Yeah, screw this - it penalizes the strong conferences. Be like Clemson/FSU. Punch your ticket every year you're not down.
If you want objectivity, then you need to have equity.
Eh. Not really. In every sport there are tough divisions and easy divisions.
If the criteria for acceptance is 100% a "committee" decision, then yes it penalizes strong conferences because it's harder to get out of a strong conference running the table or with only 1 loss. That's why a strong conference like the SEC only plays 8 conference games and has a November FCS patsy weekend--because they don't want the chance of picking up another loss.
Heck, Ohio State in 2017 had Iowa as a cross-division game, so it was just chance they played Iowa. In 2018, they had Purdue as a cross-division game, so it was just chance they played Purdue. If the B1G had an 8-game conference season, there's a 1 in 3 chance each year that they might have replaced that cross-division loss with a win over a MAC or FCS team and in both cases they'd likely have been CFP-bound. 2018 is a certainty, because they'd be undefeated at 13-0. 2017, as a 1-loss team with their only loss being to Oklahoma, they'd get in as a 1-loss conference champ over 11-1 non-champ Alabama.
But alas, in 2017 Ohio State was losing to cross-division Iowa in Iowa City in mid-November when they could have been playing at home vs Youngstown State, much like Alabama was playing at home vs Mercer in mid-November. Things might have been different if they were playing in Gainesville or Athens on that mid-November Saturday.
But if the criteria for inclusion is "win your conference", then you just need to win your conference. A strong conference will not be penalized, because their champ is auto-bid. If the criteria for at-large selection includes strength of schedule, then tough conferences will have a better chance of getting their worthy non-champs selected than weak conferences.