Well, if theres 7 players in one section, and two of those timed out on every game, that would leave 5 players.
So you would only have 4 opponents to make up your S-B.
Its similar to the ratings in that the more games you play the more accurate your rating. So it follows that the more people you have as opponents, the more accurate your S-B.
I think people would complain if they suddenly needed 14 empty slots to enter a tournament instead of 7!! Pawns are limited to 20 slots so they would have to have only 6 normal games going to enter a tournament.
There must be another option.