[Snorlax94]

As for the bowl payouts, aren't those averaged and paid out to all conference teams, per Pac-12 policy?

Yeah this.
I thought the conference distributes the payouts (minus travel expenses). So whether Cal goes to Cheez It and Stanford goes to Sun or vice versa, everybody in the Pac 12 wouls get the same payout.

What makes a difference is whether a team — any team — makes the cfp. Then all 12 teams share in the cfp payout(s). Then, what matters is how many Pac 12 teams make NY6 games (which have brobdingnagian payouts also)

[Snorlax94]

As for the bowl payouts, aren't those averaged and paid out to all conference teams, per Pac-12 policy?

Yeah this.
I thought the conference distributes the payouts (minus travel expenses). So whether Cal goes to Cheez It and Stanford goes to Sun or vice versa, everybody in the Pac 12 wouls get the same payout.

What makes a difference is whether a team — any team — makes the cfp. Then all 12 teams share in the cfp payout(s). Then, what matters is how many Pac 12 teams make NY6 games (which have brobdingnagian payouts also)