Re: B10 Expansion. Horn fans need to read this...

I am not a fan of Texas moving to the Big Ten, but this guy has put forward the best arguments for both sides and unquestionably the best analysis I have read. There's no doubt there would be a good academic and program-profile match with the likes of Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, etc.

However, I cannot simply get over the geography. The poorest analogy of this guy's piece is the Cowboys and the NFC East. When it comes to pro sports divisions, geography can be meaningless (remember when the Braves were in the NL West? And the Falcons in the NFC West?). It's not a big deal for the Cowboys to make a trip to New York, Philly and DC over the course of a season.

For college sports, though, it's a whole different story. In sports like basketball, we'd have to make trips all the way to State College in the middle of the week in some instances. The closest Big Ten city to Austin is farther away than the farthest Big XII city. This means that there's no way we could make the move by ourselves.

In the long run (say 10-15 years), I just don't think the Big XII is viable. The population base is by far the smallest of the BCS conferences, and this means our TV deals will never be what the SEC's or Big Ten's is. Eventually, the large TV markets of the west coast will be tempting to Colorado, or the Big Ten markets will tempt Missouri or possibly Iowa State. If either of those things happens, the conference will be hard-pressed to survive, as Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma simply have a fraction of the TV sets as Texas does.

I really think that we could see a shift toward some 16-team "superconferences," which I personally think is long overdue. For example, you could have a Pac-10 that includes Colorado, Utah, BYU, Boise State, Colorado State and Nebraska. An expanded Big Ten could add Iowa State, Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State and Notre Dame. The SEC could add Texas, A&M, OU and Oklahoma State.

The next step would be to further define the strata in Division I athletics. Whereas we currently have I-A and I-AA, a new I-AAA subdivision could be created, with the likes of New Mexico State, Idaho, Ball State, Florida International, etc. These schools really have no business competing at the I-A level anyway.

With 16-team conferences, you'd have two 8-team divisions, and you'd play only the teams in your division during the regular season. Then you'd play the other division in a CCG. This sets things up perfectly for an eventual national championship playoff.

Just my two cents.


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