Friday, September 23, 2016

The Big 12 Expansion and My (Brilliant) Ideas

As I lay here in my death bed (I'm still sick :/), I began to think about the Big 12 and it's desire to expand and add new teams to the conference (because I want that to be my dying thought?).  This wasn't originally supposed to a blog post but instead of keeping these thoughts to myself, I figured I would share them with you readers (because people read my blog.. right?) so you can appreciate my "genius" as much as I do.  So here it is, my Big 12 Expansion Idea, broken down (I think way to much):

Big 12 (Currently):
TCU
Iowa State
Texas*
Oklahoma*
Oklahoma State
Kansas
Kansas State
West Virginia
Texas Tech
Baylor

*Oklahoma and Texas haven’t approved expansion idea.  If they leave they should go to the SEC.

Expansion Candidates:
UConn
Cincinnati
UCF
USF
Rice
Houston
SMU
Tulane
BYU
Air Force
Colorado State

SEC (with Texas and Oklahoma):
 East:
Florida
Georgia
South Carolina
Vanderbilt
Tennessee
Kentucky
Alabama*
Auburn*

West:
Texas A&M
Arkansas
Ole Miss
Mississippi State
LSU
Missouri*
Oklahoma*
Texas*

*Geographically, Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri are more “western” than Auburn and Alabama, so you move those 2 teams to the East and add Texas and Oklahoma to the West and move Missouri from the East to the West.  Iron Bowl rivalry stays.  Red River Showdown Rivalry stays as well.  Divisions stay even with 8 teams a piece.

Big 12 (without Texas and Oklahoma):
TCU
Iowa State
Oklahoma State
Kansas
Kansas State
West Virginia
Texas Tech
Baylor

Logical Additions:
BYU*
Houston*

Geographical Additions (self-explanatory):
Houston
Rice*
SMU*

*Rice and SMU aren’t good or prestigious (well SMU kinda is) but just location wise it works I guess.

Teams to Think About:
Air Force*
Colorado State*

*BYU and Houston are good and prestigious programs.  It makes sense to add them to increase ratings and add competition to the conference.  Air Force and Colorado State aren’t as prestigious and they do not sound like good Big 12 teams but their programs are decent enough at the moment to also be considered.  Only add if you really want to increase to 14 teams (or 12 if Texas and Oklahoma leave).

Teams to Not Even Consider:
UConn*
Cincinnati*
Tulane*
UCF*
USF*

*None of these programs are good enough or even prestigious enough to even be considered to join the Big 12.  No one wants to see UConn vs Baylor or like UCF vs TCU.  Those will just be demolitions.  Plus the AAC will shrink in size and will just destroy the conference.  Plus geographically it wouldn’t make sense for UConn or Cincinnati or any of these teams to be there (what about West Virginia though? Couldn’t tell ya. They’re an more of a Big 10 team to me but fits well in the Big 12).


Big 12 (Post Expansion if Oklahoma and Texas Leave):
TCU
Iowa State
Oklahoma State
Kansas
Kansas State
West Virginia
Texas Tech
Baylor
Houston*
BYU*
SMU*
Colorado State*

*4 expansion teams if Texas and Oklahoma leave.  Big 12 will have 12 teams and the name will make sense.  I feel like Colorado State would add better competition than the other teams considered therefore they should be added only if Texas and Oklahoma leave.  SMU on the other hand isn’t the best team in the world but they have the prestige (kinda) and the rivalries (all the Texas teams basically) to be added, again, only if Texas and Oklahoma leave.

Big 12 (Post Expansion if Oklahoma and Texas Stay):
TCU
Iowa State
Oklahoma
Texas
Oklahoma State
Kansas
Kansas State
West Virginia
Texas Tech
Baylor
Houston*
BYU*

*2 new expansion teams if Texas and Oklahoma stay

So long story short, no matter what, Houston and BYU should join the Big 12.  They are good teams and deserve to have better competition.  If Texas and Oklahoma do not approve the expansion idea (I wouldn’t blame them, I like the Big 12 like it is right now), they should move on the SEC which adds way more competition to the conference and will make it the best/hardest conference to play in college football more than it already is.

Other Teams to Consider Outside of the Approached Expansion Teams:
San Diego State
Tulsa
Boise State
Nevada

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