well, you see what happened to SMU, TCU, and Rice. The state of Texas wanted to protect as many schools as possible. As CWS said, the popular number was 12 with the CCG earning more $$$
even knowing what we know in 2020, I doubt the state of Texas would have done anything differently. The Big 8 may have tried harder to keep it at 10 with the loss of NU, CU, and MU years later, but they had no idea in 95.