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Big 12 football: Ranking the league’s 5 best expansion options ‘out west’

By John Scimeca

PALO ALTO, CA - AUGUST 31: Bryce Love #20 of the Stanford Cardinal runs the ball against the San Diego State Aztecs at Stanford Stadium on August 31, 2018 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
PALO ALTO, CA - AUGUST 31: Bryce Love #20 of the Stanford Cardinal runs the ball against the San Diego State Aztecs at Stanford Stadium on August 31, 2018 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
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Big 12 football could stand to benefit by adding several teams from the West Coast, as recent remarks by its commissioner reveal.

Big 12 football fans have more conference realignment news to ponder this week in light of conference commissioner Brett Yormark’s remarks during a visit to Cincinnati.

Yormark, speaking to reporters during his visit with the soon-to-be Big 12 member Bearcats, said that the league would like to be “going out west” in terms of future league expansion.

“Obviously, going out west is where I would like to go, entering that fourth time zone,” said Yormark on Wednesday.

He also said that the Big 12 would like to add “a program that has national recognition, one that competes at the highest level in basketball and football, stands for the right things, [and] is a good cultural fit.”

Ever since USC and UCLA announced their plans this past summer to bolt the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, speculation has centered on the relative stability of the Big 12 compared with the suddenly vulnerable Pac-12 with its 10 remaining schools. Some conversations included the Big 12 scooping up teams like Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, and Colorado — which might not necessarily be in the league’s best interests.

It seems natural that the Big 12 should look to fill in the power vacuum of the Pac-12 in the two westernmost U.S. time zones. With the impending addition of BYU, the conference should look for suitable geographic partners with the Cougars while establishing valuable programs that could boost the league in the future.

If the Big 12’s reputed stability becomes attractive to some of the best remaining programs in the Rockies or along the West Coast, the league could feasibly position itself as college football’s next-best power conference behind the behemoth SEC and Big Ten mega-conferences.

It’s not clear how many teams the Big 12 would eye for future expansion. Would the league automatically go for four additional teams to go with two eight-team divisions with 16 overall members? Or is simply adding two Pacific Time Zone teams enough, giving the Big 12 14 members? Going for more would mean trying to match the progress of the Big Ten and the SEC, which will both soon swell to 16 teams each.

Here are the Big 12’s best options for expansion in the western part of the United States:

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