[Redrum]

It IS all about the money and the conference championship game will become the gateway to those.  It won't guarantee a good seeding in the playoff system, but the total number of games will increase.  If conference games are going to get trimmed to keep it manageable,  look for pressure to cut the number of North/South inter-divisional games in the Pac12..  That will give us a cramp with our UCLA/USC traditional games,  but something's got to give.  My guess is the larger revenue/prestige  prospect of national playoffs will make the Pac 12 fall in line.  More likely alternating USC/ UCLA in the interdivisional mix.  [Can't see the conference backing off the current cycling scheme of all out-of-division teams just to preserve our old rivalries.  Also can't see Muir pulling it off in the larger world of Pac12 politics].  Beyond that adjustment, more games period.  More likely an earlier start,  meaning, for Stanford, yet another game without students on campus.  The rest of the conference might just  tell us "tough noogies" and we'll have to live with it. 

Add:  I can also see the tie-ins of mega stadiums into the playoff structure.  So NFL stadiums, particularly the domed ones, will become integral to the playoffs in January.  More money for the NFL as the two get more intertwined.

[Redrum]

It IS all about the money and the conference championship game will become the gateway to those.  It won't guarantee a good seeding in the playoff system, but the total number of games will increase.  If conference games are going to get trimmed to keep it manageable,  look for pressure to cut the number of North/South inter-divisional games in the Pac12..  That will give us a cramp with our UCLA/USC traditional games,  but something's got to give.  My guess is the larger revenue/prestige  prospect of national playoffs will make the Pac 12 fall in line.  More likely alternating USC/ UCLA in the interdivisional mix.  [Can't see the conference backing off the current cycling scheme of all out-of-division teams just to preserve our old rivalries.  Also can't see Muir pulling it off in the larger world of Pac12 politics].  Beyond that adjustment, more games period.  More likely an earlier start,  meaning, for Stanford, yet another game without students on campus.  The rest of the conference might just  tell us "tough noogies" and we'll have to live with it. 

Add:  I can also see the tie-ins of mega stadiums into the playoff structure.  So NFL stadiums, particularly the domed ones, will become integral to the playoffs in January.  More money for the NFL as the two get more intertwined.