Big 12 Conference On Edge: Who Will Give It A Push?

You can choose your metaphor - militaristic standoff, high-stakes poker game, cliquish infighting - but the outcome is the same: someone is about to make the first move that will lead to the break-up of the Big 12 Conference.

Chip Brown at Orangebloods.com was the first to break the story last week and has been the leading source for developments ever since. You can head over there for all the details, but here's a recap.

School officials at Nebraska met yesterday and informally agreed to leave the Big 12 in favor of joining the Big Ten. A formal announcement is expected tomorrow. Colorado may announce as early as today that they're joining the Pac-10. Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor are meeting today to talk about their reaction to those moves.

The most likely response is a full-scale dismantling of the Big 12 Conference. Texas would join Colorado and four other schools - A&M, Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State - as part of an expanded Pac-10 conference. None of these changes would take place earlier than the 2012 season.

Regardless of the outcome, Texas remains in a favorable position. If the Big 12 manages to stay together (unlikely), Texas will continue to be one of the most successful programs on the field, along with a favorable revenue-sharing deal in place. They also can claim to have done everything they could to save the conference.

If the Big 12 implodes, Texas pins the blame on other schools and waltzes into the waiting arms of the Pac-10, taking a few select colleagues along with it to a big payday.

Baylor would likely get the short end of the deal. It's rumored that the University of California balked at taking the Bears into the Pac-10 because of their Baptist church affiliation. It would make sense that Cal would favor taking Colorado over Baylor. Berkeley has more in common with liberal Boulder than conservative Waco.

Despite the changes, things on the field won't be all that different for the Longhorns. The Big 12 South would remains almost intact as the Pac-10 East, trading Baylor for Colorado, Arizona, and Arizona State. Fans could also look forward to the occasional California road trip to play USC, UCLA, Stanford, or Cal. The Big 12 North teams would fare less well, scattering to the wind and scrambling for conference affiliations.

While the speed with which the 14-year-old Big 12 Conference has come apart has been breathtaking, there seems to be little doubt about the outcome.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jeff Beckham in Other on June 10, 2010 10:54 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

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where is part two?

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Who Will Give It A Push? en .. I don't know...who will ??

Wes

I understand that the SEC takes partial qualifiers but that's the reality of big time college football.

FTR I attended grad school @ McCombs. My undergrad was ranked quite a bit higher than Texas and is in an athletic league with much higher academic standards than the Big XII, thanks.

mdahmus

No, it's the reality of SEC football. The Big Ten and Pac Ten (and ACC and others) do just fine with far better academics than does the SEC and the Big XII.

Wes

No, it's the reality of ALL big time college football programs. The SEC is the only conference willing to own up to it. College football is a crooked business and if you believe otherwise you're only fooling yourself. Even Stanford (Pac 10), Northwestern (Big 10), and Duke (ACC) bend admissions standards for football players.

Scooby

I know you're not big on academics (sorry for using a 4 syllable word), but Texas would have to lower our standards to recruit from SEC turf. We were able to keep "partial" (i.e. non-) qualifiers out of the Big 12, but I don't think we'd be able to swing that coming into the SEC as refugees. Remember- this is one issue that had a big influence on the breakup of the Big 12 (Nebraska has been pissed for years over Texas taking a stand on that issue, and it's a reason they're leaving).

Texas might be competitive in the western division of the SEC, but we'd need the kind of O-line we haven't had in 10 years to protect the quarterbacks (plural- see last year's post-season games).

A&M would never have a winning season in the SEC- even counting the 3 non-conference wins they would get by default- I can only imagine they're just humoring one of their regents (Gene Stallings) in "considering" the SEC.

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YES I agree with you... HAHA (Nebraska has been pissed for years over Texas taking a stand on that issue, and it's a reason they're leaving).

Wes

Yeah, it makes no sense for us to join the conference with the strongest football programs in the nation when we can beat up on the patsies in the Pac 10. Besides, it isn't like we're going to gain a recruiting advantage in Florida or the rest of the south east by joining the SEC.

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I am agree with you " it makes no sense for us"

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Scooby

I know Gov. Goodhair (the former Aggie cheerleader) wants to go join up with the all-redneck league.

Here at Texas, however, our family trees have branches. I don't think we'd be a good fit.

Wes

I know that the Pac-10 is our likely destination but I'd love to see the Horns in the SEC.

Scooby

And the winner is: Colorado.

So, will Jay Nixon feel like a big dumbass when Mizzou ends up stuck in the Big 5 (along with Iowa State, the Kansas Schools, and Baylor). On the bright side, it would still be a decent basketball conference.