I think there will be 8 and it will benefit everyone. Here is why, who and how I think it should shake out…
If Oklahoma and Texas go to SEC, that is a good thing for the PAC, because only so many SEC teams are getting into the playoffs. That said, the PAC 12 would be doing themselves a favor if they matched the SEC in size by taking on Iowa St., Oklahoma St., Baylor and Texas Tech and slid CO and Utah, AZ and AZ st over to make up a western division of the PAC. All of those BIG 12 teams have had their shining moments over the past couple of decades and should make runs. Meanwhile Kansas and Kansas St slide up to Big 10 to make up the BiG 16 conference and WV goes where they belong in the ACC and completes their 16 teams. USA, American, Big East, MAC and Mountain West can figure it out too to reduce those numbers down to 4 conferences. It is the only way they can ensure their team has a chance to make the national stage, because then everything would be as follows. I think there needs to be a 16 team playoff and have for sometime. Seems to be the sweet spot for concurrence. That said the top 3 from the big 4 get in (12 teams), and then the top team from the other 4 get in (4+12=16). This realignment includes every conference, some similar controversy to BCS picking the top 4 teams, but is fair to the bigs altogether, meanwhile the other conferences have a representative. I think there should be enough bowls for most if not all teams to play post season.
I think another thing this realignment would accomplish is Blue Chip players staying in smaller schools because they know they can have a chance to play on the big stage without dealing with all of the big school hassle. It will take time to get there, but this will even out things over time and give ALL schools, players and coaches the opportunity to display their skills. I think things get more exciting, and of course the bigger schools will still make more money due to sheer volume of fans, etc… and I think all of college football prospers because you will get more fans into things because their teams have an actual chance to play on the big stage.