Plus-One Playoffs: 4-Team Playoff Best Way to Maintain Bowl Structure

Yes, I would love to see a 16-game playoff system in college football.

No, I don't think that will be happening anytime soon. There are too many issues with that system that will need to be worked out over time.

How do the playoff seedings work? While we love to see things decided on the field, aren't we just shifting the argument about who deserves to settle things on the field down the rankings? Won't the teams just outside of the Top 16 complain that they deserved to make the playoffs? What would happen to conference championship games? Is it fair to the student-athletes to add a whole month of games to their schedules when schools traditionally have finals?

And what would happen to the traditional bowl games? Sure, they are now primarily money-makers, but let's not forget they are also a part of college football's pageantry and history.

With a plus-one system, you can have the best of all worlds, at least until the conferences can agree on how playoff seedings would work.

Here's how you do it: Each year, two of the four BCS Bowls—the Fiesta, Orange, Rose and Sugar—get the one-versus-four and two-versus-three matchup. Yes, Rose Bowl, that means you'll need to give up your traditional Big Ten versus Pac-12 tilt twice every four years.

If you aren't down, you can keep your tradition, and we'll give the Cotton Bowl the ratings that will come with the new system.

There will have to be some sacrifices made here.

The winner of each semifinal game will then meet in the BCS National Championship, which will be played in one of the two BCS cities that didn't host the semifinal games.

And as for all of the teams left out of the plus-one that whine and complain they weren't included?

I've got you covered, too.

The smartest thing I've heard all day came from Robert Smith of ESPN on SportsCenter, who noted that college football really needed to turn to a selection committee like college basketball has.

These wouldn't be sportswriters who may or may not have watched all of the teams they are ranking, or who may or may not have regional biases.

These won't be coaches who obviously have ulterior motives.

This will be a committee whose job it is to watch football games, study statistics and sit in a room and debate with their colleagues as to which team deserves to be ranked where, and why. If the commissioners want to combine their poll with the BCS computer rankings, so be it.

Listen, like anyone else I want to see a full-blown playoff system. But with so many issues to work out for that to take place, I think the system outlined above is a pretty good start to determining who college football's best team each year actually is.

Because I think we can all agree that the current system in place is flawed.

And, quite frankly, really sucks.

Hit me up on the Twitter—it's the best way to spend the last year of existence.