I think you're spot-on with the SEC being smart to stop at 8 games. That 9th game is just one more opportunity to slip up, and I think the benefit of another conference win is marginal.

That said, it's not apparent that there are other programs out there that could provide "more in the way of fan appeal and fan base." Are Memphis, Houston, or Colorado State really more of a draw than Iowa State or Oregon State? I don't think so.

To this point, neither of us have brought up BYU (which probably does have the draw to compete with at least some P5 programs). But even BYU might not be as attractive as some of these other schools if we look at this objectively.

BYU has an enrollment of 32k and is one of 3 in-state FBS football programs. Notably, they are not located in the state's population center (although they are geographically proximate). Utah has a population of 3.1m. Additionally, BYU is located in the mountain time zone, which has, by far, the smallest population of the 4 major US time zones.

• Washington State is one of 2 FBS football programs in a state with more than twice Utah's population. Their enrollment is ~29.5k. People might have a hard time finding Pullman on the map, but the same can be said of Provo. It's not readily apparent that BYU is the better choice
• Oregon State is one of 2 FBS programs in a state with a million more citizens than Utah. Their enrollment is ~29k. Oregon State has been a dog since Riley left, but they weren't awful while he was there. I'm not certain that BYU would do better in the PAC12
• Iowa State is one of 2 FBS programs in a state with a population roughly equivalent to Utah. Their enrollment is 36k. Ames is in the middle of nowhere, but they're a state school so they probably deliver a chunk of the state market (such as it is). Would BYU be better? Possibly, but I'm not certain

When I look at things like that, it no longer is as apparent that BYU is obviously better than those schools. Sure, BYU can hang with any of them – but is BYU clearly better? And if so, how much better? There is no doubt that BYU should be pick #1 when the next round of expansion takes place (and arguably, they should have been picked over some other schools that were recently snapped up). But even the bottom-feeders in P5 conferences have a lot going for them.