What happens to the Big 12 without Oklahoma and Texas?

What will become of the Big 12 without Oklahoma and Texas? The remaining members could try to persist or be picked off by other conferences.

Conference realignment on a grand scale could be coming down the line in light of Oklahoma and Texas leaving the Big 12 for the SEC.

The flagship programs of the Big 12 are leaving it behind without a look back.

Seriously, Geoff Ketchum asked a high-ranking Texas official what would become of the other schools in the conference.

“Ultimately, we don’t really care,” the source said.

It’s a dog-eat-dog world and the remaining eight members of the Big 12 need to look out for themselves.

What will happen to the Big 12 without Oklahoma and Texas?

Already, reports have emerged suggesting TCU, Baylor and Texas Tech have reached out to the Pac-12.

The Pac-12 is in an interesting position. They added Utah and Colorado in 2011 and could form a 16-team superconference if they wanted. However, there’s an argument for the league to stay as is since none of the programs on offer are powerhouses.

Still, Baylor would bring a serious budget while getting a foothold in the state of Texas could be valuable.

There are obvious regional ties to dictate realignment. Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State could easily form a new division of the Pac-12 with Colorado and Utah.

Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State would fit right in with the Big Ten. West Virginia always made more sense as an ACC program, given their location.

All of this supposes that the remaining eight Big 12 teams accept the idea of dissolving the conference. They could try to move forward by extending membership to the likes of Houston and SMU. They could even go outside the box and offer teams like UCF and Memphis.

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