and i have a way to do that in 5 rounds with a system that takes account of all of the weirdness that's evolved since 1978
copypasta from wulaw/9-3
+++
below is the new australian Final 10 system which debuts next year
in the case of the cfp, it would become a Final 16 system - double the bracket - it takes 5 rounds of games and requires KILLING THE BOWLS
the committee still seeds the field, but there is the possibility of a double-chance for the seeded top 8
also, there is a new domer (& uconn) rule: they can't play in a qualifying final and they can't host in the first round - they can be seeded no higher than 9th after "championship saturday"
just like this year where 2 teams are going to automatically 'move up' to 11 & 12 on sunday, undefeated and #1 domer automatically moves down to #9 for final seeding
the first week labeled "wildcard" would be all of the CCGs ++PLUS++ 8 'wildcard' play-in games in each p4 league where 3 hosts 6 and 4 hosts 5
3/4/5/6 winners ARE NOT guaranteed a spot in the 16-team field but can make their case with the extra data point
P4 CCG winners get to host a Qualifying Final with the opportunity to WIN against another top 8 seed and EARN a bye the following week & the losers of these games (1/8 2/7 3/6 4/5) are not out - the aussies call this "the double chance"
it is therefore possible for a CCG loser to win away from home playing a CCG winner, and if the CCG lower wins the 1st round game on a CCG winner's camput, the CCG loser advances AND earns a bye, while the CCG winner that lost it's 1st round game at home IS STILL ALIVE
this INCREASES the value of the CCG results but DOES NOT penalize the outcome for CCG losers
i've never seen a system proposed that does both of these...
rephrased....
***ONLY*** the CCG winners and 4 other teams (seeded 5/6/7/8) get the double chance - a CCG loser could get a double chance - a CCG loser could also be seeded 9-16 and a non-CCG participant could be seeded 5/6/7/8 and get the double chance
NOTE that only the winner of 4 of the 8 games in the first round earn a bye and get to skip a week - the loser of 4 of the first 8 games eliminated
seeding:
week 1: the Qualifying and Elimination Finals with the 16-team field, no guarantees beyond the P4 CCG winners and losers (8 teams) getting in
P4 CCG losers get seeded with the rest of the field - a conference play-in 3/4/5/6 winner might nab one of the qualifying finals and play away with a double chance, or they might be seeded 9/10/11/12 and host a playoff game but if they lose they are out
the 3/4/5/6 'championship saturday' winners might get in to the field - but they might not - although a 3/4/5/6 winner is likely to get in
8 ccg winners/losers and 6 of 8 winners from the 3/4/5/6 'playoffs' would leave 2 slots reserved for the G5 and/or domer in the final 16
there would be 12 games on championship saturday - it would be like new year's day in the 20th century
this system gives 24 teams meaningful december football, and 14-16 of them are going to be playing in round 1
KILL THE BOWLS
it's no longer the "Football Bowl Subdivision"
remember - double this graphic - and the 'wildcard' round is the 3/6 and 4/5 intra-conference final data-point games on championship saturday - and the ccg games are themselves not shown either - the wildcard round is 'championship saturday'