Conference championships only mean something if both

teams in it are into the playoff with a win. Further, each conference has different rules for picking division champs when there are ties, so it's not even guaranteed to be the best team from half of the conference, let alone from the conference. If Northwestern had won, there was no chance in hell they deserved to be in the playoff this year. Washington and Utah played - neither was worthy of consideration. So the championship game has already been eliminated from consideration when it suits the committee. Therefore, it is a meaningless extra game. Now, if the conference wanted to put their best teams up against each other on an ad hoc basis (gee, like the Bowls used to be...) that would be fine - they'd get their money and leave the rest of the system in place.