The SEC caught the Big 10 and their rookie commissioner off guard as they nabbed two new members - Oklahoma and Texas. Both schools are waist deep in football tradition although the Sooners have had the stronger program in recent years. Texas brings untapped potential and a lot of TV/media viewers in a state with a growing population. The SEC was already the premier football conference in the country and this will serve to widen the gap. The surprise move is a "humiliating kick in the crotch" for the Big 10, as Sting would say.
I'm going to lay out two possible responses by the Big 10. Scenario 1 - The SEC stops after adding Oklahoma and Texas. I think the Big 10 needs to make some sort of reply if only for appearances. If you're going to fall behind, at least go down fighting. The problem is that there aren't many football schools that meet the Big 10 geographic and academic profile. Notre Dame would be great but they have given the Big 10 a cold slap rejection in the past. I doubt anything has changed. I would recommend that the Big 10 move to Plan B for basketball, which would be a power grab for the best basketball schools available. Kansas and North Carolina would be my top two choices. I think Kansas would jump at the chance. North Carolina would be a tougher get. They may have traditionalists that want to stay in the ACC or they may be more interested in joining the MEGA-SEC. If North Carolina isn't interested then maybe Duke, Virginia or West Virginia.
I can anticipate the counter arguments. "Total Red, you message board moron, don't you know that conference realignment is 100% about football and that basketball has nothing to do with it. Kansas and maybe Duke? SMH!" My reply would be that 100% is an exaggeration. Football is maybe 90% of the consideration
but you have understand that that bird has flown. Oklahoma and Texas would have been prized additions for the Big 10 but if you snooze you lose. What now? If you can get Kansas and North Carolina and develop the best basketball conference in the country then at least you have a consolation prize. It beats doing nothing.
I'll also maintain that Kansas is not the lost cause in football that it is being made out to be. Yes Kansas is down and out they've been that way for quite a while. But Iowa St. was a bottom dweller for a long time too. Iowa St. was 9-3 in 2020 with a bowl win over Oregon. Likewise Northwestern was once a perennial doormat in the Big 10. Northwestern was 7-2 in 2020 with a bowl victory over Auburn. If Iowa St. and Northwestern can find the strength to rise up, then you can't tell me that Kansas won't someday find a good coach and win some bowl games. A change to a new conference might be just what they need to hit the reset button.
So that's Scenario 1. Scenario 2 might be described as the SEC hitting the nuclear button. Perhaps that's too dramatic. Let's describe it as the SEC following up the kick to the crotch with a fierce backhanded smack to the face. Let's say the SEC keeps going after Oklahoma and Texas and takes Clemson and Florida St. off the buffet table. It's practically an attempt corner the market on the college football championship. Do they stop there? Do they then add North Carolina and Miami while opening talks with USC and UCLA? Remember, if they didn't listen to me then North Carolina is still there for the taking. This colossal power grab would require a bold and equally powerful response from the Big 10. At that point I don't any see choice but to form an alliance with the Pac-12. I say alliance because it would be for football only. I can't see fully merging the two conferences. Is the women's VB team at Rutgers really going to fly out to Tempe, AZ for a match? Bad idea. The Big10 and the Pac-12 would form a football conference juggernaut that could provide opposition to the MEGA SEC. The SEC would be home to the traditional southern superpowers like Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Georgia, while solidifying the rich recruiting grounds of Texas and Florida. The Big 10-Pac-12 would counter by going coast to coast with massive media/population exposure while maintaining the rich southern California recruiting market. The Power 5 is dead. Long Live the Power 2.
I'm going to lay out two possible responses by the Big 10. Scenario 1 - The SEC stops after adding Oklahoma and Texas. I think the Big 10 needs to make some sort of reply if only for appearances. If you're going to fall behind, at least go down fighting. The problem is that there aren't many football schools that meet the Big 10 geographic and academic profile. Notre Dame would be great but they have given the Big 10 a cold slap rejection in the past. I doubt anything has changed. I would recommend that the Big 10 move to Plan B for basketball, which would be a power grab for the best basketball schools available. Kansas and North Carolina would be my top two choices. I think Kansas would jump at the chance. North Carolina would be a tougher get. They may have traditionalists that want to stay in the ACC or they may be more interested in joining the MEGA-SEC. If North Carolina isn't interested then maybe Duke, Virginia or West Virginia.
I can anticipate the counter arguments. "Total Red, you message board moron, don't you know that conference realignment is 100% about football and that basketball has nothing to do with it. Kansas and maybe Duke? SMH!" My reply would be that 100% is an exaggeration. Football is maybe 90% of the consideration
but you have understand that that bird has flown. Oklahoma and Texas would have been prized additions for the Big 10 but if you snooze you lose. What now? If you can get Kansas and North Carolina and develop the best basketball conference in the country then at least you have a consolation prize. It beats doing nothing.
I'll also maintain that Kansas is not the lost cause in football that it is being made out to be. Yes Kansas is down and out they've been that way for quite a while. But Iowa St. was a bottom dweller for a long time too. Iowa St. was 9-3 in 2020 with a bowl win over Oregon. Likewise Northwestern was once a perennial doormat in the Big 10. Northwestern was 7-2 in 2020 with a bowl victory over Auburn. If Iowa St. and Northwestern can find the strength to rise up, then you can't tell me that Kansas won't someday find a good coach and win some bowl games. A change to a new conference might be just what they need to hit the reset button.
So that's Scenario 1. Scenario 2 might be described as the SEC hitting the nuclear button. Perhaps that's too dramatic. Let's describe it as the SEC following up the kick to the crotch with a fierce backhanded smack to the face. Let's say the SEC keeps going after Oklahoma and Texas and takes Clemson and Florida St. off the buffet table. It's practically an attempt corner the market on the college football championship. Do they stop there? Do they then add North Carolina and Miami while opening talks with USC and UCLA? Remember, if they didn't listen to me then North Carolina is still there for the taking. This colossal power grab would require a bold and equally powerful response from the Big 10. At that point I don't any see choice but to form an alliance with the Pac-12. I say alliance because it would be for football only. I can't see fully merging the two conferences. Is the women's VB team at Rutgers really going to fly out to Tempe, AZ for a match? Bad idea. The Big10 and the Pac-12 would form a football conference juggernaut that could provide opposition to the MEGA SEC. The SEC would be home to the traditional southern superpowers like Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Georgia, while solidifying the rich recruiting grounds of Texas and Florida. The Big 10-Pac-12 would counter by going coast to coast with massive media/population exposure while maintaining the rich southern California recruiting market. The Power 5 is dead. Long Live the Power 2.
