Look, you correctly point out the reason for the BCS - the ridiculous lining up of Bowl Games (specifically offering Notre Dame a bid in October) as the main culprit of the pre BCS Bowl Era. One of the advantages of the pre-BCS was the traditional alliances that the Bowl games created - Big Ten - Pac Ten Rose, SEC Sugar, At large in the Fiesta, Big 12 Orange, etc. Those affiliations still exist today, but on a much looser scale.
To me, the best solution is tightening up these alliances and with 8 teams - have them act as quarterfinals for a playoff. Yes, every year the Big Ten and the Pac 10 will be playing in a quarterfinal in the Rose Bowl - but this will continue to keep the Bowl Games relevant while adding the kicker of the playoff system. The traditional conference alliances will remain, the "BCS" bowl games will be more successful than ever (there will be 7 of them, 4 quarters, 2 semis and a final) and a playoff system in tact. The only "negative" is that these 4 institutions of higher learning would have their student athletes play 1 more game than they already do, and 2 of those institutions will play 2 more games. Like the athletes, coaches or fans of those teams (or the President's and Faculty for that matter) really care.
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