Fixin’ College Football: Shuffling the Conferences (3/11)

Big 12
Established 1996
12 Teams
7 States
Largest Distance Between Schools: 837 Miles (Iowa State and Texas)

North
Colorado
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Missouri
Nebraska

South
Baylor
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Texas
Texas A&M
Texas Tech

The Big 12 is the second best conference in the country as it has great competition, rivalries, fans, and two divisions with a championship game. While the South division is stronger than the North, the best team usually survives in the end, although the BCS can screw this up as it did with Oklahoma and Texas last year. Year in and year out, the Big 12 boasts exciting offenses and Heisman candidates. The Red River Shootout is one of the most exciting rivalries in college football and maybe the best in the country in recent years. The Big 12 has history too, having 3 teams (Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma) in the top 10 in wins alltime. The only changes to even consider with the Big 12 would be changes that would accommodate other conferences. Iowa State could move to the Big Ten to create an in-state rivalry with Iowa and give the Big Ten an even number of teams, TCU could be absorbed by the Big 12 from the Mountain West to improve the MWC's geography, and Colorado could be taken in by the MWC to improve its depth. But none of the options are very enticing. -J.S.

Solution: Keep the Big 12 as it is