I have to imagine Boise St is one of the least valuable teams out there to a conference.
I would think that a stronger product would be most valuable to a conference, even over TV markets. Boise is a much more notable program that would have potential to strengthen the conference more than SDSU and SMU.
No one is clamoring to watch SMU football other than SMU alumnus. If it's all about markets, go get San Jose State, they are in the #6 market in the country. University of Pacific is in Stockton, #20 market - even bigger than San Diego...
Premier product should be the goal first, THEN go after markets once you have a stable and consistent product. Losing UCLA and USC and filling their slots with SDSU and SMU makes no sense. You just became a worst conference - 3rd tier at best. Focus should be on closing the gap. SDSU has potential to get there, Boise St would have potential to get there. I just don't see it from SMU as much.
As i typed this I realized...they Pac12 is likely just going to be a lower tier conference when this all shakes out...there really isn't any "big name" to go after. Geographically, they are pretty landlocked in terms of available notable teams. Unless they want to abandon geography entirely and try to coup some of the mid-level teams other conferences are snagging - they really are just stuck with SDSU, Boise, hell try SMU, Wyoming, UNLV, etc...just dog shit comparatively. Their best play might be to call up Montana and throw a hail mary hoping that an FCS school could jump up and compete with the big boys.