I'm old enough to remember the old model. It sucked too.
If everyone is going to obsess over a "true" championship game, then the only path is to make as much of the post-season as possible directly tie into it. There's a reason a deep NCAA run for a basketball team still matters more than winning the Corn Smut bowl, even if everyone knew there was no chance to win past the Sweet 16. Football still has the better regular season, so criteria and overall numbers should be eyed with keeping that going. I could maybe see a Plus-One after the bowls, but that sort of isn't fair either, and there often ARE more than two teams with some plausible claim to deserve inclusion. At least playoffs gather in everyone who can make any kind of case (and then some).
Money-wise, the sport is just fucked. They HAVE to figure out something compelling but equitable (coughcollectivebargainingcough) with NIL and the portal.