Simplest solution to all this is to have the Power Five Conference Champions. Take the top two seeds and give them a bye.
Then take the best Non Power Five team, and have them play the best at-large Power Five team, so that a team like UCF gets a shot.
So in this case you’d have:
OU and Clemson as the Bye teams.
Georgia vs USC
Ohio State vs (Alabama/UCF winner)
The thing I like is that it requires a team that doesn’t play in a conference championship game, like Alabama, to play an extra game to get into the tournament.
Bama was not given a chance to win their Conference and are not champions. They were given a Bama exemption. If you are not a Champion go to the bowl circuit but not the Championship of Champions.
The Mountain West has a good argument for getting in as do a couple other Conference Champions. This would take it out of the media’s hands and decide it on the grass.