Honestly, if you don't win your conference, you really shouldn't be advancing to anything bigger than that. Conversely, winning your conference should be a springboard to larger stakes. Its the very essence of competition.

There is NO perfect system, and the obvious arguments against this are well-taken however a structure such as this puts the emphasis back on the outcomes of the games that are played, and less on a group of people sitting around a table subjectively picking winners and losers.