You just proved my point with those quotes that it was a weak schedule then no champion to hang their hat on that caused the B12 to miss out, not the championship itself.
How about wins over 4 top 15 teams, and if OU and WI win out, wins over 2 top 10 teams that are conference champions, in their house. Louisville is out either way, their only good win is FSU. There is no way that the comittee will sit there and say "well OSU, is definitely one of the top 4 teams, but Washington won their conference, so lets go with them". Won't happen.