College football needs a playoff

I used to be one of those people that didnt want a playoff. While not always happy with the bowl system and really unhappy with the BCS, there hasnt been any playoff system suggested that didnt ruin what makes college football so great. What needs to happen is we need to find a comprise. Try to combine the best elements of both. So what are those?

What are the Pro's/Con's of the bowl system?

Pro's: Regular season is like a round robin tournament. To have any chance to win the national championship, you have to go into a season thinking you need to win all your games. This isnt like all other sports where you can clinch early, and then coast down the stretch. The best teams have to win all their games late in the season to have any chance. No other sport has that. (note - the stupid BCS has even ruined that on rare occasion. Nebraska in 2001 for example.)

Con's: Obvious. If three undefeated teams, one will get screwed. Auburn 2004.

What are the Pro's/Con's of a playoff system?

Pro's: National champion decided on the field and not in the polls.

Con's: If the playoff is too big, it makes the regular season and conference champions meaningless. In college football, on average, the best teams have 3 or 4 games against top 25 teams; games that they could lose. If you get a playoff system that allows too many teams, like a 16 team playoff, these best teams could lose half of their big games and still be eligible. For example, lets say USC and UCLA are undefeated come their late season matchup. In our current system, this is a huge game not just because its a rivalry but because their national title hopes rest on this game. You lose, you are out! But with a big playoff, this game becomes meaningless. Doesnt matter if you win or lose. Both teams would make the playoff. Same with Michigan-Ohio St. Florida-Florida St. Big12 Championship game. SEC championship game. etc... These matchups dont always have national title hopes every year. But when they do, they become unbelievable games. With a big playoff, that all changes. With a big playoff, the only games that become really important late in the year are the games with teams trying to become eligible. I dont want to see 7-3 Purdue play 7-3 Michigan St trying to make it into a playoff. I dont want to see 8-3 Missouri hoping to get in by needing 5-5 Oklahoma St to beat 7-3 Colorado who beat Mizzou earlier in the year. Who cares?!? I want to see undefeated USC and undefeated Oklahoma and undefeated Miami have to win their games down the stretch and then I want to see them play each other in a playoff!

So this is the playoff system I think college football should use. Its pretty simply. There needs to be a four team playoff with the four best conference winners. or an independant if deemed worthy. Thats it.

How do you determine who those four teams are? Use a selection committee like the college basketball does for their 64 team tourney. Even if you used a ranking system like the BCS, I dont think it would matter as much because the decision between 4 and 5 wouldnt generate the same negativity as 2 and 3 does. Not very often is the 5th best conference winner considered on par with the #1 team in the country. Only if there were 5 undefeated major conference winners would there cause as much uproar as we've seen so far in the BCS. And thats something that I dont think as ever happened. Not since many of the independants started joining conferences.

Having only four teams in the playoff keeps the importance of the regular season. The best teams still need to win their games late in the season. Those examples I used earlier would still have national title hopes. USC-UCLA. Michigan-Ohio St. etc.. If you had 6 or 8 conference winners then the nonconference games become meaningless. With just four, you are still rewarded for playing and beating tougher nonconference opponents. If you were fighting for the fourth and final spot in the playoff, your nonconference opponents and results would weigh in the decision.

Im sure there are some questions about the midmajor schools and independants like Notre Dame. I think the midmajors would have a much better chance than they would in the bowl system. A team like Utah in 2004 that went undefeated and blew out everybody would have had a great opportunity to make a four team playoff. Along with undefeated USC, Oklahoma, and Auburn, there was no more deserving team of that fourth spot than Utah. There were no other undefeated teams in the country. And no one that dominated their opponents like they did. Same for the independants. If they were deemed worthy, they would get an opportunity. Their record and strength of schedule would be weighed just like the other conference winners.

While obviously this wouldnt make everyone happy, there isnt any system that would. But I think this is the best combination of both. This system retains what currently makes college football so great but adds a playoff at the end to settle the national champion on the field and not in the polls.