I think the Big Ten will bounce back.
My thinking is that Phil Knight came into Oregon and donated a lot of dollars into the facilities and equipment, Oregon found a series of good coaches an upped the ante in the PAC-12. Now, USC got competition, Oregon St. got better and better facilities as did the Huskies, UCLA, Stanford. The conference has gotten very serious about its football and recruiting,
The TV contract has gotten bigger, and they add to more states and dominates the west coast TV market.
The SEC has been serious a long time about football. The Big-12 seems to be regrouping and the Big Ten is being neutral. The Big Ten adds Rutgers and Maryland and neither is a football powerhouse, they are basketball universities. The Big Ten is a basketball conference and not so much a football conference anymore.