If you go to 8, there will be some 3-loss teams in there. That's where things get really muddy.
Here's the top 25 going into the bowls last year. If you pick the top 8, you probably won't get a 3 loss team. If you went with conference champions plus 2, you could end up with some garbage 4 or 5 loss Big East team. It would be best to stick to 4 teams.
[TABLE="class: tablehead"]
[TR="class: oddrow team-23-99"]
[TD]1
[/TD]
[TD]
LSU (60)
[/TD]
[TD]13-0
[/TD]
[TD]1500
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: evenrow team-23-333"]
[TD]2
[/TD]
[TD]
Alabama
[/TD]
[TD]11-1
[/TD]
[TD]1418
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: oddrow team-23-197"]
[TD]3
[/TD]
[TD]
Oklahoma State
[/TD]
[TD]11-1
[/TD]
[TD]1400
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: evenrow team-23-24"]
[TD]4
[/TD]
[TD]
Stanford
[/TD]
[TD]11-1
[/TD]
[TD]1283
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: oddrow team-23-30"]
[TD]5
[/TD]
[TD]
USC
[/TD]
[TD]10-2
[/TD]
[TD]1179
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: evenrow team-23-2483"]
[TD]6
[/TD]
[TD]
Oregon
[/TD]
[TD]11-2
[/TD]
[TD]1170
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: oddrow team-23-8"]
[TD]7
[/TD]
[TD]
Arkansas
[/TD]
[TD]10-2
[/TD]
[TD]1148
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: evenrow team-23-68"]
[TD]8
[/TD]
[TD]
Boise State
[/TD]
[TD]11-1
[/TD]
[TD]1107
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: oddrow team-23-275"]
[TD]9
[/TD]
[TD]
Wisconsin
[/TD]
[TD]11-2
[/TD]
[TD]1038
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: evenrow team-23-2579"]
[TD]10
[/TD]
[TD]
South Carolina
[/TD]
[TD]10-2
[/TD]
[TD]946
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: oddrow team-23-2306"]
[TD]11
[/TD]
[TD]
Kansas State
[/TD]
[TD]10-2
[/TD]
[TD]829
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: evenrow team-23-127"]
[TD]12
[/TD]
[TD]
Michigan State
[/TD]
[TD]10-3
[/TD]
[TD]733
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: oddrow team-23-130"]
[TD]13
[/TD]
[TD]
Michigan
[/TD]
[TD]10-2
[/TD]
[TD]707
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: evenrow team-23-228"]
[TD]14
[/TD]
[TD]
Clemson
[/TD]
[TD]10-3
[/TD]
[TD]663
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: oddrow team-23-239"]
[TD]15
[/TD]
[TD]
Baylor
[/TD]
[TD]9-3
[/TD]
[TD]656
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: evenrow team-23-2628"]
[TD]16
[/TD]
[TD]
TCU
[/TD]
[TD]10-2
[/TD]
[TD]632
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: oddrow team-23-259"]
[TD]17
[/TD]
[TD]
Virginia Tech
[/TD]
[TD]11-2
[/TD]
[TD]591
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: evenrow team-23-61"]
[TD]18
[/TD]
[TD]
Georgia
[/TD]
[TD]10-3
[/TD]
[TD]566
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: oddrow team-23-201"]
[TD]19
[/TD]
[TD]
Oklahoma
[/TD]
[TD]9-3
[/TD]
[TD]386
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: evenrow team-23-248"]
[TD]20
[/TD]
[TD]
Houston
[/TD]
[TD]12-1
[/TD]
[TD]370
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: oddrow team-23-158"]
[TD]21
[/TD]
[TD]
Nebraska
[/TD]
[TD]9-3
[/TD]
[TD]363
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: evenrow team-23-2572"]
[TD]22
[/TD]
[TD]
Southern Miss
[/TD]
[TD]11-2
[/TD]
[TD]336
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: oddrow team-23-277"]
[TD]23
[/TD]
[TD]
West Virginia
[/TD]
[TD]9-3
[/TD]
[TD]199
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: evenrow team-23-213"]
[TD]24
[/TD]
[TD]
Penn State
[/TD]
[TD]9-3
[/TD]
[TD]129
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: oddrow team-23-52"]
[TD]25
[/TD]
[TD]
Florida State
[/TD]
[TD]8-4
[/TD]
[TD]49
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]