College Football Playoffs, fixed

For many years (not quite 20 years), some online friends and I have been advocating a 16-team playoff for Division 1-AA/FBS college football.

It took the NCAA years to get around to having a championship, and then they did it wrong. They only had two teams involved. It wasn't until 2014 that they expanded to four teams. Not nearly enough. This year proves that, if nothing else.

Next year, they're expanding to 12 teams. That's still not enough, and that will come to light eventually, just as this year showed that four is way too few.

What my friends and I have been advocating for years is a 16-team playoff. And, it's simple. Every conference champion gets the top spots. The remaining spots are filled with the best teams that did not win a conference title. That covers independents (think: Notre Dame), and the best teams that did not win their conference, either because they lost the title game (such as Georgia) or didn't make the title game (such as Ohio State). And with every conference champion in, there would be no snub, such as what Southern Methodist experienced.

With that in mind, here would be this year's College Football Playoffs (fixed):

1. Michigan (Big Ten Conference) (1)
2. Washington (Pac 12 Conference) (2)
3. Texas (Big XII Conference) (3)
4. Alabama (Southeastern Conference) (4)
5. Florida State (Atlantic Coast Conference) (5)
6. Liberty (Conference USA) (23)
7. Southern Methodist (American Athletic Conference) (24)
8. Troy (Sun Belt Conference)
9. Miami, Ohio (Mid-American Conference)
10. Boise State (Mountain West Conference)
11. Georgia (At-large) (6)
12. Ohio State (At-large) (7)
13. Oregon (At-large) (8)
14. Missouri (At-large) (9)
15. Penn State (At-large) (10)
16. Mississippi (At-large) (11)

All ten conference champions get the top ten spots, and the six best non-champions get the last six spots. The seeding is by the CFP rankings, within that guideline.

Some may think it's silly that Liberty, Troy, Miami (Ohio), and Boise State are seeded ahead of Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, Missouri, Penn State, and Mississippi, but if they wanted a higher seeding, they should have won their conference. Conference championships should mean something, right Florida State?

The first round matchups would be:

• Mississippi at Michigan. SEC vs Big Ten is always fun.
• Penn State at Washington. This could easily have been a Rose Bowl scenario in the old days.
• Missouri at Texas. A Cotton Bowl matchup from back in the day.
• Oregon at Alabama. Bo Nix vs Alabama. Can he beat Saban again?
• Ohio State at Florida State. This should be good.
• Georgia at Liberty. Okay, not every matchup is an even matchup.
• Boise State at Southern Methodist. A good, but not great matchup.
• Miami, Ohio at Troy. Another good, but not great matchup.

The seedings, with conference champs at the top, will give seven good or great matchups. And while there is one that's a total mismatch on paper, you never know what may happen.

Highest remaining seed plays lowest remaining seed, second highest plays second lowest, and so on, until the championship.

This is how this year's college football playoffs should have gone. It makes the conference championships mean something. It rewards really good teams for nearly perfect seasons. It creates some really good matchups. It offers the chance for a true Cinderella story. This is college football as it's should be.