as a process of improving the program over time.

If you can gauge your schedule to "guarantee" being the top G5 every year, you get your reward, but you never break through the glass ceiling in the court of public opinion which includes the sports media. You also are sharing the wealth of your annual visits to the courtesy seat at the NY6 bowl of consideration with a group that does not bring any increase, but serves as a drain on your economic boon. Your program becomes the cute little train that could vs any real respect where it counts (in the board room). Throwing an annual bowl check where you get to keep a fraction of it doesn't raise your programs depth. As fewer teams are able to go undefeated or survive with one loss during the season due to raising the bar on scheduling, your weak SOS strategy begins to erode and keeps you bouncing off the ceiling of a top ten ranking.

What BYU is doing makes more sense. Playing in the biggest venues, being on national TV being treated like a P5 member if only in the court of public opinion. More importantly it prepares the program with the transition to a p5 conference when the invite comes. It improves recruiting due to visibility. This is similar to what Florida State did as an Independent. At that time they were an afterthought, but when Bowden took over, his play anybody, anywhere, anytime strategy began stealing recruits from Florida, Alabama, Auburn and other heavyweights at that time in the South.

It took Bowden four seasons to bring his program into recognition, and another eight to reach the pinnacle of three straight seasons vying for number one anchoring Florida State as one of the heavyweights.

What we need to pay attention to as fans is how this and the following two seasons effect recruiting and even any coaching changes. We are at the beginning of a grind that could take close to a decade to bear fruit. As a fan I am enjoying the venues, the variety and of course the love the media gives our team for any major success.