Your Fellow FReeper Gator fan agrees totally.
Imagine if the top four in MLB, or NFL, or NHL, or NBA were chosen by a committee the day after the end of the season. It's like when Presidents were chosen in back rooms by authoritarians--oh, wait a minute...
This is an artifact of Division I football never having a proper playoff, as the NCAA has never sanctioned one.
Prior to the CFP and BCS, the “national champion” was essentially determined by *polls*.