Agreed. If you are trying to build a program there is no point in scheduling difficult non-conference teams. At that point, a winning season is your target, not a BCS bowl or Top 10 finish.
This has and continues to be one of the most ridiculous excuses pulled from the hat for poor attendance. 50k in Sept, 40k in Nov............20% of fans are farmers? I doubt it.
I am no major Chizik fan, but what makes you such an expert on coaching that you can predict how many wins a coach would have? Rhoads has thus far done much better than expected, but saying that the Chiz couldn't win 5 games........