Interesting article on if Texas had bolted for the Pac-12, and I still think this could be a possibility, but Texas likes being the Biggest Fish in the Smallest Pond, since it easier to get to the CFB Playoffs that way in the future.
Still, I think the bigger threat now is Oklahoma or Oklahoma State bolting in the future for the PAC-12, SEC, or Big Ten. Unless the Big-12 can increase its marketing footprint and that is harder than it looks with fewer Schools available that contribute more without giving less. Still, a tough sell and the Big ten has mention its next expansion might be to help out Nebraska by looking at Kansas or KSU? Boy, if Texas ever left or Oklahoma or another Big-12 School. It would worry WVU Fans and the Dude might jump off the "Tallahatchie Bridge!"
Article Excerpt & Link:
Everything crazy that would've happened if Texas had joined the Pac-12
Chip Brown went from local Rivals guy to national scoopmaster by reporting the Pac-10's attempt to pull most of the Big 12 South. The conference would soon add Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Colorado, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M, leaving the Big 12's others scrambling.
Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe, who had failed at the impossible task of convincing the dysfunctional conference family to look at each other as equals, was also scrambling. On June 11, he met with conference members and TV executives, attempting to find duct tape.
Despite Brown's proclamations (which continued into the next year, when he announced there was no truth to the rumor that A&M would end up in the SEC), Texas stayed put.
The ripple effect still created one hell of a wave; as noted by Fox Sports' Stewart Mandel, 43 of 128 FBS teams now compete in a different conference than in 2009. Colorado and Utah went west. Nebraska went Midwest. Missouri and Texas A&M went southeast. The ACC punked the Big East, which split into two and raided Conference USA. Conference USA raided the Sun Belt. The Mountain West murdered the WAC.
Still, so much more could have happened.
Texas might have been bluffing. Longhorn brass might have been using Larry Scott's Pac-10 as a pawn, attempting to scare the Big 12 into kowtowing (more than normal) and standing clear of what would become the Longhorn Network. We won't ever get a perfectly honest answer about how serious Texas was (or whether Brown was a knowing or unknowing player in the bluff). But in mid-June 2010, it not only felt like it could happen, it felt like it would.
So what if it had?
GO TO ARTICLE LINK:
LINK
http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2015/6/17/8767533/conference-realignment-texas-pac-12
Still, I think the bigger threat now is Oklahoma or Oklahoma State bolting in the future for the PAC-12, SEC, or Big Ten. Unless the Big-12 can increase its marketing footprint and that is harder than it looks with fewer Schools available that contribute more without giving less. Still, a tough sell and the Big ten has mention its next expansion might be to help out Nebraska by looking at Kansas or KSU? Boy, if Texas ever left or Oklahoma or another Big-12 School. It would worry WVU Fans and the Dude might jump off the "Tallahatchie Bridge!"
Article Excerpt & Link:
Everything crazy that would've happened if Texas had joined the Pac-12
Chip Brown went from local Rivals guy to national scoopmaster by reporting the Pac-10's attempt to pull most of the Big 12 South. The conference would soon add Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Colorado, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M, leaving the Big 12's others scrambling.
Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe, who had failed at the impossible task of convincing the dysfunctional conference family to look at each other as equals, was also scrambling. On June 11, he met with conference members and TV executives, attempting to find duct tape.
Despite Brown's proclamations (which continued into the next year, when he announced there was no truth to the rumor that A&M would end up in the SEC), Texas stayed put.
The ripple effect still created one hell of a wave; as noted by Fox Sports' Stewart Mandel, 43 of 128 FBS teams now compete in a different conference than in 2009. Colorado and Utah went west. Nebraska went Midwest. Missouri and Texas A&M went southeast. The ACC punked the Big East, which split into two and raided Conference USA. Conference USA raided the Sun Belt. The Mountain West murdered the WAC.
Still, so much more could have happened.
Texas might have been bluffing. Longhorn brass might have been using Larry Scott's Pac-10 as a pawn, attempting to scare the Big 12 into kowtowing (more than normal) and standing clear of what would become the Longhorn Network. We won't ever get a perfectly honest answer about how serious Texas was (or whether Brown was a knowing or unknowing player in the bluff). But in mid-June 2010, it not only felt like it could happen, it felt like it would.
So what if it had?
GO TO ARTICLE LINK:
LINK
http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2015/6/17/8767533/conference-realignment-texas-pac-12