the fact that it'd likely be only one Herd game a year in football is not be all-end all. if more Herd football games and/or basketball game exclusive rights are sold off by espn then i would no longer be a happy camper. that would effectively force me to stop watching the Herd live or delayed and simply read the box scores instead.
for me at the moment, espn+ during fall/winter sports is the best thing going for access consistency and consistency is the most important aspect. i can always hop on the wagon if other sports are doing well, especially softball and baseball. however, i understand nothing lasts forever- there's no guarantee the next SBC contract will be with espn or solely with espn.
my TV entertainment consists only of streaming, Netflix for my wife, an old ROKU for my other not-smart TV, and homemade OTA antennas which worked great in my area for last year's NC Sate game on CW