We cannot get P5 money on our own. The benefit of the P5 conference is that there are elite programs that get HUGE ratings almost every game. And then, SOMEONE in the conference will be ranked - doesn't really matter who - such that they will also grab good ratings.

BYU can get decent ratings on its own, but not the HUGE ratings. And, there's no guarantee that BYU will have a nice and shiny win-loss record and rankings; whereas, every P5 conference is almost certain have at least a couple of teams with those nice and shiny records and rankings.