IF we could get all those agreements in place, it would be great for what... 5 years, 10 years? No one is going to tie down scheduling or bowl arrangements with an individual team in perpetuity. So IF BYU could get those agreements in place, every five or ten years they'd be on the chopping block. Maybe you can get one extension for an NY6 tie in if you don't make it during a five year period. You don't make it within 10 years, 15 years? NY6 bowls are going to wonder why they have an arrangement if BYU isn't going to sniff the NY6. Same would go for the Holiday bowl. And if BYU slumps for 3-5 years (or maybe if they are on fire for 3-5 years) conferences are going to reconsider scheduling arrangements (either to make their wins more meaningful or not lose to an OOC opponent every year).

The thing about conference affiliation that you can't get no matter what in an independent arrangement (even the best that you could dream of) is group bargaining power. You're protected from the slumps that inevitably come for every program. Others are willing to make agreements in perpetuity because they know that the risk of an entire conference fading into obscurity is minimal.