As some people may know, the NCAA Division I football playoffs structure has changed in recent years. The old format featured four teams in the playoffs, with the two highest ranking bowl games being played for the playoffs. The winner of each bowl game would then play each other for the BCS National Championship. The top four teams were selected by determining the average ranking for each team in different polls by media, coaches, and former players, as well as six computer models. But the new format for the playoff will include the five highest ranking conference champions, regardless of conference, and then the remaining seven highest ranking teams. The rankings are determined by the College Football Playoff Committee (CFP Rankings). Once the final top 12 is determined, they are reseeded by the CFP Rankings and given their new rank, regardless of whether they won their conference or not. The top four teams are then given first round byes, leaving the remaining eight to play each other to move on in the tournament-style playoff. It is win or go home for these teams.  

This format, in my opinion, works much better than the original one, if there is no bias from the committee in making the rankings. This makes Conference Championships important, but only if you are a successful team. For example, if a team has a 7-5 record on the year, they will not be ranked very highly, but they could still win their conference. So even if they win their conference, they may not get into the playoffs just because they were not highly ranked due to their record.  

Let’s pretend that Michigan is ranked 12th in the CFP Rankings, meaning that they should technically get into the playoffs, but say that Buffalo, who is the 16th ranked team, wins their conference championship game, and that they were the fifth highest ranked conference champion. This would give Buffalo an automatic bid into the playoffs, forcing Michigan out. Even if Michigan had already beaten Buffalo that year, Buffalo would still get the bid into the playoffs due to their conference championship win. Even though objectively, Michigan is in a tougher conference and may have had a tougher schedule. This is where I think the problem arises in the playoff rankings.  

So here is my solution, The College Football Super Playoff, ‘The Funnel.’ This system would include a ranking of all 136 Division I football teams in the country, placing them all into a mega-bracket based on their rankings. The top 16 teams would be given byes in the tournament. I would also give all conference champions the highest seeds. The top ten seeds would include the champions of the American Conference (AAC), the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), the Big Ten Conference (B1G), the Big 12 Conference (B12), the Conference USA (CUSA), the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the Mountain West Conference (MW), the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12) the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). This would not include the independent conference as they are not technically considered a conference and are not required to have a conference schedule. There is no championship for the independents, meaning they should not be awarded a top seed in the bracket. 

Let’s run our ranking scenario through the top 31 rankings and go through the rounds of the playoffs. The ten conference champions will be given byes, as well as the next top 6 teams. Teams ranked 2-15 will be given byes to the round of 32 and the number one team will be given a bye to the round of 16. (Note: These rankings were generated by a computer and are completely unbiased.) (* denotes bye) 

1. Ohio State 13-0 (B1G Champs) *, 2. Georgia 13-0 (SEC Champs) * , 3. Texas 12-1 (B12 Champs) *, 4. Florida State 12-1 (ACC Champs) *, 5. SMU 12-1 (AAC Champs) *, 6.Boise State 11-2 (MW Champs) *, 7. James Madison 12-1 (Sun Belt Champs) *, 8. Toledo 11-2 (MAC Champs) *, 9. Liberty 11-2 (CUSA Champs) *, 10. Oregon State 12-0 (Pac-12 Champs) *, 11. Alabama 10-2 *, 12. Michigan 10-2 *, 13. Penn State 9-3 *, 14. LSU 9-3 *, 15. Oklahoma 9-3 *, 16. Ole Miss 9-3 *, 17. Miami (FL) 8-4, 18. Clemson 8-4, 19. Tennessee 8-4, 20. Utah 8-4, 21. Kansas State 8-4, 22. Missouri 8-4, 23. North Carolina 8-4, 24. USC 7-5, 25. Washington 7-5, 26. Tulane 8-4, 27. Fresno State 8-4, 28. Memphis 7-5, 29. Air Force 7-5, 30. Cincinnati 7-5, 31. Iowa 7-5 

The other teams will have duked it out in the prior 3 rounds. Starting with 120 teams (All 136 subtracted by the top 16) and then going down to 60. Then from 60 to 30, then all the way down to 15. These 15 would then be put into a 31-team bracket with the 16 top ranked teams. In this scenario, Ohio State, the number one ranked team, would have a first round bye in this bracket. The other 30 teams would all face off, knocking the total down to 16. The bracket would then continue like a normal bracket with all teams playing and fighting for their spot in the National Championship game. I call this system ‘The Funnel’ because it starts so broad with 136 teams and narrows down all the way to the single National Champion. I feel that this concept would be much fairer to all teams. Winning your conference would help a lot, but you could still make a run to the championship as the lowest ranked team. This would be better for everyone and make a much more enjoyable experience watching the College Football Playoffs.