There has never been a better time to start talking about playoff expansion in college football.

Nobody outside of the fans of the top four teams are happy with the selection committee’s choice of Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama.

Of course, the biggest sticking point is Alabama in the final spot as the Crimson Tide are not conference champions and the committee has said previously that winning a conference championship was important.

But ask the Big Ten about having its conference champion — Penn State last year and Ohio State this season — left out of the playoffs.

It is a shame that only four teams get into the playoffs since there are at least eight teams that are deserving this year and probably closer to 12.

So, I have decided to form a committee of one and seed an eight-team playoff that would have everyone on the edge of their seats to wrap up the college football season.

I do not agree with the four teams that the committee selected, but since they did, I will use them as my top four seeds.

The remaining four teams that I have selected will be seeded according to the rankings.

Ohio State, USC, Wisconsin and UCF are the four teams I have chosen to fill out the field.

I know a lot of people are going to complain about UCF being in the playoffs, but the Knights beat everyone on their schedule and that should be rewarded.

As the No. 1 team chosen by the committee, Clemson will take on UCF in first quarterfinal, which will be played at the Outback Bowl.

Oklahoma draws USC for its quarterfinal game in the Citrus Bowl, while Georgia faces Wisconsin in the Orange Bowl.

The final quarterfinal pairs Alabama against Ohio State in the Peach Bowl.

Auburn, Penn State, Miami and Washington just miss out.

All four teams have a legitimate claim to be one of the additional four teams, but unless we want to expand the field to 12 teams someone has to be left out.

If the top four seeds all won their games we would get back to the original pairings that the committee gave us on Sunday.

The semifinals would be played in the Rose and Sugar bowls with the winners advancing to the championship game at the Fiesta Bowl.

I have gotten pretty tired already of hearing about how the playoff is supposed to be the best four teams.

So how can you be one of the best four teams if you did not win your conference championship?

Others go on and on about the eye test, which means you select the top four teams based on how they look.

So how do you do that when everyone sees something different when they watch a college football team?

If the committee has set criteria, then it needs to stick to that criteria. If one of those items on your check list is winning a conference championship, then that should eliminate anyone regardless of whether they only have one loss.

That usually means you lost the biggest game of the year — you know, like Alabama losing to Auburn — so I am sorry, you will have to try again next season.

Starting with four teams was nice, but after a couple of years it has become clear, at least to me, that there needs to be more teams in the playoffs because there are always going to be more than four teams that deserve being in the postseason.

So, let us stop pretending that four teams is a good idea, increase the field to eight and have a real playoff for the national championship.

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com.