even five like in the BCS system, now we have three games that matter- the two semi final games plus the championship game. Propping up the other non semi-final games as being on level as the old BCS Game metric is failing, and ESPN plus the leaders of the sport will expand to fix that unintended consequence of basically killing the exhibition bowls once and for all.

Going to an 8 team playoff fixes the TV money/ratings problem because then you have seven games people HAVE TO care about because they are part of the "real" playoff system. That allows for the growth at the top that ESPN was going for when it signed off on the playoffs but they haven't gotten until this point. Blue Bloods will approve because the current standard is too tight. Today if you don't make the playoffs you didn't have a great year, so we went from 10 teams having a great year in the BCS system to only four teams having a great year in the playoff system. Going to BCS Bowls were once seen as a great achievement, and were a way to invigorate fanbases and point to some sort of agreed upon success in a sport where the national title is often determined as much by luck and timing as by how the games are played. With an 8 team system then 8 teams can have a great year, and for certain there will be a great team in every region (due to pretty much guaranteed spots for conference champions), which isn't quite the 10 great seasons the BCS system allowed but is more than the current system of four.

In fact if we ever get a 16 game playoff it will just be that math continuing to play out- ie ESPN looking for more games with guaranteed ratings and Blue Bloods looking for a lower bar to declare that a season was great. Fairness, what is right for the sport or what is right for the fans isn't even part of the calculation. College Football is a wild west of a sport, and to hope that eventually someone (who has that power is the question) will come it and "fix" it is just a naive to me as the Longhorns that expect that their realignment mistakes won't matter because eventually it will all consolidate into one super conference NFL style.

Being nonoptimal and unfair is part of the charm, or at least that is what they are selling every year.

And that being, my plan is the best thing that could happen to college football, and I want someone to make it happen.

To have a playoff of more than 8 teams, you have to shorten the regular season to 11 games and make the playoffs begin in December.

Their regular season is 10 games.