I would be shocked if the premier division is that small for a couple of reasons. 1st that would mean that these teams are playing each other every week, and no way they want that many loses. They want to have enough of the Purdue's, Illinois, and NW on the schedule to build up their record. 2nd, the B10 and SEC schools that are already getting paid are not going to be willing to take less money for this to happen. The B10 schools are going to be getting $80 to $100 million per school by the time the new contract expires in 2027, no way EIU, Wisconsin and Rutgers are willingly going to walk away from that much money. You might convince Maryland and MSU to take $70 million to give extra money to Ohio St and Michigan, but no way are they going to remain at say $60 million while Penn. State is rolling in $140 million per year.The Big 12 gets less of the playoff cut, but is still allowed in. That would continue.
My preference is something like #1, but with the top cut being whittled down to 16-18 schools. Iowa wouldn't make that cut, and Nebraska might not either. That would allow the remaining 50+ former P5 schools to reorganize geographically.
You would see the top division look like this:
OSU
Michigan
Penn State
Notre Dame
USC
Oregon
Texas
Oklahoma
Florida
Bama
Georgia
FSU
Clemson
Tennessee
Aggy
LSU
Miami
Auburn
Then everyone else is left in another division that can organize along geographical and historical lines. Maybe have the remaining 54 teams of the former P5 organize into 6 9 team divisions. Our division would be something like this:
ISU
Iowa
Kansas
Kansas State
Nebraska
Mizzou
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Okie State
I would prefer this to basically any arrangement ISU's ever been a part of.
The number has to be in the 40's to ensure the big boys get wins and the smaller schools get their money, the question is will be in the 40's or in the 60's?