Ok, let’s face reality…The Big 12 is on the ropes with Texas and Oklahoma leaving for the SEC. The deal is informally over, although there is still a chance that Texas and Oklahoma remain in the Big 12. For this to happen, Texas A&M and Missouri would need to vote “no”, as well as two other teams. However, if Texas and Oklahoma are leaving the Big 12 for good, where does that leave the conference? Well, look no further, because in this article, we are going to reach some hypotheticals that save the Big 12.
I’ll go team-by-team and throw out some scenarios around the college sports landscape. Let’s see where that goes.
Missouri and Texas A&M rejoin the Big 12
Texas A&M left because they were tired of Texas and all that the Longhorns bring. I don’t have a side in this fight, but they will not get along. Especially because the SEC left them out of the discussions for Texas and Oklahoma.
And if the Aggies leave, Missouri is gone too. I could see both of them leaving to rejoin the Big 12, and to be honest, I never felt as though Missouri was a good fit for the SEC. Now if both of those happen…
Nebraska and Colorado rejoins the Big 12
The Cornhuskers and their fanbase are tired of the Big Ten. The Huskers have not gotten better in football or basketball by leaving the Big Ten, though it certainly provided some great competition for volleyball, and the baseball team has also been near the top. But I think it might be tough to rekindle a relationship with the league, especially since the whole “we-want-to-play/we’ll-go-independent/oh-wait-we-are-playing-now and we-have-to-play-Ohio State” deal of last football season.
I think the Huskers fit better regionally with the Big 12, and it would be cool to see Iowa State vs. Nebraska again. Colorado would also been a great team to add back into the Big 12 and would lead to more movement across 2 other conferences. So say we need to replace teams in the Big Ten and Pac-12, who would it be?
Cincinnati to the Big Ten, Boise State to the Pac-12
Boise State is a great fit to the Pac-12. Colorado wasn’t a baseball school, so that sport won’t be affected by scheduling, and their recent run of success in football indicated they could play in the Power 5.
Now looking at the Big Ten, there was only 1 team in the region I thought would fit and that would be Cincinnati. They are solid in most sports, are a large enough school to be Power 5, and they would also be the only reasonable fit regionally.
Conclusion
Is what I said up top going to happen? Probably not, but you never know. This seems like a realistic transfer of teams, but Texas and Oklahoma leaving could mean the end of the Big 12, so all this could disappear.
Either way, the college sports landscape is about to change greatly in the next couple of weeks, and right before football season, these stories could not get bigger.
This article was written by TK. To contact, email digitalzsports@gmail.com or leave a comment below!