The Future of the Big XII

The Big XII is shooting itself in the foot.  While the University of Missouri hems and haws over when they’re going to leave for the SEC, the Big XII still can’t get out of its own way.  After unanimously approving an invite of West Virginia, everything has come to a halt with the news that the Louisville is somehow holding everything up.

Word has come down that right before WVU was supposed to make it official, Louisville has come in and begged to be taken instead.  The Big XII has found itself with two dates to the prom and can’t decide which one to let down.  My how quickly things can change.

Just one short month ago the demise of the Big XII was all but a certainty.  Now they find themselves in a situation where they can pick and choose?  Let’s all not kid ourselves though; picking between Lousiville and West Virginia is like picking between a Honda Civic and a Toyota Corolla.  Both are going to get you there and be reliable, but you’re not turning any heads at the stoplights.

The big question here is why is there even a choice?  The Big XII apparently wants to stay at 10 teams and with the addition of TCU they only have room for one of these programs.  Seriously?  Is this for real?  I can’t believe what I’m seeing.  Teetering on the brink of extinction they have the choice of, as Nick Wright put in on his radio show, a stay of executions versus long-term stability.

At this point in the conference realignment game we all know that only having 10 teams in a conference is a long-term viable option.  Having 12 teams and a championship game is the only way to ensure the Big XII remains alive and a premier conference. 

Word has it that Texas and Oklahoma are both against going back to 12 teams and don’t want a conference championship game.  Both teams have been slighted by the format before and are crying about it.  The hope is that they can more easily get invited to a BCS bowl without that extra game.  Nevermind that the Big XII routinely puts two teams in the BCS.  Forget that, if not for BCS rules, in 2008 the Big 12 could have put 3 teams in the BCS mix.  It seems both Texas and Oklahoma have forgotten these things, so we might as well do the same.

Texas and Oklahoma are apparently committed to the Big XII.  What they are more likely committed to are their own interests.  In the dog-eat-dog world of college athletics, I don’t blame them.  However, if you’re going to be committed to yourselves, then make it known.  Don’t pretend to be for the Big XII, only to hold it hostage.  Texas and Oklahoma are keeping this conference from having long term stability.

The two southern powers could probably survive as independents but know that a conference is more beneficial to them.  They don’t want to find themselves in the position of Notre Dame where they have to work to schedule all their games and have to work out special deals to be included in the BCS.

It is beneficial for both sides for Texas and Oklahoma to be in the Big XII.  Despite that, those two schools are using their clout as power over the conference.  They are convincing the other universities that they are doing them a favor by staying and keeping the conference together.  While that may be true, they need the Big XII as much as it needs them.

Everybody should have an equal voice in the Big XII and the conference needs to look out for its own interests.  The conference needs to tell Texas and Oklahoma to stop bitching, call their bluffs, and invite WVU and Lousiville.  The Big XII shouldn’t stop there either.  They need to look at Cincinnati, BYU, and Houston as viable candidates for that 12^th team.

It’s a new day for the Big XII.  They have a chance to put all this instability behind it and move on to be a strong conference.  WVU and Lousiville both make this conference stronger and are adequate replacements for MU in both football and basketball.  There is a chance here for this conference to stop being the hunted and become the hunter.  By putting Texas and Oklahoma in their place the conference will be strengthened.

The only way this conference can move forward is together, Texas, Oklahoma, and the other seven schools.  That will only happen if Texas and Oklahoma realize that even though they might be the most valuable, they don’t have to act like it.  The Big XII can be a conference that is around for a long time.  The Big XII can be successful and dominant both financially and athletically.  The Big XII needs to soldier on.  This can only happen if they move forward together.