I think that when TruerBlue said you’re lost in your independent schedule he was more referring to how top heavy your schedule is and how you don’t have a championship to play for. Not that your schedule was weaker.
He was more saying, if your only pitch you can make for your for independence is that “Hey we get to play against some cool teams! (Then go 1-5 and not have any championship to play for).” It’s not going to be more appealing than playing in the Mountain West.