If conference champs are taken and as an example this year, had NW beaten Ohio State and received an auto-bid, people have been saying no way should they have gotten a bid. But on the other hand, would Ohio State have deserved the bid, losing to them? Hypothetically? Do we want a tournament or do we want to reward the best teams with a shot at the title?
Take a look at Georgia and Alabama...if Georgia had gotten in this year, in my mind would have been insane. They just lost to Alabama on a neutral site, so you'd want Alabama to have to beat them again on a neutral-er site in the Championship? Why? They lost on the field of play, which is where it matters, and couldn't beat Alabama. We know that. What we don't know is how other highly ranked teams would fare against them. I get there being something to the eye test, but you just saw with your own eyes them losing. So they're not the best team in the country. Sorry got off on a tangent, but that's the kind of thing I don't want to see. I agree with 4 teams, we don't always know if we have the best team. How good is UCF? How good were they last year when they pasted the only team that beat Bama? We'll never know. That's what we need is giving shots to those teams that we don't know about. But 2-3 loss teams that have lost to the top teams already....why would we wan those? They had their shot.
A tournament is the only way to keep the committee consistent, they've proven time and time again that your preseason ranking, the league the you play and the name on your jersey is what really matters (basically $$$$). Having auto bids limit the human element out of this and lets things play out on the field. There is a reason the NCAA tournament is the most exciting event in sports.