For the past five seasons or so I have posted my college football playoff proposal. It's not perfect but I think it’s better than what we currently have.
This proposal is designed to have a playoff and keep the bowls intact. Basically, there is a 16 team playoff with each of the 10 conference champions plus six at-large teams being seeded. Using the College Football Playoff Rankings, the teams are ranked 1-16 and seeded just like the NCAA basketball tournament (see below).
Some of you may be incensed that Arkansas State, Bowling Green and San Diego State would be in the playoffs because there is no way in heck they are one of the best 16 teams in the country. Think of it this way though, they would be playing Clemson, Alabama, and Michigan State, thus giving those top seeded teams a reward for having a great regular season. Plus, every D-1 team is eligible for a national championship, no matter what conference they're in.
The higher seed plays at home since it's too hard for fans to travel around the country week after week if their team wins. Home games would sell out and generate a lot of money for both teams.
The first round would start on the first or second Saturday of December. The real, final, championship game would be held at a neutral location in large NFL-sized stadium (Miami, New Orleans, Dallas, Phoenix, LA) two weeks after the semi-finals. This season all CCGs would need to be played on November 28th. Rounds 1-3 of the playoffs would be played on December 5th, 12th, and 19th. The Championship game would be played on Monday, January 4th.
Under Conan's plan, only two teams per conference are allowed in the tournament. This is to make sure it doesn't turn into an SEC post season tourney. Also, it limits the possibility of rematches between conference members. However, if each P5 conference sends two teams to the playoff and each G5 sends one team, that means only 15 of the 16 seeds are filled. The last team in the playoff goes to the highest ranked remaining P5 team, or Notre Dame/BYU/Army if either team is ranked above the lowest ranked P5 in the playoff. This year that team would be Notre Dame (Notre Dame is ranked 8th and Oregon is ranked 15th, so the Irish would get the nod over 7th ranked Ohio State in order to avoid three Big Ten teams in the playoff. If Notre Dame were ranked lower than Oregon, then the Buckeyes would have been in.).

Here's what the bracket would look like if it were held this season:

1. Clemson
16. Arkansas State

8. Florida State
9. TCU

5. Iowa State
12. Oregon*

4. Oklahoma
13. Western Kentucky

6. Stanford
11. Houston*

3. Michigan State
14. San Diego State

7. Notre Dame
10. Ole Miss

2. Alabama
15. Bowling Green

*Oregon and Houston would be reseeded in order to avoid an Oregon-Stanford rematch

What about the bowls you ask? Under the Conan plan, the bowls would be ranked based on payout amounts. They would then be allowed to choose from the remaining teams not included in the tournament. The Rose Bowl would be the first to choose, the Camellia Bowl would be the last. The Rose Bowl, for example, could choose to keep the PAC 12/Big 10 tie-in or choose a different team from another conference if they want to. Again, in under the Conan plan bowls can invite any available team once the bowls above them have invited their teams. There are no conference tie-ins. All bowl games would be played during the 16 days between the semi-final and the championship game (between December 22nd-January 5th)
Some bowls need to die or be allowed to take 5 win teams. I prefer they die.

2013-2014 Bowls and Payouts per team (in millions) :
1. Rose unknown
2. Sugar unknown
3. Fiesta unknown
4. Orange unknown
5. Peach unknown
6. Cotton unknown
7 Citrus 4.25
8 Alamo 3.83
9 Outback 3.5
10 Cactus 3.33
11 Texas 3.0
12 Holiday 2.825
13 Tax Slayer Gator 2.75
14 Music City 2.75
15 Russell Athletic 2.28
16 Foster Farms 2.213
17 Sun 2.15
18 Pinstripe 2.0
19 Belk 1.7
20 Liberty Bowl 1.438
21 Las Vegas 1.35
22 Cure Bowl 1.35
23 Independence 1.2
24 Quick Lane 1.2
25 Heart Of Dallas 1.10
26 Miami Beach 1.0
27 Birmingham 1.0
28 Military 1.0
29 GoDaddy.com .750
30 Armed Forces .675
31 Hawaii .650
32 Poinsettia .612
33 St. Petersburg .538
34 New Orleans .500
35 New Mexico .456
36 Bahamas .450
37 Boca Raton .400
38 Famous Idaho Potato .325
39 Camellia 0.10
40 Arizona unknown