An eight-team playoff would be fun and give more teams a shot at competing for the national championship. It is, however, a stupid, terrible, unfair format if Power Five conference champs receive an auto-bid but conference divisions aren't eliminated.
Northwestern clinched the Big Ten in Week 11 with a win over Iowa and losses by Purdue and Wisconsin. The Wildcats earned the Big Ten West title, but they don't deserve a shot at the playoff after losing to Akron and Duke in non-conference play. If the College Football Playoff moves to eight teams, conferences must eliminate divisions to avoid giving teams like this year's Northwestern a shot at the playoff if they were to beat the Big Ten East champion.
Listen to this week's episode of The Hot Route:
(Note: I misspoke about Northwestern's loss to Michigan. They didn't get crushed by the Wolverines.)
