I probably posted this before, but I loathe how all the conferences are being split up (my teams move being the exception of course!).
I grew up in the Big 12. My first CFB as a student was also A&M's first Big 12 game-CU in 1996 (we lost). I was there when we went 6-6 in the first season, there when we reached the championship game in '97 to get stomped, there when we got revenge against NU in '98 and went on to win the Big 12 by beating #1 KSU (kinda sad that we ruined their one and only chance to win a MNC). I knew basically nothing of CFB before 1996, nothing about the SWC or any other conference. I kinda sorta knew about some of the other teams like Joe Paterno at PSU and Barry Switzer at OU and Darrel Royal at Texas, but just in passing.
The Big 12, in it's day, was a great conference. Sure it was a little spread out for some teams, but most of the rivalry's were regional. A&M and UT/Baylor were within a few hours driving distance. OU and OK state were not all that far. We had like 3 MNC wins (NU, OU, UT) and about 5-6 other appearances. I think I remember NU playing for the MNC in '01, OU in '04, '06, and Texas in '09. Hell even Texas Tech with Mike Leach was getting to be consistently good. Even the schools like ISU and KSU were fairly large state flagship schools. And KSU was pretty dang good for 10-15 of those years. A&M had a heckuva great team in '98, losing to Texas at the end of the season pushed us out of the hunt for the MNC but plenty of teams have lucked out and gotten in with less of a team. Heck, LSU won it all with two losses.
It was a good conference. Most don't realize it but aTm's leadership always wanted the SEC. We were looking to jump into the SEC in the late 80's/early 90's when it became apparent that the SWC was not going to be viable forever. We reluctantly joined after political forces intervened. This has been documented many times. Baylor never belonged in Big Time football. TCU does not belong either IMO.