I’m sure I’m not the first to suggest this, but as long as there are 5 major football conferences, do this:
All five major conference championship game winners qualify. F Notre Dame if they choose to remain independent.
Seed them 1-5.
Seeds 4 and 5 meet in a play-in game, bringing the total down to 4.
Those 4 play in a standard Final Four type format.
I think next year the field expands to 14...it will be a real playoff system. Though that’ll mean big fights over why #15 isn’t in the contest.
Mostly agree, however it should not be automatic for a 10-3 conference champion, maybe even an 11-2 if there are more undefeated or 1 loss teams “ahead” of them.