[Spiny_Norman]

Well, apparently, per media reports, the remaining Pac schools have "issues" with some of the B12 schools ... which most of us take as a veiled reference to Stanford, and perhaps Cal as well, not wanting affiliation with religious schools like Baylor and TCU.  Both of those are kinda key programs in the remaining rump of the B12, though, so it makes a mega-merger less likely.

Can someone explain why ND and BYU are okay to play against, yet Baylor and TCU are not?

I think the bigger issue might be aligning with a conference where only two current schools are members of the Association of American Universities ("an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education"). It would not be a conference of academic peers.

In the Pac 12, 9 of the 12 schools are AAU members (all except ASU, OSU and WSU).

In the Big 10, 13 of the 14 schools are AAU members (all except Nebraska which was expelled as an AAU member in 2011).

In the Big 12, only 2 schools out of 10 are AAU members - Texas and Kansas. When UT leaves, it will only be KU (though Iowa State dropped its membership in 2022). None of the new schools being added (Houston, Cincinnati, BYU or Central Florida) are AAU members.

[Spiny_Norman]

Well, apparently, per media reports, the remaining Pac schools have "issues" with some of the B12 schools ... which most of us take as a veiled reference to Stanford, and perhaps Cal as well, not wanting affiliation with religious schools like Baylor and TCU.  Both of those are kinda key programs in the remaining rump of the B12, though, so it makes a mega-merger less likely.

Can someone explain why ND and BYU are okay to play against, yet Baylor and TCU are not?

I think the bigger issue might be aligning with a conference where only two current schools are members of the Association of American Universities ("an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education"). It would not be a conference of academic peers.

In the Pac 12, 9 of the 12 schools are AAU members (all except ASU, OSU and WSU).

In the Big 10, 13 of the 14 schools are AAU members (all except Nebraska which was expelled as an AAU member in 2011).

In the Big 12, only 2 schools out of 10 are AAU members - Texas and Kansas. When UT leaves, it will only be KU (though Iowa State dropped its membership in 2022). None of the new schools being added (Houston, Cincinnati, BYU or Central Florida) are AAU members.