I think that When B1G expands again it'll be tied to football leaving the NCAA and will go to 20 teams. Four 5 team pods that play every year. 2, 2 and 1 crossover games. 2 west coast and 2 others(NC,VA most likely). ND will stick with watered down ACC as a semi-indepentent.
pods will be
PSU, MD, RU, NC & VA
OSU, Mich, MSU, ind, pur
Illinois, Nw, Wisconsin, minn, Iowa
Usc, ucla, was, ore, neb
This is somewhat consistent with what I am hearing from multiple sources (not just at PSU) but you need add at break things down a bit further. More teams, more pods. On the high end, thing about an end game that includes an NFL sized league with a nice playoff number such as 8 pods with 4 to 5 teams. More likely...
Washington State, Washington, Oregon, Oregon State
Southern Cal, UCLA, Stanford, California
Arizona, Arizona State, Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor
Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Oklahoma State
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Iowa, Iowa State
Michigan State, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Louisville, Pittsburgh
Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue, Indiana, Cincinnati
Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland, UVA, Va Tech
The economics have changed. Most don't think nearly as big as the power players do. Think about a 40ish team Big Ten crowning the National Championship in the Rose Bowl.