If there were a legit playoff...

[jpfalcon09]

Ten team playoff, all conference winners. Top six receive byes.

7) Fresno State vs. 8) UAB
9) App St. vs. 10) NIU

1) Alabama vs. 9/10
2) Clemson vs. 7/8
3) Notre Dame* vs. 6) Ohio St.
4) Oklahoma vs. 5) UCF

*Notre Dame replaces lowest ranked P5 conference winner which is Washington.

[Tony4BG]

I'm a fan of the 8-team playoff.

Power 5 Champs, highest ranked Group of 5 and 2 at large.

1) Bama vs 8) Washington
2) Clemson vs 7) UCF
3) ND vs 6) OSU
4) Oklahoma vs 5) UGA

[Antimob]

I like what former Buffalo AD and current UCF AD Danny White said: "It's not a playoff; it's an Invitational."

[Schadenfreude]

Ideally, I'd like to get to 16 teams and automatic bids for all conferences someday. That's obviously a ways off, though.

[Flipper]

Ten team playoff, all conference winners. Top six receive byes.

7) Fresno State vs. 8) UAB
9) App St. vs. 10) NIU

1) Alabama vs. 9/10
2) Clemson vs. 7/8
3) Notre Dame* vs. 6) Ohio St.
4) Oklahoma vs. 5) UCF

*Notre Dame replaces lowest ranked P5 conference winner which is Washington.

You'll never see the FBS agree that a playoff that excludes Georgia and Michigan but includes NIU and App State is "legit"

[daspollak]

Ten team playoff, all conference winners. Top six receive byes.

7) Fresno State vs. 8) UAB
9) App St. vs. 10) NIU

1) Alabama vs. 9/10
2) Clemson vs. 7/8
3) Notre Dame* vs. 6) Ohio St.
4) Oklahoma vs. 5) UCF

*Notre Dame replaces lowest ranked P5 conference winner which is Washington.

No way would they ever squeeze out a P5 team.

[Schadenfreude]

No way would they ever squeeze out a P5 team.

Every other level of college football accommodates automatic bids. The G5 doesn't have a ton of leverage, but it does have some. (This leverage seems to be how we ended up with a guaranteed G5 berth in a New Year's Day bowl game.)

If the next step is an eight team playoff, I honestly expect at least one guaranteed G5 slot *plus* an automatic berth in a great bowl game. That's not an unreasonable price to pay for (relative) BCS harmony. If the P5 wants to keep G5 ADs and commissioners from hollering about a rigged system, offering one automatic playoff berth in addition to what we have now is a pretty easy way to do it.

[jpfalcon09]

No way would they ever squeeze out a P5 team.

Every other level of college football accommodates automatic bids. The G5 doesn't have a ton of leverage, but it does have some. (This leverage seems to be how we ended up with a guaranteed G5 berth in a New Year's Day bowl game.)

If the next step is an eight team playoff, I honestly expect at least one guaranteed G5 slot *plus* an automatic berth in a great bowl game. That's not an unreasonable price to pay for (relative) BCS harmony. If the P5 wants to keep G5 ADs and commissioners from hollering about a rigged system, offering one automatic playoff berth in addition to what we have now is a pretty easy way to do it.

Fact is, the P5 still need the G5 to exist to provide them easy games in September, and the G5 need the cash. Any imbalance to that will throw college football in chaos. No way the P5 would want to have 10-11 games against programs on somewhat equal footing, would spell playoff disaster.

[Globetrotter]

Mike Leach take on this is brilliant.

[transfer2BGSU]

...it's the College Football Invitational. It's not a playoff.

[Falconwriter]

...it's the College Football Invitational. It's not a playoff.

Actually, it's the ALABAMA Invitational, and not a true playoff. But you could also substitute SEC for Alabama, and still be accurate.

It's a joke.

[Flipper]

How is it the SEC Invitational? SEC, Big 12, ACC and ND are in.

[mbenecke]

2 SEC teams were in last year. It would have been 2 SEC teams this year if Georgia has beaten Bama in the championship.

ND is basically an ACC team. It's basically an all-southern invitational.

[Flipper]

That's a streeeeeeeeeeetch....how does the Big 12 get shoe horned into the South?

[Falconwriter]

That's a streeeeeeeeeeetch....how does the Big 12 get shoe horned into the South?

Hmmmm...Oklahoma is a SOUTHwest school, are they not? And you can't deny there is a clear SEC bias that's been shown by the committee -- which probably is caving (at least in part) to all the screeching that comes from the considerable media affiliates of The Mouse (ESPN, ABC), along with CBS' SEC shills. Let's not be naive: ES(ec)PN paid $2.2 BILLION to create the SEC Network, and getting more teams in the playoff makes their product more valuable, and they can charge a higher rate for services to carry the network...and more for advertising as well.

The ideal playoff, in my mind, is 8 teams.

Give each of the P5 schools an automatic in for the champion. I know you could end up with a school winning in an upset...but it's highly unlikely. And if it does happen, there are 3 at-large berths available. The playoff committee would select those 3, in conjunction with a computer formula that would look at statistical strengths and weaknesses. It wouldn't all be done based on an "eye test".

Use a computer algorithm to seed the 8 participants, including such things as strength of schedule, best wins, worst losses, etc. and include the seeding of the playoff committee members as one element of the formula.

Then have the top 4 seeds host first round games, even if those games end up being in Columbus or East Lansing or South Bend, in December.

The final four can be played as it is now, at a "neutral" site. But allow places like Detroit, Minnesota and Indy to host the Final Four, along with Dallas, Phoenix and Florida sites being in the rotation.