Exactly. And this is why the 4-team "playoff" has been a travesty from the beginning.
Almost 20 years ago, I agreed with
Dan Wetzel's calls for a 16-team playoff that included all the conference champions - yes, even the so-called "lesser" conferences - and a number of at-large teams. AS he put it,
That was 2009. And what did we get? A compromise, that watered down the whole concept in the interest of the bowl money.
And in so-doing, may have killed what made college football great.
With a playoff with all the conference winners (and a number of at-larges) represented, it would be nearly impossible to argue that the winner wasn't the true champion, because the results would be laid out on the field. You want to win the natty? Win your conference in the regular season.
You could choose the at-large teams by committee, or by computer, or by straw poll of coaches and/or journalists. There would always be someone who was "left out," sure...but with a field that size, there would be a strong argument that they simply didn't do enough on the field to get in.
Now, next year we move to a 12-team playoff, and I'm thankful for that. But of course there's an asterisk - we've added byes for the teams who are deemed the "best." Yet again, we're putting a group of people in a room and letting them decide which 4 don't have to prove something in a game. The system will be better, sure - but we're still giving advantage based on the same human biases that got us to this point today.
For a game that supposedly is about players fighting it out on the gridiron, we sure do bend over backwards to avoid settling things on the field.