First, welcome to the conference from a K-State alum and fan. You will be highly valued! As far as I am concerned, this is more of a merger than an acquisition.
Second, I am sorry that the PAC collapsed. I was satisfied with BYU, Cincinnati, UCF, and Houston stabilizing the XII. With Oklahoma and Texas leaving, all I can say is. . . I am sorry to see Oklahoma go. I truly feel for OSU and WSU (KSU’s doppelgangers).
My thoughts on scheduling were similar to yours with 4 Pods.
Given a schedule for a “notional” Pod 1:
4 non-conference games
3 games within Pod 1
2 games (home and away) against Pod 2
2 games (home and away) against Pod 4
1 game TBD (the 8th game) against Pod 3 where Pod 1 is designated the Home teams for that year and Pod 3 is the Away teams (similar with Pods 2 and 4).
1v1s
2v2s
3v3s
4v4s
Rotate the Pods by one for the next year where Pod 1’s 8th game would be TBD/Away against Pod 4.
Then do the Top 2 teams play a CCG? Does the conference risk CFP positioning with our top 2 teams playing each other. Personally, I WOULD play the CCG at a neutral site. I think the 8th game with the 1v1s and some 2v2s along the CCG will generate ratings and media buzz.
Do we play the CCG in Dallas or do we rotate regionally at an NFL venue (Las Vegas, Phoenix, Houston, Kansas City, D.C., Tampa. etc).
Well, that was a fun thought process. Now that I got that off my chest, it won’t be implemented LOL.
Again, welcome to the conference!