Big 12 Conference: Could Former Conference Schools Return

With Big 12 Conference expansion talks heating up, and former teams rumored to be open to returning, let’s look at some possible fits for the conference.

Of the five ‘power conferences’ in college football (BIG XII, B1G, PAC 12, SEC, ACC), the Big 12 Conference is the only conference with less than 12 teams, and the only one with no conference championship game (at least for now).

This wasn’t that big of a deal for the conference until it was left out of the inaugural College Football Playoff. The consensus was that Baylor and TCU, who finished tied at the top of the conference, weren’t given a fair look for the playoff because they didn’t have to play a conference championship game.

The talk died down as the 2015-2016 football season progressed and Oklahoma made the College Football Playoff.

The increased amount of money for the four leagues with a conference network not only increases the disparity in revenue of leagues with networks to the Big 12 without one, it also makes those conferences much more attractive to Big 12 schools should they decide to leave for a more stable conference.

While expansion was still on the table, the urgency lessened to the fact that OU proved that a Big 12 team could make the playoff without a championship game. Add to that the fact that there were very few big name schools willing to join the conference; the Big XII didn’t want to water down the quality of the league just to increase the number of teams.

This week, conference expansion is back on the forefront as it was announced the ACC would receive their own conference network, leaving the Big XII as the only power-five conference without one.

Let’s take a look at some of the rumors going around regarding Big 12 expansion lately, starting with schools that actually used to be in the conference. At Big 12 media days this week, Kansas State head football coach Bill Snyder said that there were teams that left the conference back between 2011 and 2012 that would like to be back in the Big 12, citing lack of rivals and in some cases, lack of success.

The Colorado Buffaloes made the move to the Pac-12 in 2011, and have had very little success. They haven’t won the Pac-12 in any sport since joining and only won the Pac-12 tournament championship in basketball in their first season in the conference. A move back to the Big XII wouldn’t guarantee success, but it would restore some familiarity for the Buffaloes and for the Big XII.

Colorado also wouldn’t be losing revenue, because Pac 12 teams make about the same yearly revenue as teams from the Big XII.

Nebraska has a long history with teams like Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, and others; they also developed a fierce football rivalry with Texas when the Big XII began in 1996.

The same can’t be said for Nebraska, if they happen to be one of the teams interested in returning to the league. The B1G is one of the most successful conference networks, and Nebraska would be taking a significant cut in revenue to return to the Big 12. That being said, one thing making the thought of returning to their old conference is the history.

One of the original Big Eight members, Nebraska has a long history with teams like Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, and others; they also developed a fierce football rivalry with Texas when the Big XII began in 1996.

The other two former Big XII schools, Texas A&M and Mizzou, are less likely to return to the conference.

Both would be taking a huge loss in revenue by leaving the SEC, and both teams have had success in their new conference. Mizzou won the SEC East and earned a berth in the SEC championship game each of it’s first two football seasons in the conference.

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Texas A&M has been competitive in both football and men’s basketball, including winning a share of the SEC championship this past season. Mizzou does have the Border War rivalry as an incentive to return, but a combination of money and pride will likely prevent that move.

As far as other teams go, Cincinnati and Memphis have been linked to the conference and are both very interested in joining in the future. Memphis University president M. David Rudd recently posted to his twitter account a Memphis promotional publication, likely to show the Big XII the upside of adding the school to the conference.

Cincinnati has reached out to the Big XII before, and was widely mentioned when the initial conference realignment went down and West Virginia and TCU joined. Should the Big XII decide to extend the invitation, these two schools would be the first to accept.

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Having been rumored to add up to four teams, it will be interesting to see who the Big XII reaches out to, and who continues to reach out to the conference. With many teams being linked to the league, like BYU, Houston, and more on top of the many listed above, the Big XII will more than likely grow in the near future, the only question will be who joins?

Who would you most like to see join (or re-join) the Big XII?

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