Big 12 Football: Top 5 expansion candidates for the conference

Finishing out the list of potential teams to join the Big 12 is BYU. This set of Cougars would bring the Big 12 in a different direction, steering the league back westward in defiance of its would-be poachers in the Pac-12. To do so, the conference would have to work their magic on a team that ostensibly enjoys its current freedom.

BYU ditched the Mountain West for football independence over the summer before the 2011 season. The Cougars were tired of dealing with posting strong seasons in what was a grossly underrated conference, and felt that independence would bolster their position in the national rankings. But the accolades never came as BYU’s results tapered off.

Even with the recent swoon in 2017 that broke a streak of 12 straight postseason invitations, BYU is already built for power-conference football. Were the Cougars to join the Big 12 tomorrow, they could instantly boast that they have the third-largest stadium in the conference behind only Texas and Oklahoma.

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If the conference deems its long-term future worth protecting, it will want to land strategically positioned teams. BYU would shore up the western flank quite nicely, giving the Big 12 a presence in lands that have so far been exclusively targeted by other leagues.  Coupled with a near-lock on Texas teams and perennial national contenders in the Oklahoma schools, it would allow the Big 12 to progress forward as a viable league rather than a collection of quality members to be plucked away.