24 Team Regionalized Playoff

This model is most similar to the format used at the Division II level. My proposal breaks the 120 team FBS division into four regions using geography as the primary factor as to which region a team falls into. I've also done my best to keep the regions as balanced as possible in terms of competition. At the end of the year each conference champion is admitted into the playoffs and along with 3 wild cards per region. That makes 6 playoff berths per regions with a total of 24 teams playing for a national title. Every conference will have representation. A computer based ranking system will continue to be used to calculate the wild card teams and seed the playoff teams. The top two teams from each region are given a first round bye. But enough talking, I'll skip to the point and show you what such a system could look like at the FBS level.

Region 1 consists of the 12 ACC teams, the 8 Big East teams and the 4 currently Independent schools. These schools could keep their Independent status, but they would be grouped into Region 1 for playoff purposes.

Region 2 consists of the 12 SEC teams, the 12 Conference-USA teams and the 9 Sun Belt teams.

Region 3 consists of the 12 Big Ten teams, the 10 Big 12 teams and the 13 MAC teams.

Region 4 consists of the 12 PAC-12 teams, the 8 Mountain West teams and the 8 WAC teams.

This year, a playoff bracket would look similar to this:
Region 1
#1 Clemson plays the winner of the first round matchup between #4 BYU and #5 Notre Dame.
#2 Virginia Tech plays the winner of the first round matchup between #3 West Virginia and #6 Georgia Tech
Region 2
#1 LSU plays the winner of the first round matchup between #4 Southern Miss and #5 Houston
#2 Alabama plays the winner of the first round matchup between #3 Arkansas and #6 Arkansas State
Region 3
#1 Oklahoma State plays the winner of the first round matchup between #4 Baylor and #5 Michigan
#2 Kansas State plays the winner of the first round matchup between #3 Wisconsin and #6 Northern Illinois
Region 4
#1 Stanford plays the winner of the first round matchup between #4 TCU and #5 Utah
#2 Oregon plays the winner of the first round matchup between #3 Boise State and #6 Louisiana Tech.

The winners of region 1 and 2 would face in the national semifinal with the region 3 and 4 winners on the opposite side of the bracket. The National Semifinal games and National Championship game would be held at predetermined neutral sites.