While everyone is spit balling, what about a six-team playoff where, just as in the NFL, the top two teams get byes. Conference champs from the Power 5, and the top-rated team from among everyone else (Notre Dame and the lower-tier conferences). Does that mean 2012 Wisconsin (8-5) gets destroyed in one of the first-round games? Probably, but it also means conference championships mean something. And it gives a real advantage to the teams that finish 1, 2, without excluding other conference champs who may or may not have played a tougher schedule (or so they argue).
It excludes Alabama this year, but again, that makes a conference championship more meaningful. I kind of like returning to an era in which the conference championship is everyone's goal. Given that Alabama won in OT, would it have been a sin if Georgia wins the title this year? Is there any real evidence that Alabama was "more" deserving than Georgia?
I'm sure I'm missing something, but I kind of like it. And just like the NFL system, have the first round the week after conference championships, the second round the week after that, and the championship on New Years Day.