This goes under the heading of forgetting where you are.  In a post on the basketball forum there was a discussion that got into the issue of FBS football at good non-power conference basketball schools and whether schools like FGCU should have a D1 football program or just put the vast majority of their athletic resources into basketball.  In that context I posted the following, which I think is really more relevant here:

There are reports that under the new four-team playoff system and the new Gangof5 vs. BCS Bowl game that each G5 conference will be guaranteed  a million dollars per school up to a maximum of $12 million to be split among their members.  This means that non-AQ conferences with more than 12 members will be screwed because they won't get any extra money and will have to divided the pie into thinner slices. (Hello, MAC!)  I suspect the genesis for both the also ran BCS Bowl and the guaranteed payoffs is to forestall anti-trust suits from G5 schools.  From what I've heard the announcement on this deal is pending every single G5 school signing an agreement that would effectively prevent any anti-trust suits against the playoff system.  

Edit: This also, of course, makes it much harder for FCS schools to move up to FBS.  It will lock the existing conferences at a maximum of 12, and prevent access to newbies.  I suppose law suits could come from the FCS-level saying they are being locked out.  But this would assure the AQ schools that the other FBS schools would be on their side if any such suits should develop.   

Second Edit: There is still time for all of this to breakdown.  But, if my sources are correct, it's very interesting that this is being discussed.  It means that the arms-race that some have talked about is taking a very different trajectory than what might have been envisioned.  As is often the case, the future has a way of not adhering to our plans.  

Actually, TO, there is more money then what I've stated potentially coming our way via the new 4-team playoff system.  There's another guy here on the forum that knows the details; I'll let him post when he feels appropriate.  I'll just summarize it this way, as things are now being discussed this may be a case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting richer too with an expanding pie -- at least the poor of FBS football.  The FCS scholarship crowd may be getting screwed by having their upward mobility restricted.  (In this context FCS scholarship is used to distinguish the FCS teams that participate in the playoffs from the schools like Dayton that are in FCS non-scholarship and don't participate in the playoff system.)