"Rather than competing for a conference championship, and possibly a New Year’s Six bowl, their season ends anticlimactically with a meh November schedule followed by whatever leftover bowl has an opening."
A conference championship would mean nothing to me if the team can't beat USF and Toledo. 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 seasons were all great, but I think 2009 was the best. . . and we didn't win the conference championship! Heck in 2008 and 2009, we lost ot TCU in October and I basically thought our chances for a BCS bowl and NY6 bowl were over with a "meh" schedule in November outside of the Utah game.
What makes a season great? Is it a NY6 bowl or Conference championship . . . NOOO! It is all about Wins and wins over quality opponents. . . Success in or outside of a conference is simply based on the W-L record, plus quality of opponents.
Also, this argument for BYU has no access to good bowls, has there been a single year where you felt BYU was not in an appropriate bowl for their record?