![]() After all, the nearest schools are what, Louisville and Georgia Tech (Atlanta)?Īs for the Big 12 expanding, I am not interested in adding schools like Houston, Cincinnati, Memphis, Colorado State, SMU, etc. I don’t think the ACC is a viable option Kansas would be a fish out of water there much like West Virginia is in the Big 12. I’m not interested in merging with the Pac-Whatever, and I’m definitely not interested in going to the AAC or the MWC. To me, this (or even a 16-team Big 10) is the best spot for KU to be in four years from now. West: KU, KSU, ISU, Iowa, Neb, Minn, Wisc, NW, IllinoisĮast: IU, Purdue, Mich, MSU, OSU, PSU, Mary, Rut, WV So, just spitballing here, what might an 18-team Big 10 look like? It’s just a matter of thinking bigger, for both football and basketball. You can still have your conference challenge, or your Maui Invitational, or your Champions Classic, or whatever. (Although you do have the odd number of home/away games alternating every year, that’s not as big of a deal in basketball.)Īnyway, that leaves you six noncon games. In an 18-team league, if you played your division opponents home and away, and played the 9 teams on the other side once, that gives you 25 conference games. In 2019-20, KU played 18 conference basketball games and 13 nonconference games, for 31 total regular season matchups. In fact, I would argue the schedule gets better and even more compelling, as you’d be playing more conference games. It’s just always bugged me that Kansas (and all Big 12 teams) have always alternated years with an odd number of home conference games versus road conference games.įor basketball, it’s not so bad either. Then it’s easy to have a conference championship game, and the best part is, you’re guaranteed it’s not a rematch. An 18-team conference, split into two 9-team divisions, gives you four home conference games, four away conference games, and four nonconference games. ![]() I’m thinking 18 teams, for a very simple reason - it evens out football scheduling. That’s another discussion for another day.īack to realignment. It would have much more of a March Madness feel, and the money would be off the charts.īut I digress. 16 or 24 teams, like FCS or D2, is where you need to go. And now just two months ago, the College Football Playoff board recommended another expansion to 12 teams. It was finally expanded to four teams for the 2014 season. West Virginia, however, is not.īut in the end, this all boils down to money, does it not? The rage these days is the “16-team superconference.” However, once again, I’m here to tell the people making all these big-money decisions - you aren’t thinking big enough.īack in 1998, the BCS, essentially a 2-team playoff, was conceived and implemented by people not thinking big enough. ![]() In fact, all of the conference members except Nebraska are current AAU members, although anyone will tell you that Nebraska had that accreditation when they were admitted back in 2011. The problem is, the Big 10 clearly puts a premium on its academic prestige this helps explain the addition of Rutgers and Maryland. Both bring solid football and consistent basketball programs. If KU were to go, who would come in with the Jayhawks? Iowa State or West Virginia both make logical, geographic sense. It would likely add schools in pairs if it is going to expand again. (That expansion decision still puzzles me.) And while you can make all the KU football jokes you want, you cannot tell me with a straight face that Maryland and Rutgers gave the Big 10 anything in either football or men’s basketball when they joined in 2014. While the Remaining Eight institutions are publicly saying that the Big 12 will stick together and forge a path onward, Kansas fans - and hopefully the University’s leadership - are (rightfully) eyeing the Big 10. “If you’re going to struggle in the Big 12, you might as well struggle in the SEC.” While Steve Spurrier’s words following the news of Texas torpedoing the Big 12 are hilariously true, the end result of the Longhorns and Sooners departures leaves fans of the so-called Remaining Eight wondering, “what next?” ![]()
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