Big 12 Football: Could expansion save it from becoming next Big East?

Adding schools west of the Mississippi

Adding schools that expand the conference footprint west and brings something to the table as mentioned before is important for the Big 12 expanding by adding quality programs and schools.

The criteria is based on is the new school in a state that the Big 12 is not already in:

• Is a Group of Five top 15 revenue school according to footballscoop.com
• Has won eight or more games in a season five-plus times over the past decade
• Is a top 50 TV/streaming market
• Brings something unique and special to the Big 12

• In a state not already in the Big 12: Yes
• Group of Five top 15 revenue school: N/A (private institution as an Independent in football)
• Has five eight-plus win seasons since 2010: 7
• Top 50 TV/streaming market: No. 30
• Something special/unique that they bring to the Big 12: Yes. Like Texas, they have their own TV network.
• Criteria score card: 4/4*

News broke recently that BYU may be the first school to be added to the Big 12. However, since the news broke, there has not been any further news of BYU joining the conference and no longer being an independent in football.

BYU, similar to TCU, brings something unique to the conference and the school meets all of the criteria that the Big 12 can be looking for in a new school. The Cougars were last in a conference for football in 2010 when they were a member of the Mountain West.

Adding BYU makes perfect sense and if it wants to join a conference that will allow it to keep its own TV network like how the Big 12 allowed Texas to create the Longhorn Network, the Cougars joining makes perfect sense. BYU is in great shape coming off an 11-win season in the middle of a pandemic and the Cougars joining the Big 12 seems logical.

• In a state not already in the Big 12: Yes
• Group of Five top 15 revenue school: No (No. 16)
• Has five eight-plus win seasons since 2010: 8
• Top 50 TV/streaming market: No. 27
• Something special/unique that they bring to the Big 12: Yes. The Aztecs bring the Big 12 to the West Coast and into the most populated state in America.
• Criteria score card: 4/5

San Diego State is an ideal fit for the Big 12 for many reasons.

Reason No. 1 is expanding the conference out west into southern California and into a top 30 media market. Reason No. 2 is that the Aztecs not only have a quality football program who has won has had four seasons of 10 or more wins since 2015, the school resides in a city that recently lost their NFL team to Los Angeles. San Diego State plays its home games in Aztec Stadium but their new stadium began construction in August of 2020 and is scheduled to be ready by their 2022 opener.

Adding San Diego State makes sense for many reasons and the Big 12 should seriously consider adding the Aztecs to the conference.

Now look at the schools that the Big 12 should seriously consider adding out east to expand their conference footprint.