Big 12 conference expansion12/27/2022 Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy said he had an hour-long conversation with Yormark. Last month, Yormark had a visit to Oklahoma State University. So maybe Yormark and the Big 12 explore what the Aztecs offer? Big 12 Conference is “open for business” San Diego State, from the Group of Five ranks, has been often viewed as a top target for the Pac-12 if they expand. There have been reports about the Pac-12’s “border schools,” which include Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah, as potential targets for the Big 12 Conference. It also wouldn’t hurt BYU from a travel perspective to have another western university in the conference. If the Big 12 expanded into the pacific time zone, it would give the conference a footprint that covers all four time zones. The late-night time zone is another valuable inventory piece as the Big 12 is currently in media rights extension talks with ESPN and FOX to go beyond their current contract that concludes after the 2024-25 academic year. 9 Baylor in a late-night game, which will serve as a Big 12 sneak peek for when the Cougars join the league in 2023. Westward movement in the Big 12?īYU is currently the only university in the new Big 12 Conference membership in the mountain or pacific time zones. “A program that has national recognition, one that competes at the highest level in basketball and football, stands for the right things, is a good cultural fit,” said Yormark. What would he be looking for in a potential Big 12 candidate? As teams look to get a piece of the billion-dollar pie that’s coming in future media rights deals, the Big 12 could see another wave of schools exiting stage right to become a part of the conference structure of the future.“Obviously, going out west is where I would like to go, entering that fourth time zone,” said Yormark, per transcription from ABC News. Could this be the opportunity for the Sooners to go to bat for their in-state rival with SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and make all things right in the Sooner State?Ĭonference realignment is far from over, and even though the Big 12 has thoughts of expansion, they’re not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination. Oklahoma has maintained its desire to continue Bedlam after they move to the SEC. However, with realignment at the forefront of college football again, Oklahoma State could be a part of the discussion to expand the SEC further. Left out of the discussion at the time, there wasn’t a home for the Cowboys and Bedlam in the SEC. The Cowboys felt the brunt of Oklahoma’s SEC exit more than most. Though not the draw of some other Big 12 schools, UCF is in the heart of the ACC and SEC, while Houston and Baylor are right on the border.Īnd that brings us to Oklahoma State. West Virginia is at a crossroads between the SEC, ACC, and Big Ten. Though USC and UCLA showed us that geography has little to do with conference affiliation in modern college football, Cincinnati and Iowa State are in Big Ten country. Football is football and will always be a significant draw, but the difference in what the networks or streaming services like Amazon will be willing to pay for the Big 12’s product and the SEC’s will be pretty different. Sure, they could expand by adding the four schools mentioned above, but how much does that move the needle in media rights discussions. Without the big-name programs that the Big Ten, SEC, and ACC bolster, they look like a conference ripe for the picking. It’s not hard to fathom schools like Miami, Florida State, Clemson, Virginia, Tech, and North Carolina looking at how realignment is playing out and get a sense of urgency to leave as well. While the Big Ten, SEC, and the Big 12 have upcoming negotiations for their media rights packages, which will likely see a significant bump in annual payout, the ACC and its member schools are stuck. The ACC has arguably the worst media rights deal in the country that goes through 2036. With the Big Ten and SEC creating the Cold War of college football, the Big 12 and the ACC might not be safe for long, but for different reasons.
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