2026 then they will lose their automatic bids for other sports like the NCAA men's basketball tournament. I would guess that if they don't have 8 by 2026, then their champ wouldn't even be eligible as the 5th conference auto bid for 12 team CFP playoff.

So I guess leaving two spots open for now could be weakness (noone else wanted to pay the money to make the move) or strength (many candidates want in, so they can work the candidates against each other to see which 2 want it most).