Would have lost even more than 2 or 3 games?

Your argument would make a little more sense to me if the top SEC teams would actually play good out of conference games on a regular basis.

In fact I think it's the SEC who have set the example of just how much there is to gain by not playing out of conference games.

In the NFL you could easily have a division winner with a record of 10-6 make it to playoffs ahead of a 12-4 team, and while it sounds like you would hate this, I really like it. This means that there is a clear and fair path for every team to make it to the superbowl, even if one team may or may not have been better then someone else who made it.

If you took wildcard teams over a division champion, then you really punish teams that had more parity in their division or who may have played tougher schedules.

I would take a 4 loss conference champion who played a tough schedule over a 2 loss non conference champion who never played anyone but their already slightly inflated conference foes.

With so few spots I think you just have to give the slot to another conference. It makes the winner more legitimate. Just my take.