It’s been three years since Texas and Oklahoma’s move to the SEC was announced. Since then, the conference has undergone quite a few changes. Eight new schools have been welcomed to the conference, and the Big 12 also got a new commissioner in Brett Yormark. It took Yormark just a few months on the job to negotiate a media deal, and in less than two years, he has completely changed the future of the Big 12 for the better.
However, not every moment has been pleasant to look back on. When Texas and Oklahoma announced their decision to move to the SEC in the summer of 2021, there was mass chaos surrounding the conference. In fact, many people, including myself, weren’t sure that the Big 12 was going to survive.
Between wild rumors and reports, nobody knew what was going to happen. People told us that the Big 12 was dead and that the other power conferences would raid the conference we love. There were even national media members (looking at you, Stewart Mandel) who were already digging the grave of the Big 12.
Luckily for us, there was a light at the end of the realignment tunnel. Former commissioner Bob Bowlsby added the first set of schools: UCF, Houston, Cincinnati, and BYU. His bold move paid off and played a key role in the survival of the Big 12.
Fast-forward a year, and the Pac-12 found itself in a similar situation. When USC and UCLA announced their decision to move to the Big Ten, all eyes focused on the Pac-12.
Conference commissioner George Kliavkoff set deadline after deadline and continuously failed to meet them. In the process, George also made himself look like a fool with his empty promises and nonsense.
Remember when he was asked about the Big 12 a couple of years ago at Pac-12 media days? His response was: “We haven’t decided if we’re going shopping there or not yet.”
Just a little over a year after that statement, the Pac-12 took yet another blow it could not recover from. Oregon and Washington bolted to the Big Ten, and the Big 12 picked apart what was left. I’m just a matter of 12 months, the conference out west went from the Pac-12 to the Pac-2. These days George would be lucky to get a job bagging groceries because who in their right mind would trust him to run anything?
Here we are in 2024, and the spotlight has shifted to the ACC. With five pending lawsuits between Florida State, Clemson, and the conference, there is plenty of uncertainty.
Rumors and speculation about the ACC have reached national headlines. We have leaks from every power conference, and yet nobody knows what will happen.
But what I do know is that the Big 12 is in the best place they have been in over the last three summers. For once, the conference doesn’t have to look over their shoulder or worry about a collapse.
Would it be nice to add Florida State and Clemson under the right circumstances? Absolutely, but it wouldn’t kill the conference if they didn’t, either. So go ahead, kick your feet up, grab a drink and a snack, and just enjoy the conference realignment circus one day at a time.
