Your criteria includes: Did a team win a conference championship? Did a team pass the eye test? Did a team play a tough-enough schedule?
The hardest of these to judge: strength of schedule. Strength of schedule is subjective, more so than the eye test.
I get that the Alabama team that whipped Mississippi State was much better than the Alabama team that lost to Ole Miss. No doubt, there is fluctuation in performance. But how do you judge strength of schedule?
The NCAA goes strictly by won-loss record of the opponent. That’s not a good measuring stick.