FanPost

The Big 12 must expand to gain respect from playoff committee

Conference realignment is nothing new to the Big 12. It all began in 2010 when Nebraska and Colorado up and left for the Big Ten and Pac 12. Conference realignment reared it's ugly head again in 2011 as both Missouri and Texas A&M left for the SEC, officially ripping the Big 12 asunder and leaving them scrambling for new members. Luckily TCU and West Virginia joined in 2012 to stop the impending doom of the Big 12. After they joined it seemed as if the Big 12 was going to survive. Content with 10 teams the Big 12 resisted expanding any further and instead decided to capitalize on their round robin schedule. With a new look and new slogan "One True Champion" headlining the Big 12, the future looked bright for the conference. Then, on the morning of December 7th the CFB Playoffs seeding were announced. No.1 Alabama......No.2 Oregon......No.3 Florida State......and No.4 Ohio State. The Big 12 got shut out of the inaugural CFB Playoffs. This news left Big 12 country (specifically central Texas) in a rage and the rest of the country scratching their heads and asking the obvious question, "why did the Big 12 get left out of the playoffs". The answer may be relatively simple; the lack of a post season championship game. Even Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said "It's clear that we were penalized for not having a postseason championship game." In the eyes of the fans their is one true champion of the Big 12, Baylor, unfortunately the playoff committee did not share the same view. It is now obvious that the Big 12 must add a conference championship by either appealing to the NCAA to allow for a conference championship, or more realistically expand. In a perfect world we could touch a button to reset all conference moves dating back to 2010, but unfortunately that is not an option. Below i have provided 4 candidates to possibly join the Big 12 to make the league a 14 team conference and finally destroy any possibility of a full on collapse of the Big 12.

BYU

BYU has been brought up before, but never as a serious candidate, and the window of opportunity for BYU to join the Big 12 has never been more open. The school has a well known athletic department and are competitive in both football and basketball. Geographically Utah isn't quite Big 12 country, but then again neither is West Virgina. Although if the Big 12 decided to pick up Colorado State, then Utah would be a great geographical fit. Provo, UT is only 45 miles away from Salt Lake City, the 33rd largest tv market.

Colorado State

To be honest I don't think that Colorado State is a realistic candidate for the Big 12, but given the current events Bowlsby may be desperate enough to offer CSU membership. Colorado State isn't widely known for their prestigious athletics and is often overshadowed by Colorado's flagship university UC Boulder. But recently the Rams have been gaining public notoriety because of their basketball and football teams. The biggest appeal to this school is the location. Colorado State could fill the geographical footprint left by Colorado and would help ease in BYU in a geographical sense. I doubt the Big 12 jumps for CSU, but hey in today's state of conference realignment anything can happen. I mean, Rutgers in the Big 10? I mean, c'mon?

Memphis

I know, sounds crazy right? Memphis is the last school I think the Big 12 would pick, but after looking at what Memphis has to offer, it actually sounds plausible they join. Memphis, like KU, is known for being a basketball school and has never been considered a football school. Recently though the Tigers posted a 9-3 regular season record and are on the rise as a program. If Memphis is placed in the Big 12, I believe their fans will get behind their football team. Memphis sits in the 48th largest T.V. market that has no strong conference affiliation (except for maybe SEC or American) and is just asking to being taken advantage of. Expanding eastward would help West Virginia from being completely alienated in a geographical sense and it helps open the door for more eastward expansion, like in Cincinnati.

Cincinnati

Cincinnati has been thrown around before, and like BYU, their chance to join the Big 12 has never been bigger. Cincinnati has fielded great football and basketball teams lately and would thrive even more being a member of the Big 12. Cincinnati is extremely similar to Memphis in the sense that their city doesn't have a strong conference following. The Big 12 could take full control of the nation's 34th largest tv market. Adding the Bearcats could help complete a northern or eastern division.

While i'm at it, i've made a list of conference realignment moves that would create 8, 14 team conferences and one 12 team conference in order to help eliminate any CFB Playoff drama and most importantly put an end to realignment. (please forgive me for the Big 12 divisions)

Big 12

Division A:

Memphis

West Virginia

Cincinnati

Iowa State

Kansas

Kansas State

TCU

Division B:

Texas

Texas Tech

Baylor

Oklahoma State

Oklahoma

Colorado State

BYU

ACC (Partial members Notre Dame and UConn)

Atlantic:

Florida State

Clemson

Louisville

Boston College

NC State

Wake Forest

Syracuse

Coastal:

Georgia Tech

Duke

North Carolina

Pittsburgh

Miami

Virginia Tech

Virginia

Big Ten

East:

Ohio State

Michigan State

Maryland

Rutgers

Michigan

Penn State

Indiana

West:

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Nebraska

Iowa

Illinois

Northwestern

Purdue

SEC

East:

Missouri

Georgia

Florida

South Carolina

Tennessee

Kentucky

Vanderbilt

West:

Alabama

Mississippi State

Ole Miss

Auburn

LSU

Texas A&M

Arkansas

Pac 12

North:

Washington

Washington State

Oregon

Oregon State

Boise State

Utah

Colorado

South:

California

Stanford

Arizona

Arizona State

USC

UCLA

San Diego State

American

East:

UMass

Temple

Navy

ECU

Marshall

UCF

West:

South Florida

Tulsa

Tulane

SMU

Houston

Rice

Mountain West Conference

East:

Air Force

New Mexico

New Mexico State

North Texas

Texas State

UTEP

Wyoming

West:

Hawaii

Fresno State

San Jose State

Nevada

UNLV

Idaho

Utah State

MAC

East:

Buffalo

Toledo

Kent State

Bowling Green

Miami

Akron

Ohio

West:

Eastern Michigan

Western Michigan

Central Michigan

Northern Illinois

Middle Tennessee State

Western Kentucky

Ball State

Conference USA/Sun Belt

West:

UT San Antonio

Arkansas State

Louisiana Lafayette

Louisiana Monroe

Louisiana Tech

Southern Miss

Troy

East:

South Alabama

Georgia State

Georgia Southern

FIU

FAU

Appalachian State

Old Dominion

In This FanPost

Teams