College football is still broken

Do you know how I know that college football is broken? The college football playoff remains an absurd, arbitrary  waste of time. There was, as I'm sure most everyone has heard, a vociferous debate as to whether or not the Alabama Crimson Tide should claim the final spot, or the Ohio State Buckeyes.
I think for most people who watch the games and have followed the season, and those that just want the best teams in the playoffs, it was an easy choice. Alabama is a more talented team than Ohio State, and deserved a spot in the playoffs over the Buckeyes.
Of course, if you think that what a team accomplished during the season is what should qualify a team for the playoffs, then Ohio State should be in the playoffs, as they were in the Big Ten Championship. But then, if winning during the season is important, what disqualified UCF, who was undefeated? And why was Wisconsin viewed so begrudgingly?
And if winning a conference was so damn important, why wasn't Auburn even considered? Alabama didn't even win their own division, falling behind their cross state rivals. Georgia, who won the SEC, did indeed make it to the playoff, but then they skipped over the runner up to get to the next best team, because people just said they were better.
That's why UCF wasn't considered, by the way. There was no way they could have made playoff, no matter how well they played, because they were in the wrong conference. If the ultimate goal was a national championship, then UCF wasted their time. So much for "proving it on the field".
Sure, there is still a four team playoff, but getting there is still fairly arbitrary. This year proved that college football still needs to be mended. If the third place team in a conference gets into the playoff when conference champs are dismissed out of hand, or a team has no means to get to the finale through their own virtue.
If fans or the NCAA want to crown a champion, they need to ensure that every team has a legitimate chance at that championship. The only way to do this, and I've said it thousands of times, is to automatically include every conference champion in a playoff at a bare minimum, before adding wild cards or at larges.
That's 10 conferences. Add a pair of wild cards (so Wisconsin and Alabama this year) to round it out at 12, and THEN let it be played out on the field. Otherwise, the national championship is still just a beauty pageant, and the most enjoyable tactic for fans of particular teams is to keep interest provinicial and follow the home town team or alma mater. UCF won American Conference. Wisconsin won the Big Ten West. Auburn won the Iron Bowl. That should matter, and it's more fun when it does.