I'm sure you're aware by now that talks have been taking place between the commissioners of the BCS conferences (and the AD of Notre Dame) concerning the restructuring of the current system of determining a champion. News surfaced last night that the commissioners had come to a consensus on how they would like to see the system designed. The long and short of it is that they'd like the national champion to be determined by the winner of a 4-team playoff (the "Plus-One" game, if you will), and they want the teams included in that playoff to be determined by a selection committee, who will take into account factors such as conference champions and strength of schedule. I don't mind this system, save for one lone point.
That they will "take conference champions into consideration" suggests that teams who are not conference champions will be eligible to play for the national championship, just as Alabama did this past January. I disagree with this. My simple theory is that if you aren't crowned the best in your conference, how can you be crowned best in the league? This issue stems from the nature of football not allowing for a tournament similar to that of college basketball. I feel like if only 4 teams can be named eligible for the national championship at the end of the season, those slots should be reserved for teams who won their conference, based on picks by a committee. It just seemed silly and unreasonable to me that Big XII (or so) Champ Oklahoma State did not get a shot at the title, while SEC West runner-up (and prior victim to SEC Champion LSU) Alabama did. We all know how the game ended, and I won't fight that Alabama was the best team in the country last year, but it's the principle of the matter that I really don't agree with.
Maybe this makes me sound like a moron, like I'm way out of line here. Maybe you agree with me and we can all go riot together somewhere (because seriously you guys, this really, really important and stuff....seriously). Either way, I want to hear your thoughts. What works with this system that's proposed? What doesn't work? Is it perfect? Is it hogwash? Let's talk a little CFB philosophy.