And the CFP committee gave rankings preference because they played in their CCGs.

8 conference games with 16-17 teams is silly. 9 conference games with 18 teams is silly. You avoid half the conference such that *SCHEDULING* will often determine CCG participants.

In the regular season, SMU avoided 4 of the top 5 conference opponents. Did not play Clemson (7-1), Miami (6-2), Syracuse (5-3), or Georgia Tech (5-3). Beat #4 contender Louisville by 7 and #6 contender Duke by 1 point.

Texas avoided virtually all of the SEC contenders - Tennessee (6-2), Alabama (5-3), LSU (5-3), South Carolina (5-3), Ole Miss (5-3), and Missouri (5-3). Lost to Georgia (6-2) at home and then again in the CCG. Their one good conference win was over 5-3 Texas A&M. The other 6 SEC wins were over teams with a combined 13-35 conference record.

Penn State avoided 2 of the top 3 contenders. Did not play Oregon (9-0) or Indiana (8-1). They also avoided the #5 and #6 contenders, Iowa (6-3) and Michigan (5-4). Needed OT to beat #8 contender USC (4-5) and barely survived #7 contender Minnesota (5-4). Lost to Ohio State (7-2).

The expanded conferences have created and will continue to create more nice-and-shiny win-loss records because of scheduling. This will continue to mean that CCGs will often not match the best teams in the conference.

So, you either need to expand the conference championships to require more games among the top contenders...or remove the CCGs and expand the CFP.