P5s aren't calling right now and may never. Best way forward is to have some hope that indy will evolve as OP says it can. I'm also not 100% certain conferences will continue to exist in their current form - networks paying too much money to lower tier P5 teams in the era of cord cutting and selective live streaming services, and likely not getting great rates of return on those teams for the cost it comes at. Point is, can't really predict the future of CFB and just have to hope for the best.