Fix the Big 12 by Kicking Out the Longhorns

The Big 12 needs help. With Nebraska and Colorado having already left the conference as well as Texas A&M on their way to the SEC even more bad news comes in the form of Oklahoma exploring leaving next. So what can be done to save the Big 12?

How about getting rid of the Longhorns? Let me explain.

There is already talk that the Pac-12 could be the next Super Conference and be the Pac-16. Why stop at 16? What the Big 12 needs to do is expand to 24 teams to fix the sports side and distribute the money more evenly between the 24 teams to fix the business side. Here is how.

1. Expand, to 24 teams and expand quick. The Big 12 needs 24 teams with two leagues that would be similar to Football in England. The Big 12 are the best 12 teams in every revenue generating sport (Football & Basketball) with the "Little 12" for lack of a better term, being the teams that can get promoted up to the Big 12. The top 4 teams in the "Little 12" each season get promoted to the "Big 12" while the bottom 4 teams of the "Big 12" get relegated to the "Little 12". This way the best teams are always playing in the Big 12. Which makes the conference more attractive for TV deals.

2. What teams should join? There are almost unlimited scenarios. Here are a few

A: If the MountainWest did not have their own TV network that was part owned by NBC Universal and CBS a merger would be ideal. The MountainWest will have 10 team next year with the nine Big 12 teams (minus Texas A&M) and you only need 5 more which should be Houston, BYU, SMU, maybe steal Arkansas from the SEC and get TCU as well.

B: Realistically, if the MountainWest is not an option you need to get teams that will agree to a smaller piece of the pie to start with the opportunity to get more money as their program gets better and is in the top 12 teams of the Big 12. The Big 12 takes the whole West division of Conference USA (Tulsa, Houston, SMU, Rice, Tulane & UTEP) Maybe some teams from the WAC and Sunbelt.

C: Dominate the Central time zone. This limits expansion to AR, LA, IL, the Dakotas as a packaged deal (ND & SD), MS, AL, IL, WI, NE, MN. Possible options to add in order of prestige would be:

Any team of the six teams in the West Division of the SEC

Any team in the Conference USA West Division

TCU

Southern Miss

UAB

There are eight teams from the Gateway football conference in the Central time zone

Troy

Arkansas St

LA - Monroe

LA - Lafayette

North Texas

3. Think the impossible. Should the Big 12 give Texas the boot? Texas is getting too powerful on their own and is causing other teams to leave. It may be in the best interest of the conference to cut ties with the Longhorns. It sounds crazy......OK maybe it is crazy now that I have said it out loud. If Texas stays, they need to redo the ESPN Longhorn network deal to make it work for the Big 12 and not just the Longhorns.

4. Distribute the money. While Universities are non profits the decisions behind the conference moves are based on money. By distributing the profits more fair to all 24 teams in the Big 12 and the Little 12 it helps more schools become more competitive which helps the entire league and not just one or two schools. With the TV deal of the Big 12 coming up in 2016 now is the time for the Big 12 to take action.

Bye Bye Longhorns?