Ret10Echo,
I see your point. Maybe the top one/two teams and then an at large bid determined by some sort of computer gee whiz math formula/poll? Also not all conferences have a championship game which adds to the toll lots of games place on the body. Not to mention that the student athletes have finals for which they need to prepare.
What about a cross regional pairing that takes the top eight teams in one region up against the other? You expand the weekly rankings 1-32. Midwest vs South and East vs West? Mix that up every year. Rank them 1-8 and play the games like basketball does for March Madness?