The small schools also like to have those matchups with big name programs because of the TV exposure and the challenge, so its kind of a two way street.
The potential for upset is certainly appealing and you can’t play all out all season long. You need to at least have an potentially easy game for Homecoming. But GA State??? My Gawd who got paid for that match up.
They like it because it's a huge payday. Alabama can fill their stadium playing against air. They don't need a big name team to come in to put seats in seats, although to credit them, they played a pretty good Virginia Tech team in non-conference. For the most part, though, they'd rather play Florida International, North Texas and Tennessee Chattanooga.
There are two simple facts. First, the Alabama, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma (Oklahoma did have the guts to play BYU), Notre Dame, Penn State, Southern Cal, and others are not going to risk their chances at a national title by playing a tough schedule. There were five undefeated teams going into the bowl games, largely because teams HAVE to schedule to go undefeated if they want a chance at the title. Second, the schools I mentioned and a few others are extremely profitable. They like their cartel and don't want additional teams like Boise, TCU, BYU, etc., breaking into the big time and getting some of that money.
There are other issues, of course. The networks prefer it the way it is, cause it's easier to sell a Texas-Alabama title game than it would be to sell a TCU-Cincinnati game. In college football, it takes time to build brand awareness, and it's easier to sell what's already big. Nebraska fans will travel to the east or west coast to see the Huskers.