Which One or Two Ideal Teams Would You Add to the Big 12?
Conference realignment is wacky. It’s taken geography, spun it on its head, and spit out some random conglomerations of teams that have to play each other every year.
The Big 12, a relatively centralized conference at its core, has teams spanning from Utah to West Virginia. It’s a crazy world that we’re all struggling to keep up with, but we’ll have to hang on tight as even more realignment is coming.
In 2024, the college landscape as we know it will change perhaps as drastically as we’ve ever seen it. Some of us, myself included, wish simpler times would return, and geography would become the main focus again. Others like the bigger programs being bunched together, regardless of the miles between.
In this week’s roundtable, the Heartland College Sports staff discusses their thoughts on conference realignment with a Big 12 spin.
If you could add one or two teams to the Big 12, who would it be? Or would you add anyone at all?
I thought about Nebraska and Oklahoma, but I am still mad at Oklahoma for joining Texas and bolting for the SEC.
So I’m adding Nebraska and Missouri to try and get as much of the old Big 8 back together as I can. Rivalries are back with both schools, and they’re drivable road trips for so many in the Big 12.
You can get back Nebraska-Kansas State, the Border War (Kansas-Missouri), and so many other games that mean so much to so many in the region. It’s a no-brainer. And frankly, both teams are lost in their current leagues.
They have had mediocre success, at best, and don’t have any true rivalries like what they enjoyed for years in the Big 8 and the Big 12. And plus, I think their fans, deep down (maybe it would take a few drinks), would love the opportunity to be back (assuming the money was equal, which I understand it’s not).
If I were the commissioner of college football, I’d have the Big 12 go back to its original 12 members. It was perfect. However, that’s not the question at hand here.
So, if I were limited to two teams, here’s what I’d do.
First of all, let’s bring Oklahoma back. With the baggage and ties to Texas gone, I think the rest of the conference could let bygones be bygones (except for the folks in Stillwater). Bringing back Oklahoma would give the conference Bedlam, but it would also keep a national brand in the league. Whether or not the rest of the conference wants to admit it, having a brand like OU is good for the perception of the entire league.
The second team I would add is… Nebraska. Now, before the “nEbRaSka HaSnT dOnE aNyThInG” crowd jumps down my throat, Nebraska brings a TON back to the Big 12. First of all, it’s the best fanbase in college football. I’ve been around the country and seen a lot of college football games; the folks in Nebraska love their Cornhuskers. They also bring back a ton of rivalries to the league. OU-Nebraska, Nebraska-Colorado, Kansas-Nebraska, and Kansas State-Nebraska feels right to have in this league. Plus, giving the Huskers ties back to Texas would help the football program find its way again.
OU and Nebraska in the 2024 Big 12 would be awesome, and it’s probably something I’ll be doing once College Football 25 finally drops.
This may be a boring move, but it’s the right one in my opinion. I’d bring Texas and Oklahoma right back. I know the SEC backed up a Brinks truck full of cash to their door, but the Big 12 is home for these two schools. They were both staples in this conference since it started and like it or not, they are valuable programs and have name recognition.
They would add more to the new look Big 12 with their name alone and as former members, it’s only right that they would be my first two calls. And if given an opportunity to add two more schools on top of that, I’d call Texas A&M and Missouri as well to bring the old gang back together.
There are a lot of different ways to go here, and after many hours of thinking this over, the best bet is to bring back Nebraska and Missouri. Both teams, with the exception of last season for Missouri, have been horrendous since making the decision to abandon the Big 12, with Nebraska being forgotten to time as one of the laughing stocks in the Big Ten West and Missouri just not having a real fit in the SEC.
Logically speaking, I don’t beleive that either of these scenarios make sense but given the rapidly changing climate of college athletics due to conference realigment, I would like to renew some old rivalries.
With Missouri, Nebraska, and Colorado all back in the league it would likely pull at the nostalgia affect for that of Texas A&M and Oklahoma, but honestly, eh. Oklahoma made their decision to turn into the Nebraska of the SEC and Texas A&M continues to have money and nothing else to show for it. Give me the new look Big 12 with Missouri and Nebraska.
I don’t think the Big 12 should add any more teams at this time. I think the league has the right mix of teams, and of the “gettable” teams out there, I’m not certain that there are two teams that add enough value to what the Big 12 is trying to do in terms of its over-arching mission. For instance, commissioner Brett Yormark is doing his “State of the Conference” address on Tuesday at the Big 12 Tournament. I think the expansion question will come up (because someone always asks it). I think his answer will be a standard boilerplate. “If they add value,” yada, yada, yada.
But, If I’m in charge of the Big 12, and you put the proverbial gun to my head and tell me I have to do something, here are three pathways to consider:
Oregon State and Washington State: It would help the western half of the conference, the two schools now own all of the Pac-12’s assets and the league could leverage those however they want in terms of in-house media. Just get the Pac-12 to pay off its remaining debts before you do that.
ACC Break-up: If Florida State gets its way and gets out of the ACC, the league will break up. I’m not delusional enough to think the Big 12 is going to get FSU. The SEC will snap that brand up. However, I would consider a combination of two schools that would help with the East Coast membership. Ideally, that would be UNC-Duke because of the basketball cachet. But Virginia-Virginia Tech would be acceptable.
Basketball reinforcement: Yormark likes big markets, and he likes big brands. UConn is enticing, and they could bring in football. As for the other, you could try to lure Syracuse out of the ACC. St. John’s also makes sense because of the market. So does Georgetown because of D.C. You bring in two big-market teams before the next TV contract, and you figure out the revenue in the short term. Whatever those schools get, it’s going to be more than what they’re getting now.
And …
Notre Dame: I have no illusions that the Irish are going to join the Big 12. But if the ACC breaks up, ND needs a home. I believe it has an open invitation to join the Big Ten whenever it wants. That conference will bend over backwards to bring it in, as long as football comes with it. It could stay independent in football and re-join the Big East. How the College Football Playoff shifts could play a role. If I’m in Yormark’s shoes and there’s a chance, even a slight one, that the league could land ND, I have a pitch ready. That brand is too big to ignore.
But, for right now, I’d stand pat.
