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First of all, I'm totally with you on the automatic bids. That sort of system makes sense when you're seeding a playoff with 64 spots, i.e. the NCAA basketball tournaments. It gives a dark-horse team in a weak conference a chance to prove itself in face to face competition, and with the broad inclusiveness, it doesn't leave out the really good teams who finish second or third in the major conferences just because they barely lost to one of the top ranked teams in the nation that happened to be in their conference. I don't know what the precise answer is. A playoff is part of it. Giving good teams in weak conferences a chance is a part of it as well. But, the automatic stuff has to go. The way things are, we could conceivably have a 6-5 team force out a 10-1 team for a major bowl game.
Unfortunately, I think this will be the last part of the current system even to be challenged, much less removed. Too much money is involved for the schools it benefits.
As for the schedules, I am not trying to be too hard on Auburn by criticizing playing teams like Kentucky. OU has Baylor and Kansas, neither of which is exactly top-notch competition. (I wish the Big-12 wouldn't have allowed Baylor in the conference. They do not belong, imo. Excellent school. Horrible football program, at all levels.) I'm just wanting to add some perspective. None of the top 3 teams have any major weaknesses, which moves us to focus on the minutia like who played who, when and where and by how much did they win. That gets tricky because it's not a 1:1 comparison. There are so many levels of variables that in the end, it means nothing but a thousandth of point in a computer ranking.
Anyway, just my rambling thoughts on the situation. I am an OU fan, FWIW, but I totally understand Auburn's position. I remember clearly the 2000 season when OU moved up through the entire Top-25. They were only able to do that because of their tradition and fame as a football program and because of the same qualities in the teams they beat that year. That's not entirely fair either, even if it is nice for the fans and the teams it benefits.
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