FWIW, the AAC championship game is on ABC, not the Ocho. It has a significant number of viewers. Last year it had 3.3 million viewers (double that of College Gameday) for an afternoon game competing against other games that day. For comparison, the PAC 12 championship in a prime time slot with no other competition had 4.0 million viewers. We can argue the merits of winning a championship that isn’t from a power conference, but no doubt it brings exposure. And since it is the only path to a major bowl and even more exposure, it is that much more important.