Forget the politics and the college presidents that stand in the way of a major college football playoff.

Pretend there was no bowl system to protect. No unbreakable bond between the Big Ten, Pac-10 and Rose Bowl. No Bowl Championship Series.

Sounds like paradise to many fans.

If big-time college football could have a playoff, and boy could it use one this season, here's a good way to do it.

Eight teams. No more. No less. The last thing anybody wants is to ruin the best regular season in sports. A playoff would take the win-or-else edge off some regular season games, but not much.

There are 120 teams in the Bowl Subdivision. If only eight get a chance to play for a title after the season, there will still be very little margin for error.

Especially because six of those eight spots will go the champions of the big six conferences: the Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Atlantic Coast Conference, Southeastern Conference and the Pac-10.

The other two spots are wild cards to be determined by some type of formula comparable to what's used in the BCS standings, a combination of polls and computers. One suggestion: Put extra weight on the nonconference schedule for teams vying for an at-large bid.

Making some educated guesses about what lies ahead — just for the fun of it let's say Oklahoma beats Missouri in the Big 12 title game — here's what the first round matchups could look like:

No. 1 West Virginia (Big East) vs. No. 8 Hawaii (at-large)

No. 2 Ohio State (Big Ten) vs. No. 7 Oklahoma (Big 12)

No. 3 LSU (SEC) vs. No. 6 Virginia Tech (ACC)

No. 4 USC vs. No. 5 Georgia (at-large)

That leaves Missouri and Kansas out, which should provide lots of fodder for debate for the week or two leading up to the first games.

If only it were this simple in the real world.

Heisman Race

Darren McFadden, Tim Tebow, Chase Daniel and Pat White are looking like the guys who'll be headed to New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation on Dec. 8. It wouldn't be surprising if Colt Brennan got there, too.

It took a while for the Heisman race to develop, but down the stretch it has heated up.

All five were brilliant last weekend in leading their teams to victories.

Tebow has had an unprecedented season, becoming the first major college player to have at least 20 rushing TDs and 20 touchdown passes. He'd be the first sophomore to win the Heisman.

McFadden has rebounded from a sluggish October with a stellar November. He tied an SEC-record with 321 yards rushing against South Carolina and led the Razorbacks to a 50-48 triple-overtime upset of LSU last week. His numbers are better than last year's when he was the Heisman runner-up.

Daniel and White have their teams a win away from the national title game and were at their best Saturday.

Daniel went 40-for-49 for 361 yards and three TD passes in a 36-28 victory against Kansas. White ran for 186 and accounted for three TDs in a 66-21 win over UConn.

Brennan kept Hawaii perfect with 495 yards passing and five TDs in a 39-27 win over Boise State.

Tebow and McFadden have the advantage for now, but the other three all have one more game to make a case.