The NCAA and ESPN just signed a multi-year, multi-million BCS deal, so we're stuck with the current system for the foreseeable future. Still, I'm not going to let today's reality constrain tomorrow's possibilities: when college football playoffs inevitably come, here's what 10 years of history says they should look like:

A Modest Playoff Proposal

What people are starting to realize, after ten years of evidence, is that the fundamental problem with the BCS isn't the formula -- the present formula is the best I could imagine at choosing the same two teams as general consensus dictates. The issue is that some years there are exactly two deserving teams, but some years there are one, some years there are three or four or five, and some years, like this year, there are nine deserving teams. Any system that decides ahead of time how many teams are postseason worthy is bound to be imperfect.

I think, therefore, the absolute ideal playoffs would be a system with no predetermined size. Rankings wouldn't matter either -- imagine how absurd it would be if No. 11 New England made the NFL playoffs with a worse record than No. 13 Baltimore. Like every professional sport, the only factor that would matter is record. However many teams were tied atop the standings would make the playoffs. The beauty is in the simplicity. 

If there were only two undefeated BCS teams, that'd be your championship. If there were no undefeated teams and five one-loss teams, that'd be your championship. If there were only one undefeated team, it'd be your champion, no playoffs necessary, no matter how many one loss teams there were. However many teams were in the playoffs would be seeded on schedule strength and play it out over the subsequent weeks.

Teams from non-BCS conferences would be assessed a one-loss penalty, so this year Utah and Boise State would make the postseason on the same footing as all the one-loss BCS teams. The threat of that one-loss penalty and that seedings would be done on schedule strength would also ensure that BCS conferences stay tough and BCS-conference teams play tough out-of-conference schedules.

Some would argue that it would be logistically difficult to not know how many playoff games (if any) would be needed ahead of time, but if pro baseball and pro basketball can have as-necessary games that sometimes never get played, why couldn't college football?

Plus, playoff detractors talk about the sanctity of the regular season making college football special (which I completely agree with). I just care more about Oklahoma-Texas Week 5 than Dallas-Green Bay, because I know the latter two teams can still win the championship with a loss, and the first two may well not. Playoff detractors rightfully point out that if we create an eight-team playoff such that a team could lose a game or two and still get in, you're devaluing the meaning of the regular season.

With a flexible playoff structure, however, literally every game would matter. Say any of the one-loss BCS conference teams had lost one fewer game this year. They'd be our undefeated, undisputed national champions, no playoffs necessary. Say any of those teams had lost one more game this year -- they wouldn't be in the playoffs.

Finally, just look at the history. Here's how many teams would have made an ideal playoff system each year:

2008: 9. In: One-loss Oklahoma, Florida, Texas, Alabama, USC, Texas Tech, Penn State, undefeated Utah and Boise State. First team out: two-loss Ohio State

2007: 3. In: One-loss Ohio State, one-loss Kansas, undefeated Hawaii. First team out: two-loss LSU

2006: 1. In: Undefeated Ohio State. First team out: one-loss Florida

2005: 2. In: Undefeated USC, undefeated Texas. First team out: one-loss Penn State

2004: 3. In: Undefeated USC, undefeated Oklahoma, undefeated Auburn. First team out: one-loss Cal

2003: 1. In: One-loss Oklahoma, one-loss USC, one-loss LSU. First team out: two-loss Michigan

2002: 2. In: Undefeated Ohio State, undefeated Miami. First team out: one-loss Iowa

2001: 1. In: Undefeated Miami. First team out: one-loss Nebraska

2000: 1. In: Undefeated Oklahoma. First team out: one-loss Miami

1999: 2. In: Undefeated Florida State, undefeated Virginia Tech. First team out: one-loss Iowa

1998: 1. In: Undefeated Tennessee. First team out: one-loss Florida State

In 11 years, we would have had a nine-team playoff, two three-team playoffs, three two-team playoffs and five years with no playoffs at all. Obviously there's no magical size for a playoff field that will work every year -- and by installing such a playoff we'll just be passing along the fundament problem of the BCS onto the next generation, an inflexible playoff size.

Let the seasons speak for themselves, and let's install a flexible playoff system.

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