The day this happens College Football's Regular season just becomes like every other sport and less relevant. Can't wait for the first time Michigan vs Ohio St or LSU-Alabama, or Auburn-Alabama has the teams or a team "resting multiple starters" as they don't want to risk them to injury as they get ready for the playoff.
Those regular-season games and the outcomes become less relevant.
Under the current system, if you aren't Alabama or Clemson, if you lose a game, the rest of your season become irrelevant, (to the national championship: you still have rivalries and you want your team to win every game). If we we tie it to winning your conference, then far more teams will remain relevant for a lot longer than they do now.
Here's the algebra:
The number of games with a direct bearing on who gets into a two game playoff is 'A'.
The number of games with a direct bearing on who gets into a four game playoff is 'B'.
The number of games with a direct bearing on who gets into an eight game playoff is 'C'.
The number of games with a direct bearing on who gets into a sixteen game playoff is 'D'.
I don't know what numbers A, B, C and D represent, (it will change from season to season). But I know that D > C > B > A
The pros have a problem with making their regular season irrelevant when half the league makes the playoffs. they've destroyed their pennant races. But in a 130 team division with 10 conferences, the tipping point is way above 2, 4, 8 or even 16. By giving auto-bids to conference champions, it gives the colleges the pennant races the pros have sacrificed.