i simply disregarded the "go back" options, as those aren't realistic. but if i were completely honest, i'd love a chance for bama to go back to the rose bowl again, so we'd have to go way the hell back for me.
for this topic, i chose 8 team, with home field rd 1.
i'd like the p5 to have championship auto-birth, with come caveats. if your champion isn't top 12, they're not in. sorry, i really don't want a 6-8 win teams in, regardless of "merit" (of which, imo, they have little to none at that point).
but, except for very unusual years, you'd have p5 champs auto bids, give 1 to any g5 in top 10, and then last 2-3 (depending on the caveats) are up for grabs. sorry notre dame, no special exemption. either join a conference, or be so good they have to pick you.
rd 1 is home field for top 4. played mid-late december (15-20th-ish dates) to kick off bowl season.
rd 2 is a rotation of top bowls (rose, sugar, cotton, fiesta, orange, maybe peach)
champ game is either rotation of major bowls not in rd 2 (similar to now) or city/bowl bidding process (similar to superbowl). i think i like the bidding, gives northern cities a chance to hold the game.
