We're all so caught up in the end results (ie NCs), yet the meat of this thread are the $$$s influencing the very shape of conferences. IMO, there's one thing which can't be refuted. Week in and week out the B12 has the most competitive football conference (thank you KS, for now making that true). Any team in the B12 can lose (or win) on a given night. That can't be said for any other conference at this time because they're too imbalanced. If I turn on the TV, I ask myself, "For out-of-my-conference viewing, would I rather watch a lopsided game, or a competitive game?". And even within the same conference other B12 teams will watch other B12 teams because of the parity. That's why we got the contract we did. Yes. Of course the increased impending playoff format will be a major game changer in yearly $$$$, but until that format happens, the B12 as a whole is still a major player for eyeballs. Let's just look at solid examples everyone on here has experienced. Stadium attendance sustains itself as long as the record allows for 'hope'. Same goes for TV viewership. A conference with top half heavy, by midseason is already losing eyeballs because the weaker opponents have lost faith. But, where teams are 6-4 vs 4-6, all fans are still in ... PLUS all the other conference fans.
My point? Don't invite bottom dwellers because no matter the metropolitan incentives, if they're persistently bad, it's worse for the conference.