They could try a little harder and get more games/teams. There are still some independents in CFB that could play on NBCSN and probably would do it for very little money for the rights. It may not draw a ton of eyeballs, but it would be a good way to break in new talent at all levels (not just the announcers but the entire crew). I'd be willing to bet some of the non-P5 conferences would probably take a lower tier sort of contract in exchange for some national exposure.

NBCSN College PrimeTime game of the week featuring some of the best CFB from teams you might not know but should. Something like that would draw some eyeballs, particularly if the other networks have some snooze fests going on.

Fox/FoxSports has built a decent CFB program and showing. I don't think it would break anybody's heart if ND shopped the TV contract a bit.

I really don't care if we end up with a bit of homerism on the broadcast. The ND-UGA broadcast a few weeks ago featured some heavy rooting interests for the SEC and their network. I don't understand why NBC feels it has to bend over backwards to maintain the illusion that they are a neutral party. I get that they have features and interesting ND stories sprinkled in. It's the calls on the field that they are lukewarm about, it's ADHD producers who are too busy giving us crowd shots, odd angles, or close ups that don't pertain to the play, that drive us crazy.

NBC Sports was still thriving and expanded sports channels didn't exist yet, so no one thought it was necessary. In hindsight, a loosely based conference of Notre Dame, BC, Navy, Penn State, Pitt, Temple, Miami, Syracuse, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Army could have changed the course of conference realignment (or lack thereof). If NBC had worked out a broadcast contract with those teams, it could have been a boon for NBC too.