College Football Playoff is set, but what would other formats look like?

College Football Playoff, Dec. 29
Orange Bowl: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Oklahoma in Miami
Cotton Bowl: No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Notre Dame in Arlington

The College Football Playoff is set, but there was some (possibly just manufactured) drama leading up to the selection. A good number of pundits thought that Georgia should have been rewarded for only losing 35-28 to Alabama in the SEC title game and given the fourth spot. Still other analysts favored Ohio State over Oklahoma and Georgia. But in the end, the Bulldogs had two losses and no conference title, and the Buckeyes lost by 29 points to Purdue, which ended up 6-6. They also really struggled against Maryland and Nebraska, which had losing records. Georgia ended up No. 5 and OSU No. 6.

But fans are clamoring for a bigger playoff, and I think there should be one, too. Even before the current four-team format, as a kid I imagined a 16-team playoff with 10 conference champions and six wild cards. I would also be in favor of six-, eight, and 12-team brackets. But I am only going to look at two others here, one with eight teams and one with 16 teams.

Eight-team playoff

In this format, the Power Five conference teams (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, Pac-12) would get automatic bids. And then the other three could be filled one of two ways, in my mind. One would be the next best three teams are the wild cards or at-large bids, whatever you want to call them. The other would be the top-ranked Group of 5 team (American Athletic, CUSA, MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt) gets in, no matter where it is ranked, and then the next two best teams regardless of conference.* Then the eight teams could be seeded by the committee like is done for the NCAA tournament, or a computer could spit out a formula and rank them, like the old BCS. For simplicity's sake, in my first round, I'll use the CFP rankings to determine the matchups as opposed to making a rule that says conference champions have to be ranked ahead of at-large teams.

*There would still be controversy, which I'll show in a bit.

Here are the committee's top 10 rankings for reference: 1. Alabama. 2. Clemson. 3. Notre Dame. 4. Oklahoma. 5. Georgia. 6. Ohio State. 7. Michigan. 8. UCF. 9. Washington. 10. Florida.

I think the first round could be "bowls" and played at neutral sites just like the semifinals are now, or they could be played at campuses. Either way, I bet these first four games could get sponsors and make money. Here's what such a playoff would like this year, with UCF in:

No. 1 Alabama (SEC, 13-0) vs. No. 8 Washington (Pac-12, 10-3)
No. 4 Oklahoma (Big 12, 12-1) vs. No. 5 Georgia (wild card, 11-2)
No. 3 Notre Dame (wild card, 12-0) vs. No. 6 Ohio State (Big Ten, 12-1)
No. 2 Clemson (ACC, 13-0) vs. No. 7 UCF (Group of 5 best team, 12-0)
First four out: Michigan, Florida, LSU, Penn State

Wow. This would be an awesome first round. Alabama gets a test against Washington's defense. Oklahoma and Georgia have a rematch of their epic semifinal from last season. Notre Dame and Ohio State square off in a battle of bluebloods people hate. And UCF gets a shot right away at knocking off a big boy, a really big boy, in Clemson. Keep in mind, UCF is No. 7 and not Washington, which is No. 8, because I used the CFP's rankings.

And here's where the controversy would come in. The other main way to select the three wild cards could be just the next three teams in the rankings. So, as you can see above, that would actually leave out UCF and put in Michigan (wild card, 10-2). A riot would ensue. The only difference in the first round would be Clemson would face the Wolverines and not UCF.

Sixteen-team playoff

OK, here's the big one. The selections could be made with just the best teams being selected, but if it is this big, we need to get every conference champion in, I think. That leaves six wild cards. If you are a Power Five team and unable to get one of the six at-large bids, then you don't deserve to get in anyway. Again, the CFP rankings are being used for seeding. Note what expanding to 16 teams does: Michigan is in easily as a wild card, so it ends up as No. 7, UCF is No. 8, and Washington is No. 9. In this format, I think the logical location for the first round would be on campuses. So here's what that first round would look like.

No. 16 Northern Illinois (MAC, 8-5) at No. 1 Alabama (SEC, 13-0)
No. 9 Washington (Pac-12, 10-3) at No. 8 UCF (AAC, 12-0)
No. 13 Fresno State (Mountain West, 11-2) at No. 4 Oklahoma (Big 12, 12-1)
No. 12 Penn State (wild card, 9-3) at No. 5 Georgia (wild card, 11-2)
No. 11 LSU (wild card, 9-3) at No. 6 Ohio State (Big Ten, 12-1)
No. 14 Appalachian State (Sun Belt, 10-2) at No. 3 Notre Dame (wild card, 12-0)
No. 10 Florida (wild card, 9-3) at No. 7 Michigan (wild card, 10-2)
No. 15 UAB (Conference USA, 10-3) at No. 2 Clemson (ACC, 13-0)
First four out: Washington State, Kentucky, Texas, West Virginia

So, the wild cards are, in order, Notre Dame, Georgia, Michigan, Florida, LSU, and Penn State. That is a pretty epic bracket. And I don't think it would leave much room for whining. Washington State couldn't beat Washington and also lost to 5-7 USC. Kentucky lost to a 5-7 Tennessee team, 24-7. Texas has four losses, including to 5-7 Maryland and 6-6 Oklahoma State. And West Virginia lost to Oklahoma State as well. It's pretty easy to argue that the wild cards are the deserving nonchampions.

Well, that was fun. As you can imagine, the iterations are fun to play around with. I didn't even look at six- and 12-team formats, which would involve byes. And you could forget champions altogether and just use the top eight, 12, 16, etc. in the rankings. What is your favorite setup? I doubt many fans think the mini four-team tournament is big enough.