However, I slightly disagree with you about nobody caring about the cellar dwellers. I say that because a conference has to be mindful that its cellar doesn't expand/grow to the point where it starts to impact the perception of the conference. For example when FSU joined the ACC, the ACC was commonly called "FSU and the 8 Dwarfs." Big East Football Conference had a similar PR issue. It was basically 2-3 dominant schools and everyone else was in the cellar. At the time both conferences still had good teams that weren't receiving the recognition they may have deserved because as you said "perception is everything."