You have to get THE BEST of the non-P5 teams to combine into one conference. Given the geographical distance between the "best" of what is left, this conference would likely be a football-only conference. That said, it's not difficult to see a football-only conference that could make a case as the 6th power conference.

This "new" conference would also have to set minimum standards for budgets, attendance, competition, and (now) cost of attendance of the student-athletes. The easiest ones to deal with are budgets, cost of attendance, and competition. At a minimum, you have to have teams that could pull off the following:

• Budgets - I have no idea what the number would be, not being on the "inside" of an athletic department, but the presidents and AD's know and could come up with a number.
• Full Cost of Attendance - This is a must-do for this "conference" to keep up with the big boys.
• Competition - NO games against FCS opponents...EVER, play 9 conference games, build to 1 OOC game against a (current) P5 team every year, and 2 OOC games against other FBS teams.
• Minimum 2014 home attendance - Target of 40,000 within 5 years.

So, who to select in terms of attendance?

1st Tier in Attendance: Here's the best in terms of attendance: As of today, only 9 teams averaged more than 30,000 in home attendance in 2014: BYU (57,141), East Carolina (44,786), UCF (37,812), Fresno State (34,876), Army (34,262), Memphis (33,851), Boise State (32,504), Navy (32,502), and San Diego State (32,406). Army is adamant about maintaining their independence, so they are a no-go.

2nd Tier in Attendance: Moving on to the "rest" of the non-P5 teams in best attendance, you have: USF (30,694), Cincinnati (28,840), UTEP (28,377), Houston (28,311), Air Force (28,161), and UTSA (27,576). I would throw in Colorado State (26,575), as they are going to build a new stadium and are committed to growing their program. As for me, El Paso is un-doable (the market is awful), USF has dropped off the map in terms of football commitment, and while I love the military academies, I can't see having two schools in one league that will cut you at the knees every week, so buh-bye Navy.

Non-starters: Don't talk to me about SMU (21,528), New Mexico (21,937), Nevada (23,862), or UNLV (15,674). They simply don't have the commitment or the attendance.

So, taking the best of what you have to make it work, you go with:

West: Air Force/Colorado State, Boise State/BYU, Fresno State/San Diego State
East: Cincinnati/East Carolina, Memphis/UCF, Houston/UTSA

I paired the teams with their "rivals" and you could have the conference championship game at the Alamo Dome each year.

Such a conference would be the "elite" of the non-P5 conferences, land a spot in a NY6 bowl game each year, and could build its status to a sixth power conference in time. The conference could also build bowl tie-ins in Boise, Fresno, San Diego, Memphi, Orlando, Houston, and San Antonio.

Is this preferable to the P5? NO. But, if P5 becomes unattainable, this conference would hands-down, beat any alternative conference out there. The question would be: Would the other P5 conferences give it recognition as a 6th power conference? Probably not...

(Gee, I just wasted an hour of my time...LOL)