A New Chapter Begins July 1st for the Big 12

In a matter of 15 months, the Big 12 Conference experienced two near-death experiences beginning in June 2010.  It began with a report by Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com and the instability continued into the next year.  The University of Texas had been the main target for the Pac-10/12 for nearly two decades and the instability of the Big 12 caught the eyes of both groups.  The University of Texas experienced a change of heart at the last minute and remained with the Big 12, keeping the conference alive for another day.  The Longhorns had great offers on the table, from being an independent power like Notre Dame to becoming members of the Pac-10/12, Big Ten, and ACC, but their best deal came from the conference they had called home for a decade and a half.  They recognized their largest profit would come as a member of the Big 12 and they were rewarded a shared entity with ESPN called the Longhorn Network.

Although the conference lost four members over the past two years (Nebraska, Colorado, Texas A&M, and Missouri), the conference is now revived.  It's now a hot destination for many schools around the country.  They stole two schools from the Big East (TCU and West Virginia) and reports have linked the conference with the some of the country's best schools, including Notre Dame, Florida State, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Boise State, and BYU, as the conference looks to further expand in the future.  The conference remains at ten schools for the second consecutive year as the TCU Horned Frogs and West Virginia Mountaineers replace the SEC-bound Texas A&M Aggies and Missouri Tigers on Sunday.  Both TCU and West Virginia bring nationally-recognized programs to the Big 12 that will compete for conference championships along with the current conference elites.

What's the future of the Big 12?  The Big 12 Conference might be in its best position since four Texas schools from the Southwest Conference merged with the Big Eight in 1996.  The conference members are loyal and pleased with their current standing in the conference.  The conference is involved with money-making television deals on ABC-ESPN and Fox Sports Net and three schools (Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas State) have produced their own sports networks.  Although conference officials are not engaging in any further expansion at the present time, expect expansion from the ten-school conference before the new four-team playoff is engaged in 2014.