I just came to this forum to start a thread about this topic and saw your post.
Actually, the conferences are doing an excellent job of protecting their interest today. Alabama has already got a couple of charity calls and the fumble call on Michigan came at a time the game was in question. The Big 10 would have lost their last hope this season had they allowed Michigan to win.
It is becoming more and more obvious that the conferences are using this as a tool to protect their top teams.