way too much emphasis on getting to the P2, like that is the difference between surviving or not. It isn't. K-State as an example, has never matched Texas or Oklahoma in athetic spending, football, or otherwise. It was never even close when Texas and Oklahoma were in the B12. Schools like that, and I'll throw Nebraske in that bunch, have been outspending the K-States of the world by 10's of millions for decades. So, now Texas can outspend K-State by $30M more. May as well be $100M a year, because it doesn't matter - a K-State can still put a competitive product on the feild. The players getting paid is where all of this rush for new money is coming from. Add in the transfer portal, and Texas, while being able to out spend K-State, can not load up second and third string players like they used too. Add in that (for the sake of argument) second tier schools can most definetly come up with the money to pay their players as well, it's no wonder the Big 10 wants 4 auto's. Indiana gave every single school the roadmap. While yes, they get more conference distributions being in the Big 10, that is not why they just won the National Championship. They won by having a good quarterback, and 3 star players buying into the system, and over achieving. How many 5 star millionaire players sat at home, and watched Indiana and Miami duke it out? All of them????? Last I checked, Miami is not in the P2, and they weren't out of the championship game until very late - in other words, they could have won the thing. The BIG and SEC may expand, but they will NEVER dilute. That leaves "maybe" 3 to 4 schools including ND. That is assuming that no team from the B12 is invited, and I do not think any of them will be. The longer this goes on, the more I see that a "third" conference of the best of the rest may not be the answer. Just how I see it. I'm comming to the conclusion that the ACC with their top teams gone, and the B12 need to have a full on merger, add Uconn, and go with 30 teams. With the baskeball brands, and the parity in the athletic programs budgets, I see that as a very fun "conference". I also have no doubt that such a collection of schools have a ton of value and content that the media companies will be willing to pay for. Schedule in pods of 5 to stay relatively regional. Instead of trying to be a Texas or Oklahoma, the K-States of the world shoud try and be just that, the K-States of the world, and put competitive football on the feild. Find a good quarterback, a good nucleus, use the portal to fill in the gaps, and mark my words, they will be able to take the feild and compete against the Texas's of the world. To hell with the P2 - currently, the B12 puts a really good product on the feild, and it's a LOT of fun for the fans. Sometimes, you just need to know when to cut bait, and be who you are.