I can't think of very many things I hate worse than having a team like 1996 that can't prove itself at the end of the year. Fun year. Awesome team. But I got sick of the times in the 80s and 90s when people said, "BYU has a great record. But who have they played?"
As for me and my house, I'd rather risk having fewer wins for the chance to have a team like the '96 team in an expanded eight team playoff when it does expand.