All that being said, if you suspend your skepticism, you'll LOVE this idea!!!======HERE IT GOES!======My impractical college football playoff idea follows suit with a great American tradition:  The World Series of Poker  Here's how it works.  Any college or university can BUY IN to the tournament by paying the entry fee.  The fee should be determined in such a way that it's high enough that basically only those who have a legitimate chance of winning would be willing to pay the price, yet not so high as to discourage a good number of teams.  (Maybe it's $1M, maybe $10M, maybe $500K, I don't know.)  Once everybody buys in, a random draw determines what branch of the elimination tree each team falls on.  If byes are necessary, there can be some sort of priority based on regular season record or whatever.  Once everybody's accounted for, it proceeds as a normal elimination tournament.  Winner is national champion  =But wait, there's more.  Just like the WSOP, there might be some teams that want a chance to get into the tournament but don't want to risk the whole buy in amount.  Enter SATELLITE TOURNAMENTS!