re: 8&4 is real

Problem is you guys are in the West

Alabama will be tops till Saban goes
Auburn is BiPolar, they start bad and finish good, and vice versa
Arkansas is your lesser flea now but who knows post jerryWorld
State has your number, just accept it and hope for the best
Ole Miss looks good with Kiffen if he stays
LSU will usually always have a D, it is their O you have to hope is bad

You lucked out with South Carolina
Rest of the East can beat you on a good day (if Mizzou gets it back together)

All the more reason to stay at 8 conference games and find an OOC rival where you can usually win 2 out of 3. Backfill a cupcake the game before your toughest game. Add 2 more mid to low P5's where you should win at least 3 out of 4. Normally this is where you play the basketball schools but this year they are on fire (except for Uconn)

8 wins will be an average year
9+ wins will be the exceptional year
6 wins will be rebuild year (or just bad breaks)