This is my favorite off-season topic so I’m not sure how I’ve waited this long to blog about it, but here it is. Every year we go through dramatic “done deals” and numerous reports that the Big 10 is sitting on the verge of collapsing college sports as we know it. Then the sports media starts the “what-if” scenarios that will play out if the Big 10 expands, the biggest being that the SEC and Pac 10 will both start a land grab of sorts over the rest of the nation’s teams.

Let me do a quick review of how we are at this point for those that might not be keeping track.

Scene 1: 15 years ago the Southwest Conference broke up. In an age where more and more games were going on TV and the internet had just started to blow up the way we absorb sports media, the SWC was an antiquated relic and Texas and A&M knew it.

Scene 2: The Big 12 is formed. In a world where college athletics is all about the teams and not about the money, the Big 12 is almost an ideal league. Texas, A&M, Baylor, and Tech’s joining the league brought the media juggernaut that is the state of Texas into a league that was already loaded with perennially good programs.

Scene 3: College sports changes, and the Big 12 doesn’t. Flash forward the next ten years, and college athletics have now become basically the minor leagues. With games on as many as ten channels (NBC, CBS, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Versus, The Big 10 Network, and the entire gambit of FSN Channels) at once and 24/7 coverage online, on tv, and on twitter, media markets and money are now the driving force behind every decision in college athletics.

So what we’re left with is an era where the viability of a college team is about how much money that can throw around and how many viewers they can bring to the table. And the Big 10 has this concept on lock. The rest of the conferences are still reeling and trying to recover from the launch of the Big 10 Network. And as much as the Big 10 excels, the Big 12 fails. It’s TV contract is a total joke (especially for basketball) and there are teams in the conference that bring absolutely nothing to the table.

This is why when you hear the words “The Big 10 is looking to expand” you can also attach the phrase “which would finally cause the inevitable destruction of the Big 12.” (and the Big East also but that’s another conversation.)

But there is an opportunity here to salvage this sinking ship, and it’s my suggestion to the athletic directors of 6 of the Big 12 schools. Don’t wait for the Big 10 to make a move. Strike first. Band together, get on the phones, and create a super conference with the teams of the ACC.

So time to piss some people off. Who are the 6 teams? They are Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri.(Note here, if the Big 10 does make the first move and adds Missouri, Kansas State would take their place)

Iowa State, Baylor, and Colorado being excluded is obvious. Texas Tech is hard to leave out but from a media standpoint they don’t bring much. Besides they’re probably academically the worst school in the Big 12 and we want to impress the ACC schools with this offer. Kansas State is really hard to leave out, but like Texas Tech they just don’t bring much value to the TV contract. Neither does Oklahoma State. Now you’re probably thinking “Aubrey, these teams have been kicking the crap out of A&M lately so how come they get to go?” The Aggies have the 9th largest athletic budget in the country, are one of the nation’s largest schools, and (most important) are really close to Houston. So the Aggies are going along with Texas in almost every scenario. 

Here’s where the ACC has to get bold. Obviously we can’t have 18 teams in a conference, so they’re going to have to drop a couple of programs also. I would suggest, with just a cursory knowledge of the athletic history of the programs, North Carolina State and Wake Forest.

So think about it. In football you would have a league with 13 of the 24 BCS title game appearances anchored by Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Florida State, Miami, and Virginia Tech. With quality second tier teams in A&M, Clemson, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Boston College, etc.

In basketball… oh man don’t even get me started. This would put Kansas, Duke, and North Carolina in the same conference. Add in Maryland, Missouri, A&M, Texas, Boston College… it makes me tingly just thinking about it.

But here’s why this really works. You would have TV markets in two of the three largest states in the US in Texas and Florida. The conference’s “cities of influence” would include San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City, St Louis, Kansas City, Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Washington DC, Richmond, and Baltimore.

So why wait for the Big 10 to make the call? When you play out that scenario it almost always ends with some of the historic rivalries of the Big 12 being split apart. Don’t wait. Make something happen. Or don’t start complaining when you’re left with picking up the phone to invite Houston to join your new Mountain West.