Quote:I think 4 is enough for your stated goal assuming you really mean "most deserving" team in college football. Best is trickier because the best team doesn't always win. However, looking at #5 and #6, have they really made a case that they've performed the best all year? Most of the time 1 or 2 teams can make a case. Often a 3rd or rarely a 4th team can make a case if there are no undefeated teams. Beyond that you're looking at undefeated midmajors, 1-loss big teams with weak schedules or 2-loss teams. You can make a case those teams deserve a playoff spot. You have a hard time making a case they deserve to be #1 which is what the criteria was intended to be for both the BCS and the playoff.

 

I don't think 4 spots is quite enough. Look at 2012. Going into the postseason, you had:

 

12-0 Notre Dame

12-0 Ohio St.

12-1 Alabama. Loss at home to Texas A&M

11-1 Oregon. OT loss at home to Stanford.

11-1 Florida. Loss at home to Georgia.

11-1 Kansas St. Loss @Baylor.

11-2 Stanford. Losses @Notre Dame and @Washington. Beat Oregon on the road, won Pac 12.

 

 

Going into the postseason, I think that all of those teams had legitimate best-team-in-the-country arguments. Luckily, there was no undefeated mid-majors because that would have made a 4 team playoff even more sticky.

---