cases. An exception might be if you went on the road to beat a very-highly-ranked #2 team from the SEC or BIG (say, Bama or Georgia or Ohio St.) that didn’t get a first-round bye because they barely lost their CCG to the #1 team.

But I’d rather win the conference and get a 1st round bye than not win the conference and beat some middling team at home in a 1st-round CFP matchup.