A 16 team playoff is only stupid if you are a team that regularly rides the polls to one of the 2 champ game slots(aka FSU). Why give up the free ride and enhanced chances over other teams for a playoff that would force you to perform on the field. Much easier to smooze the writers for a higher ranking than to actually have to earn it(and I'll admit, Texas also benefits from this pre-season, they have often been overrated). Just ask Washington about last year. And don't tell me that Virgina Tech was the second best team in the country a few years ago. But the polls are a joke. Nothing short of a playoff will prove who is the best, it will only be a subjective popularity contest that will prove who is best among the two prom queens chosen to participate in one game.
Face it, the big conferences make the game what it is. Why should they reward their underachievers with a shot at another conference's top team when THEY haven't earned it on the field?
With a goofy 16 team playoff, you'd get an NFL look-a-like. A 9-1 team with a playoff spot locked up would rest their good players in the last game thereby screwing the fans who buy the tickets. Not gonna happen.