I listened to a Joel Klatt from FOX interview today. He had some interesting things to say about the CFP.
First, it was the SEC commissioner (at the time) who pushed for the "4 best teams" criteria for the selection. He did this because he wanted the possibility of multiple SEC schools to make the playoff.
Second, Joel Klatt has an idea that I actually agree with. Klatt says it should be the four best conference champions. I had been against the "conference champion" criteria, but being a conference champion proves the team on the field. Also, by taking only the top 4 conference champions, it would leave out an "outlier" champ who sneaks into the conference championship game with a poor record and pulls off a big upset. The likelihood of that happening twice in one year isn't very high.
Klatt also said that he doesn't want to expand the playoff beyond 4, because if all the P5 conference champions made the playoff, it would make the non-conference games completely meaningless. They would basically be exhibition games.