Tag: big 12 realignment

Dan Lanning fires shot at Colorado Buffaloes after Pac-12 exit

Dan Lanning didn’t mince words when asked about his reaction to Colorado’s plan to ditch the Pac-12 for the Big 12.

One of the big stories coming into the Pac-12 football season is that 2023 will be the last season of the conference as we know it.

USC and UCLA made their plans public last year; they are headed to the Big Ten. But the future of the conference is in limbo now that Colorado has announced its plans to defect to the Big 12. It’s led to speculation about what some other schools will do. Will the Pac-12 survive? Will it add members? Will it disappear?

A lack of a media rights deal is the main reason schools are thinking about jumping ship, but the Buffaloes announcing they are leaving has opened this door of speculation.

Every Pac-12 coach will be asked for his reaction to what the Buffs are going to do. Evidently, even though Oregon coach Dan Lanning hasn’t been in the conference a long time, Colorado hasn’t left much, or any, of an impression on him.

When asked for his reaction to Colorado dumping the Pac-12 for its former conference, Lanning didn’t mince words.

Not a big reaction, I’m trying to remember what they won to effect this conference when they were part of it. I don’t remember. – Dan Lanning

That will provide some major bulletin board material for Colorado and its new head coach Deion Sanders. But Lanning doesn’t seem to care all that much.

Which conference would be a better football fit for Oregon — Big Ten or Big 12?

Rivalries and past history matter in college football. With that being said, which conference — Big Ten or Big 12 — would be a better fit for Oregon?

With the departure of the Colorado Buffaloes from the Pac-12 Conference, the topic of conference realignment has once again been brought to the forefront.

If you’re an Oregon Ducks fan, this means your team is in the middle of nearly every conversation brought forth at the moment, good or bad.

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While we’ve talked about potential options for Oregon going forward, and how a move to the Big Ten would be desirable for both parties in the end, we’ve also touched on where the Pac-12 might look to expand if it wants to make a last-ditch effort to keep the conference intact.

Should the Ducks end up leaving the Pac-12, we need to start vetting their landing spot. The Big 12 may be the more likely option at the moment, but the Big Ten is the more-desired outcome. But is the Big Ten that much better than the Big 12, and if so, why?

Let’s take a look at that question. In college football, one of the most important things for fans to hold onto is rivalries, and shared experiences. One place may be a great spot for a team to land, but if it doesn’t have any history with the teams in the conference, the move could fall flat in the end.

So when looking at the Big Ten and the Big 12, which conference has Oregon had more experience with, and where would the best rivalries come from? Let’s take a look:

365 Sports discusses how the Big 12 is better without OU and Texas

It appears Baylor fans have reached the acceptance stage of grief.

It appears Baylor fans have reached the acceptance stage of grief. Continue reading “365 Sports discusses how the Big 12 is better without OU and Texas”

Six teams the Big 12 should now pursue to join the conference

Six teams the Big 12 should/could add in the near future.

At the beginning of June, I listed a few possible suitors to join the Big 12 to help the conference get back up to 12 teams.

Little did I realize, Texas and Oklahoma would be informing the Big 12 of their plan to leave the conference just weeks later. The two powerhouse programs would kick off the most impactful realignment ever with their plan to join the SEC.

This announcement left the college football world in awe, and led to other conferences making similar plans in order to ensure their respective conference can remain as one of the powers. While many initially thought that Texas and Oklahoma leaving would force the other Big 12 schools to do the same, we have recently learned that likely won’t be happening either.

The Pac-12, Big Ten, and ACC recently announced that they were forming an alliance, and unfortunately for the remaining eight Big 12 teams, that means they are on the outside looking in. The Big 12 teams were hopeful to head out west and join the Pac-12, but that dream was crushed when The Athletic reported on August 26 that the Pac-12 is not interested in expanding their conference.

Realistically, this leaves the Big 12 with two plausible options remaining. Unless the Big Ten or ACC decide to open their doors, the Big 12 is now standing alone in the corner at the party hoping for someone to talk to them.

The eight teams can either stick together, and all join the AAC together, which I predicted at least five out of the eight would end up doing if they were to leave, or they can seek out new members to join and revive the what seems to be a barely afloat conference.

When I first listed five teams that could join, I included USC as an honorable mention, but them joining was mutually inclusive with Texas and Oklahoma being in the conference so now that they are gone, and the Pac-12 is looking as content as ever, that is out the window.

The Big 12 needs to add, at the very minimum, four teams to get the conference back to 12 teams, but it should likely look into adding six to eight more teams to keep up with the rest of the college football world. Personally, I believe six is much more practical for the conference, as right now it is not the most appealing destination.

Let’s take a look at the six teams that make the most sense for the Big 12 to pursue.