1. Expand the playoff to eight teams, featuring the five Power 5 conference champions and three at-larges.
2. Change the NY6 to the NY4, preserving the four most prestigious bowls: the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl. As far as I’m concerned, we can ditch the rest.
3. The eight playoff teams would face each other in the NY4 bowl games with traditional tie-ins, serving as the de-facto playoff quarterfinals. After the four bowls are played, the final CFP rankings would be released as was standard procedure in the pre-CFP era. These would be used to determine the semifinal seeding. For bowl games with at-large opponents, the lower ranked P5 champion would face the highest ranked at-large, and so on. For 2021, the “CFP Quarterfinals” would look like this:
- Cotton Bowl (Big XII champion vs at-large): #7 Baylor vs #4 Cincinnati
- Orange Bowl (ACC champion vs at-large): #12 Pitt vs #3 Georgia
- Rose Bowl (B1G champion vs Pac 12 champion): #2 Michigan vs #11 Utah
- Sugar Bowl (SEC champion vs at-large): #1 Alabama vs #6 Notre Dame
Assuming the four highest seeds win, #1 Alabama would host #4 Cincinnati and #2 Michigan would host #3 Georgia in the playoffs. The two winners play in the National Championship Game. If, say, Pitt upset Georgia, we would become the #4 seed and travel to Tuscaloosa for the semifinal.
Is it weird? Yes; you could theoretically get the #1 and #2 teams in the Rose Bowl. However, college football is supposed be a little weird. This system would at least add value to the bowl games and conference championships while returning some “tradition” to the postseason. It also would’ve included the eight highest-ranked teams in five out of the eight years of the CFP’s existence.
Now, tell me why I’m wrong.
2. Change the NY6 to the NY4, preserving the four most prestigious bowls: the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl. As far as I’m concerned, we can ditch the rest.
3. The eight playoff teams would face each other in the NY4 bowl games with traditional tie-ins, serving as the de-facto playoff quarterfinals. After the four bowls are played, the final CFP rankings would be released as was standard procedure in the pre-CFP era. These would be used to determine the semifinal seeding. For bowl games with at-large opponents, the lower ranked P5 champion would face the highest ranked at-large, and so on. For 2021, the “CFP Quarterfinals” would look like this:
- Cotton Bowl (Big XII champion vs at-large): #7 Baylor vs #4 Cincinnati
- Orange Bowl (ACC champion vs at-large): #12 Pitt vs #3 Georgia
- Rose Bowl (B1G champion vs Pac 12 champion): #2 Michigan vs #11 Utah
- Sugar Bowl (SEC champion vs at-large): #1 Alabama vs #6 Notre Dame
Assuming the four highest seeds win, #1 Alabama would host #4 Cincinnati and #2 Michigan would host #3 Georgia in the playoffs. The two winners play in the National Championship Game. If, say, Pitt upset Georgia, we would become the #4 seed and travel to Tuscaloosa for the semifinal.
Is it weird? Yes; you could theoretically get the #1 and #2 teams in the Rose Bowl. However, college football is supposed be a little weird. This system would at least add value to the bowl games and conference championships while returning some “tradition” to the postseason. It also would’ve included the eight highest-ranked teams in five out of the eight years of the CFP’s existence.
Now, tell me why I’m wrong.
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