It is a mix picture on the top 4 seeds. Two clearly deserved the seeds (Georgia and Oregon). The other two only deserved to be in the playoffs. But all four seeds lost, so there is a question if a bye is a good thing.
With that said, I think conference champions should be rewarded. So, this is how I would change things.
1. Get rid of byes. Expand to 16 and guarantee the top 4 conference champions a home game. So, this year’s seeding (1-8) would be Oregon, Georgia, Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Boise State and Arizona State all with home games. The four additional teams would be Alabama, Miami, Ole Miss, and South Carolina but they would all jump Clemson. Boise State and Arizona State get promoted over Tennessee and Indiana.
2. Reseed after first round the remaining 8 teams. This allows the committee to use the first game of the playoffs to promote or demote teams based on performance.
3. For the four bowl games, allow the first three seeds the ability to choose the bowl in order of seeding. (Let’s just say the first 8 seeds won and the committee kept the order). Oregon would probably pick Rose Bowl vs Arizona State. Georgia chooses Peach vs Boise State. Then Texas picks Sugar against Ohio State. That leaves Penn State vs Notre Dame in Fiesta.
4. The committee reseeds again and the top seed gets to choose venue. Assuming Oregon and Georgia would have won with Ohio State and Notre Dame pulling the upset, Oregon would probably maintain the upper seed and pick the cotton bowl against Notre Dame. Georgia meets Ohio State in the Orange.
The outcome could have been the same, but it removes the issue of byes while still rewarding conference champs with a home game. Also, there would have been less crying about South Carolina beating out BYU for the last spot.
