BigXII Rumor Mill: Expansion Edition

[Swipet]

 

BigXII Rumor Mill: Expansion Edition

An article by Swipet Media Corp.

 

The recent announcement of Oklahoma and Texas applying for membership for the Southeastern conference has caught the College football world by storm, especially how it came to fruition in a few short weeks. The Sooners and Longhorns bring large fan bases and world-class talent to the already leading football conference in America. But what happens to the conference that they are leaving? Well, it’s complicated. News quickly circled following every rumor that certain teams are in talks with other conferences for membership and other teams are trying to jostle their way into a position into a power five conference.

 

To simply put it, the conference is small but has a lot of potential for “aggressive” expansion. Following are the schools that are rumored to be leading the charge for a seat at the table.

 

Cincinnati Bearcats: A Ohio school in a major metropolitan area with a winning tradition would make an excellent addition to the conference. Closing the gap to West Virginia in terms of geography, the Bearcats would definitely be one of the most likely candidates in the near future.

 

 

University of Central Florida: One of the newer universities on this list is also one of the largest enrolments in the country as they have over 60,000 students with a large majority of their Alumni base still dwelling in the land of the living. They still have a ways to go facility wise and on the football field, but they do have a great foundation on being in Florida and are constantly growing by the year. If you put the Knights in a power conference and on major television networks, you could make this school a major player in the college football world in a few decades.

 

 

University of South Florida: Given the same reasons as their central brethren, they are in a major football region and are constantly growing. They still dont have the tradition as FSU, Miami or even Florida Atlantic but given time they can become a player along with UCF.

 

 

Florida State/Clemson: Fearing the power of the SEC slowly starting to push these schools down, they have voiced their concerns to the ACC administration to no avail. Would this give them a reason to bolt for a sinking ship? Probably not, but given the right circumstances and media deals could make them consider it.

 

 

Tulsa: You can’t tell the story of college football without mentioning the Golden Hurricane in the first paragraph. They are already in the BigXII footprint and would solidify Oklahoma as a BigXII state. Adding this powerhouse to the BigXII would be a massive move that would put Tulsa in the eyes of more college football fans across the nation and by how they are dominating the competition of the AAC, they would easily compete for more national titles in the future. Rumor also has it that coach Acewolf already has deep ties to the conference and some BigXII members have been quoted behind closed doors saying they would “do whatever it takes” to bring the university of Tulsa to the conference.

 

Stay tuned for more realignment news and rumors in this always changing landscape of college football.

[Minnow]

I can see Tulsa and nothing else. #FCS Call-up?

[Vivid]

Tulsa and Texas state honestly would be more afraid of them than the short horns and the laters

[subsequent]

What if Big12 dissolves and runs for the other conferences?

[Minnow]

It will definitely try to preserve what power it has left. but if anything Iowa State to the B1G.

[Sarge]

Would be really cool to see Tulsa move into the BigXII just to bully the other three Texas teams with OKST. (Also would be really neat if we played out our own BigXII/Conference realignment instead of mirroring irl but both are cool).

[kwheele]

What happened to our raiding of the Big10 and Pac-12?

[kwheele]

In all seriousness, Cincy would give WVU a regional rival, Tulsa would be an upgrade for us to play against here at Mullet U, add in Houston to go to 4 teams in Texas, then add USF and UCF to have inroads into the Florida recruiting base and then we go after three of the following teams to get us to 16: Mizzou, Nebraska, Colorado, Arkansas, Texas State or UNM

[TuscanSota]

A very honest take. Definitely don't take this with a grain of salt:

 

With the Longhorns and the Sooners about to join the Disneyland Conference, I think the Big 12 has a huge opportunity to poach teams that will not be happy with the power dynamic that having large conferences brings to the table. Suuuuuure money brings a lot to the table for schools. You know what brings money in the long term? Championships. It will do more for improving the brand of a school than joining a conference will just because of a money deal involving a dying technology.

 

So, who joins the big 12?

 

- Arkansas

Congrats, you now have two new teams in the west that are going to make your life miserable for getting wins in the SEC. Arkansas is now the third closest rival the soon-to-be Walt Disney Longhorns will have, along with A&M and the Sooners; and although they tally the second-most championships in the historic Southwest Conference they are not doing shit in the SEC. Too many cooks at the table? How about head to a conference with a better regional footprint for the Razorbacks, along with other historic teams the Razorbacks have played longer than their entire tenure in the Disneyland Conference. The Big 12 is now at nine teams.

 

- Texas A&M

The Aggies originally left the Big 12 because of the Longhorns' Longhorn Network. Even though they didn't want in on the deal, they didn't expect the Longhorns to move forward. Now that the Longhorns are basically following the Aggies, what better way to show their the premier university and head to a different conference? It's clear neither school still wants to play one another, and the Longhorns aren't respecting their boundaries for the Aggies wanting their own personal space. So the Aggies go back to the Big 12.

 

The Big 12 is now at ten teams.

 

- Nebraska

Nebraska left because of soon-to-be-Walt-Disney Longhorn's bullshit. And while they made an initial splash in the Big 10 by going to the Conference Championship at least twice, the Cornhuskers have sputtered ever since. Any attempt at a rivalry trophy has not been taken seriously on the big stage (Look at you, $5 Bits of Broken Chair, the best trophy to be created in the 21st Century). While they may be in a conference, of championships, Nebraska's going to have a tough road for a Conference championship with the Buckeyes having a pipeline and the backing of the conference to their whim.

 

For the Huskers, it makes better sense for them to head to a conference with stronger regional and historical ties, and less BS from the big brand blue-bloods in the rust belt.

 

The Big 12 is now at 11 teams.

 

So, who takes the final spot?

Honestly, in terms of the sim, it could very well be hard-hitters such as Tulsa and Texas State, who are practically sweeping recruiting and teams in their regions. They're doing a much better job than their IRL counterparts and the IRL counterparts of their state's primary educational institutes. But college football is now about b r a n d s. So which team do we know has the biggest brand and biggest reach throughout the college football landscape, that every fan has an opinion on? No, I'm not talking about the Buckeyes, nor the Walt Disney Crimson Tide. Not even the Disney-Off-Brand Clemson Tigers.

 

We're talking Pitt. Eat shit, Pitt.