Same as last year. OSU was supposed to be a cake walk. Gumps/Garden gnome just let their ego get best of em.
With 6 the 2 top seeds would get a first round bye. It would probably put them at a disadvantage since none of the playoff teams would have played a game in almost a month. Seeds 2-6 would be able to shake the rust off before the winners moved to the second round. With 8 teams all 5 Power 5 conference teams would be in the playoffs along with 3 wild cards. This year Stanford would have got in as the Pac 12 champion and wild cards would be Ohio State, Iowa and the other would be the team the committee felt was 8th best. Probably North Carolina
8 teams is the way to go. Conference champs are automatic (but can blackballed if they have 4 or more losses) and Notre Dame and BYU are excluded unless they join a conference. 5 power 5 champs, 3 wild cards. First round is a home game for the higher seed.
8 teams never have a legit claim at the NC and hurts the regular season. Ideally it would be one team per conference, conference champs get first priority, no team outside the top 16 gets in, if conference champ doesn't get in (rated outside top 16) then highest rated team in top 16 gets in. Number of teams is flexible each year (see basketball and baseball playoffs for feasibility). Independents don't need to be blackballed, just need to meet top 16 criteria (same as major and mid major teams). First round is a home game, agree with that, with byes where necessary. People will whine because it's a little complicated, but it is much more respectful of the regular season. The best argument against is that higher seeded teams have a longer period to get fat and out of practice. You need a week or two to get past finals. I think I called for a 2 week space between games to allow for ticket sales and scheduling. Using AP poll... 1 1 Clemson - ACC Champ 2 2 Bama - SEC Champ 3 3 Michigan St - Big 10 Champ 4 4 Oklahoma - Big 12 Champ 5 5 Stanford - PAC 12 Champ 6 8 Notre Dame 7 14 Houston - AAC Champ SA 12/18 Houston @ Bama Notre Dame @ Michigan St Stanford @ Oklahoma F 1/1 Clemson v Bama Michigan St v Oklahoma SA 1/16 Clemson v Michigan St I think this is more teams than normal. But I could stomach putting in an 8th team, but they really haven't earned it on the field - that would be #6 Iowa according to the AP. You put Clemson v Houston, etc, in this case. The benefit is another home game for Clemson ($), another fan base involved in the championship discussion, and a more stable schedule (8 teams) for the playoff. You could say Iowa is as deserving as Notre Dame, I guess. I guess if Notre Dame gets in this year the haters would say they should be in a conference, no fair. I'd be interested to see if other teams would go indie (Texas?). There is a lot of security in belonging to a conference that most teams wouldn't want to give up. I'm more l'aissez faire on this subject - let other teams go indie if Notre Dame is getting unfair benefits. The one thing I love that some may not is Houston getting in. I'd say as conference champs they're more deserving than Iowa (and maybe Notre Dame). By letting in a mid-major, every team in college football can now believe they have a chance to play for the NC.
