The Number Monkey is winding down this part of his Expansion Project and does a nice job tying a lot of these concepts together in a piece called "Structure". He examines possibly the most critical aspect of expansion, how and why the conferences are structured the way they are.
http://big12fanatics.com/expansion-project-structure/
The Number Monkey has come out with an amazing piece on the future of ESPN and the problems they will face due to changing technology. As you will see, they are headed straight for a collision with streaming services, ala carte programming, and cable desperately trying to stay relevant in an online age.