Do you think a points system (similar to football) would work better to select the playoff teams or maybe a combination of poll/points? In football, you get bonus points for playing VISAA recognized schools.
I think that would be a viable way to do it. I do believe there is a "formula" of sorts but it's not codified so that everyone understands it. For a team to have a strong season, demonstrate increasingly better performance, win it's local conference tournamment (CHC in this case) and not go to the state tournament is unfortunate.
When my son was coming through the TCIS several years ago I always heard about some magical number; 20 or more games. If you played over 20 games your chances were better (assuming you won most of them) to get a nod for the state tournament. I think that makes some sense as long as there is some measure for strenth of schedule.
At any rate it will be a topic for debate and discussion with or without a formal proceess 