the first-round byes for conference champs (other than the P2), so they gave instructions to the Committee to inflate BSU's ranking to get BSU the better seed over the Big 12 and the bye over the ACC.

Why this kind of rings true: the Committee absolutely could have ranked BSU 12th based on crappy SOS and winning close games against that crappy schedule.

Why it doesn't really ring true: BSU and Jeanty were media darlings, and the Committee seemed to care about that a lot. The Committee also basically followed the AP poll.

I personally think the first-round byes make a lot of sense if we're going to continue to have a 12-team playoff and conference championship games. If we get rid of byes, I hope the Big 12 and ACC get something favorable in return.