Yes the BCS is a joke with automatic gualifiers. But you do have to start some where. Having a conference playoff champion is a start. Like the man said, helps some, hurts some. But that would level the playing field a little bit more. Look at basketball, they invite 65 teams, (play in game) and there are still several teams complaining they were left out. VT;.. Beamer and Weaver (AD) and the almighty $$$$ costs them the game against JMU. No one in there right mind makes a schedule like that.
I guess it goes back to the old BCS saying "it's not if you lose it's when you lose." As far as the default qualifiers, yeah I agree that's a joke. Look at the entire Big East...come on now. VT, though they did have the embarrassing loss early, is one of the hottest teams in the country right now and, though the ACC is weak this year, they were never really challenged throughout the year (excluding a close one with a team always giving them trouble in GT).
