In the summer of 2010, the Big 12 conference was in major jeopardy.
On the field, the conference’s two elite programs, Texas and Oklahoma, were coming off back-to-back national championship losses. The two schools had been taken down by SEC powerhouses Alabama and Florida respectively.
Off the field, things were even worse as there was talk of the Big 12 as people knew it dissolving.
The then Pac 10 was trying to make a push to form a new super conference, comprised of 16 members and called the Pac 16. Adding on to the 10 schools the conference was already made up of, Pac 10 commissioner Larry Scott was going after Colorado, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech.
It would have set up for interesting travel destinations for visiting fans as Oklahoma fans would find themselves in Pullman, Washington, and USC’s traveling fan base would end up in Lubbock, Texas for a conference matchup.
Here is what the divisions could have shaped out in the hypothetical conference structure:
| Pac 16 North | Pac 16 South |
| California | Arizona |
| Oregon | Arizona State |
| Oregon State | Colorado |
| Stanford | Oklahoma |
| UCLA | Oklahoma State |
| USC | Texas |
| Washington | Texas A&M |
| Washington State | Texas Tech |
Scott made his way down to the campus of each of the six schools and made his pitch. For weeks, it seemed as if everything was put in place to create the super conference but one school was causing a hold up: The University of Texas.
Colorado started what was expected to be a domino effect on June 10, accepting their invitation to the Pac 12. The school was more of a natural fit on the west coast because of their alumni location and being in the Mountain Time Zone.
One day later, Nebraska realized what was happening and jumped ship to the Big 10. Never involved in a discussion for the Pac 16, the Cornhuskers were off to a conference which also felt like a better fit, geographically and culturally.
Scott had already made his pitches to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech, making it seem as if they were just waiting for Texas to officially say they were in.
When Scott had his meeting with Texas, it was supposed to be the meeting that made the deal official. However, before he even arrived in Austin, UT Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds and university President Bill Powers had made their decision: Texas would be staying in the Big 12.
According to Dodds, it came down to traveling and what it would have done to his student-athletes. Looking past football, the travel schedule for Olympic sports such as basketball, baseball, and softball would have been brutal. Having a midweek game in Seattle, Washington from Austin would have been a round trip of over 4,200 miles in just under two days.
If you were to ask other people, their answer would be different. Texas was in the midst of creating its own TV-deal and forming the Longhorn Network. Launched in August of 2011, the ESPN channel would have never been possible in the proposed Pac 16, as the conference was looking to make its own TV channel as well.
ESPN offered Texas $300 million over 20 years, coming out to be $15 million a year. The school accepted the offer and is still reaping the benefits to this day.
The creating of Longhorn Network had just as big of a ripple effect as the proposed super conference did. Texas A&M was frustrated with Texas’ creation of LHN. Mix in being fed up with years of being belittled and second in the in-state rivalry, and the Aggies wanted to disassociate themselves.
Texas A&M accepted a bid to join the SEC in 2011, ending a rivalry of 117 years. To this day, the two schools cannot agree to play each other with no end in sight. 2011 was the final time the Lone Star Showdown has taken place on a football field and it could remain as the lasting image of the rivalry for quite some time.
After an ill-advised quote from Oklahoma’s president, David Boren, Missouri also jumped ship to the SEC, leaving the Big 12 with eight members. The conference scrambled, asking TCU and West Virginia to join to bring them back to 10 members and giving us the Big 12 as we know it today.
A week after Texas’ denying the Pac 10, the conference extended a bid to the University of Utah, which was accepted to officially form the Pac 12. Scott was able to expand the conference, just not in the way he had hoped.
It would have been an interesting move to move the Pac 16, creating for some exciting football matchups and travel destinations. Texas would get to play big-name schools such as USC, UCLA, and Oregon on a yearly basis.
However, Dodds wanted to stay in the Big 12 and launch the Longhorn Network. Receiving $15 million a year for 20 years was too good of an offer to pass up.
The decision made ripple effects throughout all of college football, both on and off the field.
Since the 2009 national championship, no Big 12 school has made it back to the big game. Moving from the BCS to the College Football Playoff in 2014, the conference is the only Power Five conference who has not won a semi-final matchup. Oklahoma is the only Big 12 school to make it into the CFP but has fallen short all four times.
As for the four schools which left the Big 12, all of them have found success in their respective conferences, except Texas A&M. Colorado, Missouri, and Nebraska have all made it to their conference championship games.
Since their joining of the conference, TCU has been a staple Big 12 team on the football field. Gary Patterson’s team has won 10 or more games in three seasons while sharing the Big 12 championship with Baylor in 2014.
West Virginia has not had the same success as the Horned Frogs and their fit within the Big 12 is still debated to this day.
Who knows what could have happened had the Pac 16 been formed. The storied rivalry with Texas and Texas A&M could still be happening. Maybe the conference could have risen as the top in the country.
Sadly, we will never know what it could have looked like until there is another period of conference realignment and schools get to do it all over again.
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