TCU,Utah,Boise,Nevada,SDSU,YBU. Would have been, IMO a very good conference. Not the caliber of SEC but certainly equal to the Big 10, Big East and ACC. All who are AQ's. Which translates to bigger T.V $$$, bigger venues, larger recruiting budgets, deeper rosters, etc...
TCU defects for the money, Utah defects for the money, YBU defects for the money. Which essentially kills any conference BCS hopes. That would allow a smaller program like the MWC even the slimmest of chances to become players in the BCS scheme errr system.
Really don't blame the programs for defecting. Good business. But c-mon, Uconn in the Fiesta Bowl stealing a share of 17m. Thats just a sin. Of course the bigger conferences do not want a playoff system in place. For the same reason they will not play the power non AQ schools in non-conference. Nothing to win and everthing to lose.