Let's say Nebraska and Missouri leave the Big 12 for the Big 10. Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Colorado then follow suit and leave for the Pac-10. Now what? Well, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Baylor, first of all, I can assure you that the sun will rise the next day, and when it does rise here is the plan for you.
The Big 12 leftovers will be in a favorable situation, for being leftovers. Being positioned in the middle of the country, they have the option now of picking and choosing from the strong schools on the west and east of them. Take your time, because you will have time, and look at the following candidates.
Mountain West (MWC)
Air Force, BYU, TCU, and Utah
Big East
Cincinnati, Louisville
Conference USA
Houston, SMU, Southern Mississippi, and Tulsa
These schools provide two key ingredients: 1) An expanded conference footprint, while maintaining the traditional Big 12 footprint, and 2) A conference that could still be an automatic qualifyier in the BCS. You can pick your size, anywhere from 9 to 12 teams (5-8 in addition to the four leftovers). Here are some scenarios:
Kansas
Kansas State
Baylor
Iowa State
Houston
TCU or SMU
Cincinnati
BYU or Utah
Air Force
As long as you take TCU over SMU, this conference should be stong enough for a BCS AQ. The only problem is that long term, SMU might be better at getting attention in Dallas/Ft. Worth and Texas in general. :
Kansas
Kansas State
Baylor
Iowa State
Houston
TCU or SMU
Cincinnati
BYU
Utah
Air Force
Louisville
Southern Mississippi
This will give you 12 teams to hold a championship game. You are taking a chance on BCS AQ status with Louisville, but the basketball showdowns with Kansas could be too irresistable. Hopefully with both BYU and Utah, the conference will be strong enough to get AQ status.
The moral of this post is to keep your heads high Jayhawks, Wildcats, Bears, and Cyclones. The Big 12 has a future, and it might not be all that bad.
hopefully with BYU/UTAH... both those teams are much stronger additions then Louisville, So Miss, or Air Force
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I wish this was all about sports and not any of the other garbage.
ReplyDeleteI think that going east may be more attractive to the Big 12 than going west. Look at how the Pac-10 suffers.
The idea behind Air Force is to keep a presence in Colorado/Denver market, for whatever that is worth, but Colorado State would kill any BCS AQ hopes.
So Miss should be one of the first choices on the list instead of one of the last. It's a much better school/brand than many of the schools you listed, and it is more well-rounded and on solid ground.
ReplyDeleteRegarding So. Mississippi, I am acknowledging that they are on solid ground and would be a good school/brand to have in a conference by including them on this list. I was very selective about who to include. The only reason I do not put them in the first group is because if I was a Big 12 leftover, my top priority would be to maintain BCS AQ status. SO. Miss has been 7-6 the last three seasons. While that is far better than Iowa State and Baylor, it pales in comparison to BYU, Utah, TCU, and Cincinnati.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, the Big 12 leftovers might have So Miss top on their list for the reason I mentioned above--they are east of the Mississippi River.
The Big 12 leftovers should merge with another BCS conference that will have it's membership poached, namely the Big East. If the Big East losses 2 or more football playing members, it also will be below the number needed to field football as an AQ sport. Adding the 2 conference together you have an outstanding hoops conference and a football conference that rivals the ACC or the PAC 16:
ReplyDeleteUConn- Beat South Carolina in their 09 Bowl
Syracuse- #1-#2 hoops draw nationally
Pitt- improving football program, beat North Carolina in their 09 bowl, great hoops program
Cincy- vastly improving football program
LVille- great hoops program and tradition, rebuilding in football
WVA- traditionally the strongest BE football program and an NCAA Tourney qualifier
USF- won their 09 bowl, outdrew Miami and beat FSU last year
add
Kansas- one of the top 5 hoops programs nationally and a new dynamic Football HC
KSU- rebounding football program and an NCAA hoops tourney qualifier
ISU- excellent draw in men's & women's hoops, won their 09 bowl game
Mizzou- strong draw in football and hoops, won the north division in 08
Baylor-NCAA men's hoops tourney qualifier in 09.
Fine programs in some large markets (NYC, Pitt, Cincy, Tampa, Lville, St Louis, KC, Dallas)
The combination of these 2 conferences includes 12 teams so a conference football title game can be scheduled.
Now that the Pac 16 won't become reality, all we can do is talk about future scenarios. Your proposal is very enticing from a fans perspective. But, I don't think it can ever happen. The Big 12 already has concerns about the extra travel costs if BYU was added to the conference. UConn, USF, Syracuse, and Pitt are all far away from the five Big 12 schools. With only six teams in each division at least two games per year would have to be played against teams from the other division.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I think is true, and that is if the Big 12 falls apart, any leftovers will look east before they look west for a new home.