Since the BCS era began, 14 different schools have won at least one national championship.  And that group does not include either Penn State, Notre Dame or Oregon who were seemingly in the mix to win this year’s CFP.

Obviously virtually every major football program has ups and downs from year to year.

But it would seem that, in any given year, there will be a certain number that will be having a sufficiently “up” season to compete for a title.

Would that number be somewhere in the range of 5-6?  Perhaps 6-8?  Or maybe something else?

Don’t get me wrong: I loved the new 12-team format (even though I, like virtually all of you, disliked this year’s seeding process).  

I just wonder if there is any need to go beyond 12 teams.  And isn’t a first-round bye an appropriate reward for the true top 4 seeds?