The conf to maintain operations.
Most allow for team expenses to participate in the bowl game to be taken out first. Then the remainder of the money goes to the conf. And then for MWC it is divided 13 ways (12 teams and 1 conf share) and distributed.
The advantage is 4-6 (or more teams) may play in bowl games in any given year for the MWC. And each team usually gets equal shares whether they participated or not.
So if BYU does not make a bowl as Indy then they get zero. If Wyoming does not participate in a bowl then they still get a 1/13 share of the MWC bowl money.