I have heard Nixon, Criddle and Logan and others all state this. I think your goal changes, depending on the situation you are in. You push to become your best and for independence that will focus on rankings and record. If you are in a G5 conference, I think ranking is more important and I would say the same in P5. In P5 it means more, but at the end of the day it is being your best and if you are only comparing against your conference mates, you are not looking at the full equation.

Conference champ is just one goal and a lesser one.