The problem for the MWC is that outside of the confrence itself nobody thinks of them as anything at all. They aren't on ESPN, ABC, or CBS(network, CBS college doesn't count for much) They are those guys who are on that oddball channel late at night when you can't sleep for most of the country. Being Big XII carries weight outside of the Big XII just like being Big X or PAC 10 does even for those teams that have been traditional losers in those conferences.
This whole thing at this point is about what schools and conferences bring to the table and what they take away and despite some real success from the big 3 when it comes to prestige, brand awareness, and most importantly revenue potential the MWC schools better step up to the table or get left with scraps, likely some still will be left with scraps.
This isn't about fair, it's not about trying hard, it's not about getting what schools think they deserve, it is all about the money and if Utah, BYU, and especially TCU and Boise have a choice between moving up or being forced to move down the pecking order there will be no loyalty to the rest of the MWC schools. Given the opportunity same holds true for the rest of the schools but some are in positions where they can't be picky.