what I'm saying is, if Alabama wants to play 8 home games and never leave the South, then they should NOT be rewarded because they "have a tough schedule". Who says their schedule is tough? One can only beat the teams on their schedule and if Bama ain't making trips to Boise, how can you legitimately say that Bama is better than Boise?

That ends up being a Utah beat BYU, BYU beat USC, USC beat Utah... game that gets confusing and makes no sense. All I'm saying, is that for "playoff" purposes, there should be a standings/ranking system. Otherwise you have an invitational tournament, not a championship tournament.