Fixing it will require a bigger system. But eight teams, or 12? Guaranteed berths for the five so-called power conferences: the Southeastern, Atlantic Coast, Pacific-12, Big Ten and Big 12? What about Notre Dame? Will there be a berth for teams outside the Power 5? How can the Rose Bowl — which drew as many viewers as Alabama and Cincinnati — be placated to move off its coveted New Year’s Day time slot? And how might a new N.C.A.A. constitution that has yet to take shape play into any changes?
When those questions are resolved — and with the additional games worth an additional $500 million each year, they will be resolved — there will be one constituency that is along for the ride: the players.
When the N.F.L. bumped its regular season to 17 games, it was required to bargain with the players to do so. In college football, a new system is likely to leave open the possibility that a champion will need to play 16 games, the latest extension of a season that has grown from 12 games over the last 30 years, raising questions about the players’ well-being. (Ivy League presidents have long resisted extending their season beyond 10 games because of health and safety concerns.)
Ramogi Huma, an advocate for college athletes, points to the absence of uniform concussion standards — like the ones the N.F.L. has adopted — as evidence of how little consideration is given to protecting players. This despite the dangers of brain injuries being brought to the fore by the suicide three years ago of Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski, who was shown in an autopsy to have extensive brain damage associated with head trauma.
“How many conference commissioners are rallying the troops to make sure health and safety concerns are addressed?” Huma said. “Zero.”
So as the playoff commission hunkered over the weekend, plotting but saying little, the ones at the center of the enterprise were left, metaphorically at least, alongside the fans who traveled here for the championship: out in the cold.