Here is what national media is saying about potential Big 12 Conference realignment
The last couple of weeks have been a bumpy ride for eight of the schools in the Big 12 Conference.
Ever since the first reports surfaced about Oklahoma and Texas eyeing a move to the Southeastern Conference, there’s been a lot of speculation about the future of the Big 12.
Here’s a look at what the national media is saying about the conference.
USA Today’s Paul Myerberg wrote about the future of the Power Five conferences.
This is an excerpt: “The conference is no longer viable as a national contender without Texas and Oklahoma, which has left a roster of eight teams — Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia — with nearly nonexistent coast-to-coast appeal and a worryingly dire future when it comes to negotiations for the next grants of media rights agreement.
“Expansion is the key to the league’s long-term survival. But where, who, when? To start with, there’s Central Florida, Cincinnati, Houston, SMU and South Florida from the American, which would expand the Big 12’s map and might make the league slightly more appealing to potential broadcast partners.”
CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee wrote about a potential Big 12/Pac-12 collaboration.
“If a merger was to happen, all bets would be off in terms of next steps around the country with realignment in full swing,” Sallee wrote.
“Whatever happens with the Big 12, it’s clear that it’s trying to bring into focus a future that has become blurry over the last three weeks. (CBS Sports’ Dennis) Dodd reported last week that the Big 12 is under the impression that the American is expected to be an aggressor in this current round of realignment with several of the remaining eight Big 12 teams being potential targets. However, considering the Big 12 has autonomy status, it would likely make more sense for it to assume the AAC than the other way around.
Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times wrote the Pac-12 would be making a mistake by inviting Big 12 teams to the conference.
“Adding middling programs indiscriminately, without heavily scrutinizing the kind of revenue they bring, is exactly the type of panic move the Pac-12 should try to avoid,” Kartje wrote.
“Which of the eight left-behind Big 12 schools is even the most desirable for the Pac-12? Texas Tech? Oklahoma State? Neither of those programs would bring much new to the equation, and this conference desperately needs to find a way to close the revenue gap first. If that means adding schools that actually carry their weight in that regard, great. But I don’t see any options in the Big 12 footprint. It seems that most of the conference’s decision makers understand that.”
Stewart Mandel of The Athletic wrote about a potential West Virginia move to the ACC.
“I have no doubt West Virginia is looking to flee the sinking Big 12, but I have no idea whether the ACC will be interested,” he wrote. “The more I think about it, though, I kind of feel like that league should be.
“West Virginia belongs with its former Big East brethren. Ideally that would be in the ACC alongside the ‘Canes, Hokies, Syracuse and former rival Pitt. The Mountaineers could be very successful in that conference, in part by reestablishing their presence with East Coast recruits, particularly in Florida. The program has no real recruiting hub right now, and that’s not going to change if it remains in a conference anchored nowhere near Morgantown.
ESPN looked at realignment options in college football, and Dave Wilson identified two schools the Big 12 should target.
This is an excerpt of what he wrote: “The Big 12’s only hope is to be aggressive in expansion in order to preserve its Autonomy 5 status. But the next move could end up being a tug-of-war between the Big 12 and the American Athletic Conference on which league can pry teams from each other. In a growing concern about attendance among administrators, there’s a case that Houston and SMU would love to have a chance to play Baylor, Texas Tech and TCU again. It will, as usual, likely come down to money.”
Jay Drew of the Deseret News wrote about a potential BYU move to the Big 12, but one of the school’s former athletic directors, Val Hale, said the conference isn’t as appealing as it once was.
“There are probably more variables in play than fans realize,” Hale said, “and I think BYU should approach this cautiously. Obviously their goal has been to get into a Power Five conference, but one of the questions now is: By losing Texas and Oklahoma, will the Big 12 be the type of conference that BYU wants to join?”
This story was originally published August 5, 2021 at 12:56 PM.
