the previous access. The previous access was a one-off championship game. So that access is 50% worse than the 4 team playoff.

Before that, there was not even guaranteed access for the top 2 teams. The teams just played in conference-chosen bowl games around the country, mostly based on regional considerations.

BYU played in like the 10th ranked bowl game in 1984 the year they were ranked top 2 or 3 before their bowl game. That is not access to the top games.

So yeah, a playoff with 4 teams is better access than a playoff with 2 teams or no playoff at all.