Of course you want to play for a conference championship, I can't stand the loser mentality of hoping that we don't. Yes you play an extra game but our travel to Indy is a heck of a lot shorter, and one would think we would at least have half the place filled if not more. Yes I think Oregon would probably beat us by a few scores as I don't think our offense could keep up with them, but who knows, this sport is absolutely crazy.
But to have this shot to win a conference championship is a no-brainer. And if you win you get a bye week which is way more valuable than opening up in the first round at home even as exciting as that might be. If you can win fewer games to win the national title, logically that makes more sense.