Big 12 Football: Consider adding these 6 programs if recent results matter
By John Scimeca
There’s been plenty of speculation about the future of Big 12 football with this fall approaching. This will mark the first football season in which the league’s four new members will take the field from either the independent ranks (BYU) or the American Athletic Conference (Central Florida, Cincinnati, and Houston).
The Big 12 will contain 14 members for just one season before the departures of Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC officially take place following an early exit agreement of $100 million in fees.
With other changes set to occur in major conferences like USC and UCLA planning to join the Big Ten, it’s worth revisiting the idea that more realignment shifting will take place in college football. For now, the Pac-12 will stay put — as long as the Big Ten doesn’t also try to woo programs like Washington and Oregon.
If it were to prioritize recent results, Big 12 football should consider adding these schools.
We know that new Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark isn’t afraid to approach all sorts of possibilities in helping the conference navigate the realignment waters of today’s college athletics.
With new and potential “unknowns” out there such as the effects of new NIL deals and the continuation of open transfers, the Big 12 would do well to consider further expansion. CBS recently reported that the Big 12 has held regular talks with the “Four Corner” schools of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah about joining the conference and leaving the Pac-12.
Conference realignments and expansion moves are made with many things in mind, such as a school’s prestige, academic standing, donor/alumni support, access to media markets, and geographic fit.
These factors clearly don’t always translate to success on the football field — look no further than the Big 12’s past two seasons, in which Oklahoma and Texas (the league’s two most profitable brands) failed to reach the conference title game at the expense of Oklahoma State, Baylor, TCU, and Kansas State.
If the Big 12 prioritized on-field results from the past two football seasons, which schools should the league most seriously consider adding?