Drew, are you serious with this whining about PWR? Or is it over-the-top fake phony whining as tongue in cheek humor? I honestly can't tell because it's so ridiculous.
In the end, I highly doubt that one game will make a difference in 9 spots. Right now it is. But in March? Probably not. It's getting more solidified but is still quite fluid. We're only in the first week of February for crying out loud.
Every game counts as it should. Every game makes a difference and if things are close in many ways, one game could be a huge swing and a difference between being in and out. Take a look at UML last year in the title game. They win they're in, but they lost, so they were out. Not as a result of PWR but still. We play one game for the national title. Single games mean a whole lot and it shouldn't matter whether it is in October or March.
It's a decent system. Everyone knows what you get coming in. No one can get screwed and in the end, only have themselves to blame.