Thanks to the University of Texas, the Big 12 continues to be revived.
And good riddens to the University of Nebraska and the University of Colorado.
Whether you are a Longhorns fan or not, UT saved the conference from crumbling to the stadium floor.
A few months back if you read the column much, you may remember that I suggested that the state of Texas begin it’s own conference with nothing but Texas Universities in that conference.
Now that the Big 12 is minus two teams starting in 2012, should it be renamed the Big 12 minus two? or should the Big 10 and the Big 12 swap conference headers?
How crazy is that?
For a few weeks, the University of Kansas and Kansas State University were wondering what in the heck happened? Imagine the Jayhawks without a conference and with the Mildcats turning back into Wildcats in men’s basketball, two NCAA teams that most likely will continue to earn berths in the Division I Final 64, or is it 65, or 77 teams or whatever?
This whole can of worms deals with high money dollars, and frankly, I am glad to see the Colorado Buffs and all the trouble they have had in the past 15 years head west.
And as far as I am concerned, the Big Red needs to stay above the Mason-Dixon with the rest of the north central Midwest.
The question is, Will the Big 12 add two schools in the near future, or will they continue to play with 10 schools?
So now the northern division of the Big 12 is two teams short.
Will there be realignment in the Big 12?
For some time, the northern division has been a weaker division in the money maker for the school, football.
Now that the University of Texas has declined an invitation to join the Pac-10 conference, or is it the Pac-12, the Longhorns have muscled up and saved the day for the remaining Texas Universities such as Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Baylor.
The Oklahoma teams make sense because such games as the Red River Rivalry where the Sooners take on the Longhorns, and if you look at a map of the United States, it makes since to keep both Kansas and Oklahoma teams, Missouri? I don’t know, but I do know that the Tigers and the Jayhawks have a bitter rivalry dating back to the Free Staters. They didn’t call it “Bloody Kansas,” for nothing during the War between the States (1861-1865).
I have always felt that the University of Arkansas, who opted out after the Southwest Conference when it folded years ago, should geographically be in the Big 12 mix, but as long as Frank Broyles has a breath left in his body, the Razorbacks will remain in the SEC because of the big bucks.
If the Big 12 came up with a bigger chunk of change, they might be able to sway the Razorbacks into the fold.
That leaves one team, and if Texas used it clout, LSU would be the team to bring it. Now that would be a great conference.
Think about it, Texas would automatically have two great state rivalries, LSU and the Okies from Muskogee, I mean Norman
Texas would play the equivalent of six bowl games just in their conference: Arkansas, LSU, OU, OSU, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.
Now that would fill every stadium to capacity...
