(1) Not stupid, just bad at posting. Though I could alternatively argue that he is the greatest poster in the history of the internet. Whether you believe he's the former or the latter depends on your worldview, I suppose. (2) No. There could definitely be a situation where four NFL teams, at the end of the regular season, have almost equally valid arguments as being the best team. This is because of the amount of parity in the NFL, and the NFL has parity -- and is designed to produce it -- in a way that CFB never could.
No no no. You aren't a bad poster on the basis of any individual issues. You are a *fundamentally* terrible poster -- your terribleness at posting is multi-faceted and a bit nuanced. I might even be willing to call you a skillfully terrible poster, but let me think on that. You gamble?
Well, the reality is that the very best - and quickest - way to an expanded playoff (such as 8-teams), is to show that a 4-team playoff is somehow too restrictive, or otherwise insufficient. I'd say that locking out a 1-loss SEC runner-up, or a Big 10 / 8 champion would do the trick, and pretty quickly. The major obstacle was getting the Presidents to agree on any sort of a playoff at all. It won't prove anywhere remotely as difficult to expand it, now that it exists. I'd say we'll be at 8 teams within 5-7 years, if not before.
Who would have been the four teams, last season? That'll give some indication as to what it will look like, and who will get left out.
A four team playoff will certainly be deemed too restrictive. This was always going to be the case. And when it switches to an 8 team playoff, it will be deemed to restrictive. In my Utopian world, the question that people ask is: "is there a results-based argument that [team that got left out] is the best team in the country". And the answer will always be no, and there will never be talk of expanding to 8, and we'll all live happily ever after. In the real world, the question that people ask is: "is there a results-based argument that [team that got left out] was just as deserving of inclusion to the playoff as [last team that made it in]". And the answer will be "yes" more often than it will be no. And then one year team 4 and team 5 are going to be virtually indistinguishable from each other, and every media member and all his cousins - because they aren't particularly cerebral and need low hanging fruit so that they can bang out whatever number of words they need to bang out -- will write about how the playoff needs to be expanded to 8 teams. And because people are sheep, they'll read this and nod their heads up and down in agreement. Rinse, lather, repeat 10 years later with team 8 and team 9. The only thing stopping this cycle are practical considerations: # of games it adds, length of the extended postseason, etc. But this can all be avoided if I can just convince the world to ask the correct question. Believe me, I'm trying.
Eventually, I see the regular season being reduced and limited to 9 conference games, alone. That leaves you with 3-4 less games, and which can then be played in a tournament format. Once complete, and based on those conference results, you seed a 28+ team (I don't know how any BYES would work) tournament, higher seeds get 1st and 2nd round home games, the final 2 rounds or so are played at BCS Bowl sites, with a rotating championship game. The teams that do not make the tourney will be paired up to compete in the lesser and traditional bowl system.
I doubt people are going to be willing to give up that extra couple of games. they'll just add the playoff and force them to play more games. personally I don't want to see a playoff with more than 8 teams.
Just about to post this. Who cares who is deserving, it is all about how much cash will it put into the coffers.
The plan I describe here would satisfy and be supported by schools, conferences, bowls, television, coaches, AD's and would threaten to drown them all in sweet sweet cash. How do fans factor into this? They'll be a marginal consideration, if even at all. So, pretty much, business as usual.
Money is literally the only reason this thing is moving forward and was literally the only obstacle preventing such a system in years past. Someone has managed to convince those in power that this will be much more lucrative than the bowl system.
I almost want to see the whole system come crashing down around these ADs and Presidents who have created the current behemoth that is College Football. A big implosion would be just what the thing needs to bring it back to earth. But that is just me. NFL is heading that way, too, if they are not careful.