It’s not about being a powerhouse, it’s about TV markets, the SEC over the years has added South Carolina, Missouri, Texas A&M, and Arkansas now Oklahoma and Texas.
The next SEC television deal is estimated to bring in 75-100 million per year per team, the Big 10 the same thing, other conferences were slow to act and will be irrelevant if they don’t change course quickly
I tried to explain this to people who kept suggesting fsu or Clemson to the SEC. Look at what the SEC did. The first time they are not expanding the footprint, its with Bevo. Every other move has expanded the conference footprint and thus its TV revenue.
Look at the Big 10’s expansions...Penn State, Nebraska, Maryland, Rutgers and now these two from California. This is the first time they too would not have expanded the footprint.