Losing OU and Texas means the League can hold on and pick up the leave early money or stay active with OU and TEXAS through 2024. That puts Bowlsby in a very good position financially.

ESPN perhaps wants an end to the league, but do other leagues want the Big-12 leftovers? Probably not! So expansion is likely, but is not immediately necessary. I would NOT be shocked if all this did not go into the shadows until after spring football next year. By then OU and Texas will have decided when to leave the conference and how much of a buy-out they must surrender to the remaining teams. The conference will have had ample time to quietly review their post OU and TEXAS inventory and make additions then.

Finally, it is not likely that candidate schools will be picked up by the PAC, ACC, SEC or BIG. So there is no critical rush to add any programs with one out on a limb thought... the PAC

The PAC needs more interest. It's not really interested in the eight remaining members as they do nothing for the conference except possibly TCU or Baylor. That Dallas market is a hot commodity and either of those schools would help deliver some of that. But if the PAC expands, I think it goes to 16. If so, SDSU is an early academically qualified and near program ready institution with a new and expandable stadium coming on-line. Then there is BYU. Does the PAC finally set aside the bigotry and listen to its AD's if AD's had a vote, BYU would have been a PAC program long before Utah. BYU is kept out by a very few of the presidents. But from an academic standpoint if BYU were included, the academic pecking order would be:

Stanford
CAL
USC
UCLA
BYU
Washington
...

BYU and Washington have swapped places the last couple of years so its not a huge delta there. I hold no hope, but I could see if more intelligent and less bigoted minds prevailed, the PAC could move to 16 teams and I think BYU would be included UNLESS, Notre Dame stays completely independent in football. Then I think BYU can do the same long term and would continue to be considered a P5 equal.