What would be the alternatives if the Pope expires? Would they be any better?
No, probably not much better, although it does seems like the appointments of new Bishops are somewhat more conservative now than those a few years ago.
But the main reason is that on the whole, the current Pope is (in my view) more conservative than most of the Cardinals. He is at least slowing the spread of modernism (but not really fighting it head-on like St. Pius X).