The next good reason I hear for not expanding the College Football Playoff tournament to eight teams will be the first.

Like many others, I’ve felt this way from the time the CFB was announced as a party of four and then got underway as such two years ago. It’s progress, but there’s still a ways to go.

Yes, we were very grateful for the miracle of escape from the flawed BCS system of just a national championship game matching up teams ranked first and second mostly by computers.

Even that was an improvement itself. Remember before 1998, when the national championship was decided by the polls, that of the coaches and — now, this is incredible — ink-stained wretches like yours truly who voted in the Associated Press poll? Sometimes there’d be a split national championship.

We finally got our playoff … but the fact that it is just four teams instead of eight makes about as much sense as the Oahu rail project stopping at Middle Street.

How can you have a national championship tournament of four teams when there are five major conferences?

Also, shouldn’t there be (realistic) access for teams from the Group of Five conferences (what we used to call mid-majors)? Instead of that, the have-nots got the consolation prize of a guaranteed slot each year in one of the big-money bowl games … never mind that Utah (pre Pac-12 membership), Boise State, Hawaii, Northern Illinois and others were already crashing the party to that degree under the BCS system.

One argument I’ve heard for staying at four is precisely that … arguing. The premise is that all the debate about criteria the selection committee uses to decide which teams will be left out is good for college football.

Continue with a flawed system because it stimulates discussion?

Well, if you like whining, you would still have enough with an eight-team tournament. But that’s all it would be, rather than the current (sometimes) righteous indignation.

In this week’s rankings the committee has Oklahoma at No. 9. Does anyone other than citizens of Sooner World really think it would have a better chance of beating No. 1 Alabama than No. 5 Michigan would?

There would also be plenty of discussion about seeding … especially if Alabama continues its dominant ways.

Here’s another bad point used against an eight-team tourney: The “kids” would miss too much school. Who goes to school during winter break? Also, the Football Championship Series division (what used to be called I-AA) plays a five-week, 32-team tournament. And what of March Madness? Some would say the madness is the amount of schooling college basketball players miss in their arduous schedule that spans seven months and both semesters for the top teams.

The way things stand now, there’s nearly a month between football conference championship games and the national semifinals.

Then there’s this irrational fear of empty stadiums some claim would be caused by another layer of playoff games. That wouldn’t be a problem if the four first-round games were played at the home site of the better-seeded teams.

Here’s what the first-round matchups would have been last year if the top eight teams, as ranked by the committee, played: Notre Dame (8) at Clemson (1), Ohio State (7) at Alabama (2), Stanford (6) at Michigan State (3) and Iowa (5) at Oklahoma (4).

And in 2014: Michigan State (8) at Alabama (1), Mississippi State (7) at Oregon (2), TCU (6) at Florida State (3) and Baylor (5) at Ohio State (4).

These would obviously be different if a midmajor team was required to be included. Undefeated Western Michigan is the highest ranked team by the committee this week at No. 17, with Navy at No. 19.

There will likely be a shakeup after the conference championship games Saturday, but here is what an eight-team first round would be based solely on this week’s committee rankings: Colorado (8) at Alabama (1), Penn State (7) at Ohio State (2), Wisconsin (6) at Clemson (3) and Michigan (5) at Washington (4).

That would still leave out late bloomers USC and LSU, a midmajor and the entire Big 12 … which brings us to the next question: Sweet Sixteen, anyone?

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quickreads.