They are in much worse shape than we would have been. We had the Big East as a landing spot, which at the time was much better than the current MWC.
Total hypothetical but I wonder if we had gone along with KU/KSU how it would have looked in terms of premier basketball conference but bottom of power conferences fb conference. Doubt Baylor would have been involved in Big East talks.
2011 missile crisis:
With football: Uconn, Pitt, Syracuse, Rutgers, WVU, Cincy, Louisville, USF, ISU, KU, KSU (11 teams)
Hoops only: Villanova, Georgetown, Providence, St Johns, Seton Hall, Notre Dame (17 teams)
*Rutgers got Big Ten invite a year later so would have been 10/16 if you change only that
*in 2013 Notre Dame moved non FB to ACC, maybe or likely they still would have
*Creighton, Marquette, DePaul and Xavier were added in 2013. Are they still if there's a football component?
*Syracuse and Pitt to ACC in 2013 and Louisville in 2014. Probably still happens, it would have been an upward fb move. Are any Big 12 vagabonds part of that move?
IIRC 2011 was the massive one where a total collapse Pac 12 style was possible. It was possible again a year later with A&M/Missouri but I think already by then it was more that Texas/OU and others were looking east more than west and there was no conference ready to take a huge block of Big 12 teams like 2011.