Two Routes for the Big 12 to Reach 20 Members
A year ago the Big 12 Conference was on life support as Oklahoma and Texas agreed to join forces with the SEC in the near future. With the only two big brands set to leave the conference, the Big 12 had to act quickly and did so by adding BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati, and Houston.
As solid as those additions were at the time, it's not going to be enough to stay afloat. The Big Ten recently added UCLA and USC and now, the remaining members of the PAC 12 are looking for a more stable situation. There have been reports of the Big Ten and SEC forming two mega conferences but there's still a path for leagues such as the ACC and Big 12 to remain.
For the Big 12, it would pay to be the aggressor rather than to sit back and wait to make a move. With several PAC 12 schools ready to bounce, it makes sense to go ahead and pursue those that interested.
Plan No. 1 - Merge with PAC 12
Sure, it makes travel worse for Cincinnati, Central Florida, and West Virginia but adding Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah would put the league at 16 members. The overwhelming sense is that if a league can get to 20 members, it will survive this round of conference realignment. With four spots left, the Big 12 could target Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, and Washington State but the Big Ten seems to be the preferred destination. If they could somehow land two of those four, then adding Memphis and South Florida could come into play as a fallback option. Memphis has been rumored as a Big 12 candidate for quite some time and USF has has some consideration but this time around, may get more of a look.
For this scenario, we're going to say the Big 12 strikes gold and lands both Oregon schools and Washington schools.
The 20 members: Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Oregon State, TCU, Texas Tech, Utah, Washington, Washington State, West Virginia.
Plan No. 2 - Sit back and poach the ACC
The first plan requires to act fast whereas this is more of the patient approach to see what options will remain. If the SEC does officially pursue the likes of Clemson, Florida State, Miami, and others and the Big Ten goes after Duke, North Carolina, and Notre Dame, the remaining ACC schools will be looking to jump ship, similar to how the remaining PAC 12 members feel at the moment. If I'm being honest, this could work out to be the best situation for WVU. This would present an opportunity to snag Boston College, Louisville, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. NC State and Wake Forest will likely follow UNC and Duke to wherever they go and the SEC will probably look to scoop up Georgia. This brings back the yearly rivalries of the Backyard Brawl and the Battle for the Black Diamond Trophy along with some old Big East rivalries with Boston College, Louisville, and Syracuse.
This route will get the league to 18 members and although it's a couple shy of 20, one would presume it would be a strong enough league to be able to last.
The 18 members: Baylor, Boston College, BYU, Cincinnati, Central Florida, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, Oklahoma State, Pitt, Syracuse, TCU, Texas Tech, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia.
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