Kansas football: What happens to Jayhawks if Big 12 breaks up?

If the Big 12 were to dissolve, what would happen to Kansas? Is the Kansas football program attractive enough to help the Jayhawks land in a good conference?

It was a typical hot summer day in the Midwest a slight breeze, but overall nothing out of the normal.  The day progressed forward and if you have an analogue clock the second hand ticked away.  As it became mid afternoon it was as if time stood still as news is reported by the Houston Chronicle cited an unmanned college official stated an announcement would be made in the next several weeks regarding Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC.

Fast forward to July 22nd and around 11 AM according to Adam Sliverstein:

"The Longhorns and Sooners have reached out to the SEC about leaving the Big 12 and joining the nation’s most powerful conference, sources tell CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd. Citing “a high-ranking college official with knowledge of the situation,” the Houston Chronicle’s Brent Zwerneman first reported Wednesday that the SEC could announce the additions of the Longhorns and Sooners “within a couple of weeks.” Yes, things may move that quickly. Whether they will is another thing altogether. Changing conferences is a complicated task that will not only come down to preferences of the programs but also money. OU and UT are locked into the Big 12’s grant of rights allowing the conference to control the television product of its games through 2025. The SEC would also have to vote in the affirmative to add the programs in the first place."

If this were to occur that would leave the Big 12 with only 8 teams in total (Kansas, Baylor, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Texas Tech, TCU, and West Virginia).

Chip Patterson discussed a potential fallout and what could occur.

"“If Texas and Oklahoma do make an official move in the direction away from the Big 12 to join the SEC, some around the industry are already starting to suggest it would be a landscape-shifting event on the scale of the Supreme Court’s 1984 decision that allowed schools and conferences to make their own media rights deals instead of going through the NCAA.” “Yahoo! Sports’ Pete Thamel writes that we should expect the Big 12 to “be aggressive in adding schools,” should the Longhorns and Sooners be on the way out. And who gets a call depends on how big the conference wants to get. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah, Cincinnati, UCF, USF, BYU and Boise State were all mentioned in his afternoon update, with a note that Houston and SMU could be attractive candidates though Baylor and Texas Tech might oppose more in-state competition. One line of thinking seems to be that the Big 12 would be on the ropes without its two primary brands, but this report indicates more of a domino and food chain effect then marking the end of the conference as we know it. Of course, those potential candidates would have to say yes and be swayed to join a league that’s going to head into media rights negotiations (hypothetically) in a much different state.”"

So what does this mean for Kansas given that the Kansas football team isn’t all that great?

KU is known for their blue blood basketball team and the competitive nature they have every single year.  On the opposite hand we have a struggling football program who since the 2007-2008 season has shown little to no success.  In this day and age football is the bread and butter.  The money maker of college athletics.

So, should things start to unravel with the Big 12, here are a few options for where the Kansas football team could land.

Kansas football: Where would the Jayhawks land if the Big 12 falls apart should Texas and Oklahoma end up in the Southeastern Conference?

Can the Big 12 find a few new members, letting the Kansas football team stay right where it is?

If the Big 12 manages to hold on with the 8 teams after the departure of Oklahoma and Texas, I would like to see some of these schools to join.  Many would likely come from the American Athletic Conference.

Cincinnati has been rumored for many years to always be an option of joining the Big 12 even before West Virginia joined the conference.  A few more of those schools are intriguing like Houston and Memphis, and SMU.  I could also see a few teams from the Mountain West.  In the end, it is going to be challenging competing against 3 power house conferences in the SEC, Pac 12, and the Big 10.

Would the Big 10 be a good option for the Kansas Jayhawks?

This would be such a significant move for Kansas University, and ideally some of the other remaining schools could join this conference creating an even more competitive league than we already have seen.  This would not be a good situation for an already struggling Kansas football program. Especially considering the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, and Wisconsin, just to name a few.

But vice versa from a basketball standpoint this would be very exciting to compete against these schools every year.  The significant matchups that would be on the television throughout the basketball season would be epic.  The biggest question is would the Big 1o want to add KU for just the pedigree of basketball.

Pac 12

This is a very similar situation with the Big 10 meaning good football programs are housed within the Pac 12.  KU would be inserting a very fresh and raw football program into the Pac 12 where they would face off against the likes of Oregon, Stanford, USC, UCLA, Cal, and many others.  I think KU would have the upper leg on the other teams when it comes to a solid basketball program.

Of course this is much bigger due to the array of sports, television deals, travel time, and a lot of other bits and pieces.  I think it is an exciting time but also a potential frantic time if this realignment or falling out occurs.  I would be very interested in your thoughts and what you believe will happen.