2012 always interests me when it comes to what-if playoff talk, for obvious reasons. It included 2 SEC teams in the top 3, but they hadn't played each other yet. That would be a big deal, imo, if it ever came about again (for any conference).
It also involved ND.
A PAC-12 team ranked higher than the PAC-12 champ (and with 1 fewer loss)
A conference champ ranked 5th, behind a non-champ
1. 12-0 ND
2. 12-1 Alabama (SEC Champ)
3. 11-1 Florida
4. 11-1 Oregon
5. 11-1 Kansas State (BigXII co-champ)
6. 11-2 Stanford (PAC Champ)
In this example, I think Florida was safely in, as they hadn't had their shot vs Bama yet. The real debate would be tween Oregon, KSU, and Stanford. Oregon's only loss was to Stanford, and one of Stanford's losses was to ND already.
I assume they'd omit the unsexy helmet of KSU, fair or not, and it would be a toss-up between the Ducks and Trees.