In the wonderful world of conference realignment, there are some knowns, some unknowns, and quite a bit of speculation. In other words this thing is very fluid…what is fact now, may not be factual in just a few hours.
What we do know is that it is highly likely that Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will make their intentions known shortly that they are leaving the Big 12 Conference. What is slightly less likely is that Texas and Texas Tech will also leave., and what is extremely likely is that the Big 12 Conference will end at the end of June, 2012.
The larger question at this point is where will the remaining ten members of the Big 12 Conference be for the 2012-2013 athletic seasons?
After checking with various sources in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and North Carolina, here is what we have this afternoon.
It is extremely likely that Texas A&M is going to the SEC, while is is nearly as likely that Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will end up as members of the Pac 12 Conference. It is slightly less likely that Texas and Texas Tech will also join the Pac 12, but if Texas doesn’t go (for whatever reason…LHN), then Tech may be left out of the Pac 12 picture. If the Texas schools aren’t invited, then we’re hearing from our LA source that it could actually be Missouri and Kansas.
If Texas and Texas Tech join OU and OSU to form the first super conference in the Pac 16, then look for Missouri, Kansas and Kansas State to head east, but where is the larger question. Missouri apparently has multiple options, with interest from the SEC, ACC, Big East and even hearing from our Chicago source that the Big Ten has renewed interest in the Tigers. Kansas and Kansas State, due to basketball success, will likely wind up in either the Big East or ACC.
The two teams that very likely will not wind up in a BCS conference, when this thing is done, is Iowa State and Baylor. But once again most of this picture is very fluid…and we’ll be on it 24/7.
I think you are flat out wrong on Iowa State. Baylor very well may end up screwed but remember, last summer it was a FACT that the Big East said they would welcome KU, KSU, Missouri and Iowa State. Rumors are abound that the Big East has been talking with multiple Big 12 schools and told them that if Big 12 disbands, they would be welcome.
New rumors swirling that Texas is now talking to the ACC because they would accept the LHN as is. There is a LOT of shit to hit the fan before all this dust settles but if it does end up 16-league conferences (four of them), that’s 64 teams and by my count, there are 68 BCS teams now including Notre Dame (not BYU/Boise however). You are kidding yourself if they end up saying ‘sorry you few schools…we have 64 and you don’t make the cut.’ Not gonna happen. They would be ushered in and each league would likely have 17 or 18 teams.
I hope you’re correct, and once again this thing is very fluid, but honestly neither Baylor nor ISU bring much in the way of football tradition or TV market.
It certainly could happen, but I’d be very worried if I was a fan of the Bears or Cyclones.
This was before the Big East took TCU… thus Iowa State is probably out.
That was before the Big East landed TCU. They are going to 12/20 (12 football schools and 20 basketball schools). If all this happens and the Big East looks to expand, they’ll only be looking for three schools now, not four (again, they already added one after that offer was made so it changes things). The first three will be Kansas, Kansas State, and Missouri. Should Missouri end up getting an offer from the Big 10, they would jump at the chance. That might open up a spot for Iowa State to be the third new member, but the Big East will only extend three invitations this year, not four. The question if The Tigers go the Big 10 is, who do they look to as the 14th school? Im hearing they’ll look to add Maryland, but if not could Kansas be that school? If so, what does that mean for Big East expansion? My guess is they would scrap the idea of poaching off the Big 12 and start looking at options to merge with the ACC and create an east coast super-conference.
Why would Maryland leave the ACC and most of their biggest rivals for the Big East? Merging the ACC and Big East sounds extremely unlikely as well at this point IMO. Big East would have to lose a lot of their basketball teams to make this even a possibility.
My guess is Missouri ends up SEC, OSU, OU, TT, Texas ultimately end up in Pac 12. KU, KSU and ISU into Big East.
I am actually a Iowa Hawk fan and have zero worry for the Cyclones landing safe in a BCS. Zero.
Whatever happened to the Pitsburg, ND and BYU possibilities?
ND will not compromise their Independent status, especially with their NBC contract running until 2015. If they do, they will go B1G. I personally believe that the B1G will not pursue expansion further until the SEC AND Pac-12 make the first moves, and they are a strong enough conference where they really can just sit back and observe, until they find it good enough to make a move. As a Mizzou fan, I really wish that we would go to the B1G, but with the Big-12 imploding right now, I would be fine with going to the SEC, or of Greg’s rumor is true, the Pac-12.
This is a guy you need to pay attention to on Twitter from the OKC market…
http://twitter.com/#!/DeanBlevins
He’s saying OU, OSU, TT and Texas are just reworking LHN.
I don’t know if I can trust a source who’s text messages read like a 12 year old girl wrote it. “”NO PROB.CONTRACT 2 B REWORKED”. Seriously, whoever wrote that needs to lay off the caps-lock or stop watching i-Carly with his daughter.
“Come on, Baylor… the Sunbelt Conference is perfect for your team! We may even let you win.”
Don’t worry. RG3 and Baylor will make sure you don’t leave without a concussion.
I would love to see them end up in C-USA where they belong. Art Briles just jumped ship from UH to Baylor to escape CUSA, which is funny, and the only reason Baylor got into the Big 12 over UH in the first place is because of crooked politics (Anne Richards). Baylor belongs in CUSA and if there is a God that is where they will end up.
I’ve done alot of reading on this reetcnly.First off, K-State has no chance to the Big Ten whatsoever because all Big Ten schools have to be AAU members. K-Sate is not. Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa State all are.It looks like right now the lynchpin is Nebraska. They bolt for the Big 10 and the South (plus or minus Baylor) plus Colorado go to the Pac-10. Missouri may or may not head to the Big 10, depending on whether they actually get an invite.Could leave KU, KSU, Iowa St, and Baylor looking for a new home. Baylor (if not Pac-10) and Iowa St would be destined to Mid-Major (possibly Missouri Valley).That leaves KU and K-State. K-State fate would likely be tied to whether the Board of Regents allowed them to split up, which would be bad for K-Sate, good for KU. There just isn’t enough TV set outside of the KC market to warrant taking both schools when it’s mostly about revenue through big time TV contracts. (That’s why the Big 10 is not interested in Iowa Sate) If they were allowed to split up, KU to the Big 10 is likely if the Big 10 wants to get to 16 teams. If not, KU could be in trouble. Rumors are that KU has been talking to the ACC, but that would be a shame due to the distance. Kstate would likely look at the MAC like farmboy suggested but I think the Moutain West would be more likelyWhat I think will happen is that Nebraska stays (with the promise of a bigger chunk of revenue dollars) and the Big XII survives for now. Just depends on the Huskers.
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