A New and Short Era of the Big XII Begins

Today a new and short era begins in the Big XII. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF are now members. OU and Texas remain members for one more year. After over a decade of being a 10-team conference, the Big XII will be a 14-team conference for one year. I enter this brief window with very mixed feelings.

I am happy to have new blood on the conference schedule. The new teams have been solid either on the football field or the basketball court at some point in the recent past. But counterbalancing that is the imminent departure of Oklahoma from the conference one year from now. The Sooners have been a member of the conference for over a century. I do not like OU. I actively cheer against them. This is because of the deep history they have in the conference and the battles they have had with KU on the court over the years. Texas I will not miss.

The current realignment of the Big XII membership and the instability of the conference since they entered it can be laid directly at their feet. From the moment they entered the conference in 1996, they have been a thorn in the side of its members. Carving out the mainly failed Longhorn Network hindered the conference from making better media deals to benefit all its members. They seemingly were always looking to go elsewhere. I say good riddance to the awful burnt orange and ask if there is any way to get rid of the Longhorns today.