I’m for no bids at all. The ”best” 12 teams can be found by:
Use the BCS system. The AP and Coaches polls would consist of equal regional representation. In other words, break up the country into 5 or 6 regions, and each region has 8-10 voters for both polls. Then, the Harris poll can be used to crunch numbers and compare SOS, SOR, etc. Average the three polls and line them up in ascending order.
Also, I could get behind eliminating any team from consideration that’s not in a conference. If you happen to be Notre Dame, you‘re removed from the final rankings and every team behind you slides up. This is much simpler and eliminates as much subjectivity as is feasibly possible. If anyone has something that is less subjective, I’d love to hear it.