In the latest conference realignment turn, Missouri has now put itself on the market.
How will this affect the major players still in flux? Here’s a look:
Missouri
Mizzou’s administration still has the option to re-commit to the Big 12, but no one seems to think that’s realistic.
Could the Tigers use their newfound singlehood to make another pass at the Big Ten? I don’t see why not. Frankly, Mizzou strikes me and anyone with a lick of sense as far more B1G than SEC.
Ultimately, however, the Tigers appear to have put themselves on a collision course with the Southeastern Conference.
Big 12
Chuck Neinas aside, everyone else is already moving on to potential expansion candidates. Of course, that assumes the conference members truly think the league is worth keeping.
With just eight remaining teams, the retro Big 12 is now the conference of choice for hipsters across the country. Three quality programs – really four – have fled the league in the last 18 months. Under any other circumstances, the Big 12 would have disbanded by now. Texas and Oklahoma seem set on keeping the league alive, though.
So, instead, like an aging rock act, the conference’s core appears set on continuing to tour. They’ll audition some new members, play to some smaller crowds and keep on living the lie that nothing has changed.
That brings us to…
Big East
Prepare for a pillaging.
With a minimum of four spots now open in the Big 12, the Big East appears the most likely source of new recruits. So far the most common candidates thrown around for Big 12 expansion have included West Virginia, Louisville, TCU and Cincinnati.
The Big East is planning on doing some expanding of its own. However, the Big East’s viability as a football conference would probably come under scrutiny if some of its marquee programs abandoned ship.
As a fan of a team inside the Big 12 now, I have to admit that I don’t know why anyone would actually want to join the league at this point. That’s a discussion for another time.
BYU
The Cougars look like a major wildcard in all this horse-trading. Not only are they independent, they have their own television network. On top of that, BYU has made a commitment to the West Coast Conference – you know, Gonzaga and those guys – to participate there in non-football sports.
While the WCC relationship sounds like a red herring, you have to wonder if the Cougars would have concerns with the perceptions of shadiness that going back on their word could bring.
A few other observations as the conference realignment wheel keeps spinning:
*Does anyone know if the schools who have “committed” to the Big 12, such as Texas and Oklahoma, have actually signed away their media rights as of now? I honestly have no idea.
Another question: Does it matter? Recent events suggest those agreements aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.
If the six-year “handcuffs” are not in effect yet, do the other Big 12 schools start looking around again?
*People like Gene Stallings need to get off this whole shtick about leaving the Big 12 because “Texas is only looking out for Texas.”
Of course that’s true. The same goes for Oklahoma. And A&M. And Mizzou. And Oregon State. And Northwestern.
Contrary to the popular rhetoric of today, not every economic relationship that involves people working together, e.g. an athletic conference, makes it some kind of socialist commune. A conference exists for the same reason a society exists: to benefit its members. If the conference doesn’t achieve that purpose, a member shouldn’t – and wouldn’t – be there.
The Kumbayah bit sounds good, but A&M isn’t going to the SEC for the opportunity to take care of Vanderbilt. It sounds either naive or disingenuous – take your pick.
*That being said, Texas looking out for Texas has put the Big 12 on life support.
If Chip Brown’s reporting is accurate, Mizzou is threatening/leaving the league essentially because Texas won’t give up on showing high school content on its television network.
Is this whole mess Texas’ fault? No, because it’s how the league is set up. It does go to show that a league structured this way simpy won’t work.
Unless the conference enacts major reforms, and there’s no evidence that it will, it will continue to serve as a revolving door for smaller programs looking for a payday, as the member schools with stroke seek out better options.
