SMQ: Thinking radically about college football realignment in age of coronavirus
By Zach Bigalke
Oil Country Conference
- Teams: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tulsa, Baylor, North Texas, SMU, TCU, Texas
- States included: 2 (Oklahoma, Texas)
- Current P5 teams: 5 (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor, TCU, Texas)
The historic powers within the Oil Country are obvious, with four former Southwest Conference powers joining up with the southern terminus of the old Big Eight and incorporating a pair of Group of Five hopefuls into the realignment. Encompassing just two states, this league also affords less bureaucratic red tape to coordinate efforts to maintain conditions safe for play even in the midst of a pandemic.
Red River Shootout rivals Texas and Oklahoma are the twin hegemons of the Oil Country Conference. Baylor and TCU have recent history of success, as does Oklahoma State under Mike Gundy. Even North Texas and Tulsa have made noise in recent seasons, and SMU showed the potential brewing in Dallas during their 2019 run.
The footprint for this league is slightly larger than the Lincoln Conference, but with the longest trip measuring 420 miles each way between Austin and Tulsa the Oil Country Conference is more geographically compact even than the Great Lakes Conference. That at once prevents the league from hoarding too much Lone Star talent while maintaining the best conditions for ensuring player safety during public health crises.