What happens to the leftovers?

Ok, 'leftovers' may be a little strong at this point; but what other adjective more accurately describes the teams left in the ruins of the MWC and CUSA?  Rewind 1, 2, or even 3 (3 to show consistency) years ago.  The MWC was a Boise St addition away from becoming the 7th AQ conference.  CUSA was quickly becoming the 'next up' non-AQ conference.  TCU, BYU, Utah and Air Force all had spent time in the Top 25 with soon to be new addition Boise St in national title contention.  CUSA also had nationally recognized teams in East Carolina, Houston, UCF, Tulsa and Southern Miss all spending time in the Top 25 along with SMU beginning to show signs of life after 3 decades of death.  Their situations were looking up and congress was beginning to take notice by putting pressure on the BCS through anti-trust investigations to give them a chance at the 'Big Show'.  Then, in the summer of 2010, they were blind sided.  The appetite of the current AQ conferences for stability and greater TV deals fueled a shift in the College Football landscape that no one could have imagined possible.  In the aftermath, the MWC lost football powers TCU, Utah, BYU, Boise St, San Diego St to AQ expansion.  CUSA lost proportional pieces in Houston, UCF, Memphis, and SMU.  So, what now?  Plans of an all sports merger between the two leagues has been the lastest topic discussed; but can a league survive the travel costs it would take for a conference that spanned from Honolulu, HI to Greenville, NC all on a reduced budget?  It remains to be seen.  For conversations sake though here is possibly what the new MWC/CUSA could look like by next year:

West Division
Hawaii
UNLV
Nevada
Fresno St
New Mexico
UTEP
Colorado St
Wyoming

East Division
Tulsa
Temple (if they accept the CUSA invite extended yesterday)
East Carolina
Tulane
Marshall
Southern Miss
Rice
UAB

On paper this could happen.  If so, and the merger does occur as planned, then this no doubtedly will still be the premier non-AQ conference.  Just without that Top 10 sizzle from 1, 2, or even 3 years ago.  Check out John Klein's article looking at this from Tulsa's perspective: http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/article.aspx?subjectid=203&articleid=20120209_203_B1_TLAOCg303358&r=5572