FanShot

If the Big 12 were to lose only Missouri, I'm hearing the Big 12 would go hard after the SEC's...

58

If the Big 12 were to lose only Missouri, I'm hearing the Big 12 would go hard after the SEC's Arkansas, which might be willing to listen. Texas will never leave for a destination without Texas A&M, and should more than two schools leave the Big 12 for other conferences, I'm convinced the Longhorns and Aggies would work toward joining the SEC or perhaps try a far-flung, Pac-10 arrangement of 16 teams, with the two schools from Texas and Arizona and maybe Texas Tech making up a South Division.

Austin American-Statesman: Nine things and one crazy prediction A few quick points on this: (1) Don't kid yourselves, Arkansas may very well leave the SEC. The Hogs won't make as much money by joining the Big XII (no argument there), but they do fit better in the Big XII in terms of both geography and tradition. Furthermore, Arkansas would probably welcome a change of scenery to increase their chances of winning a title. With all due respect to the Hogs, if their almost twenty-year involvement with the SEC has shown us anything, it's that Arkansas cannot win it. (2) The SEC would have no problem whatsoever replacing Arkansas. We probably couldn't get anyone who would fit in nicely in geographic terms in the West, but finding a comparable program to Arkansas as a replacement would be a relative breeze. (3) Don't think the Hogs are necessarily gone to the Big XII just yet. Keep in mind this assumes that only one current Big XII member leaves for the expanded Big Ten, and it looks possible that you may have two. If that happens, Arkansas will stay put in the SEC, and the Big XII may very well implode as a conference with the powers of the Big XII South going to either the SEC or the Pac-10. That sounds crazy as hell, admittedly, but it's a very legitimate possibility at this stage. (4) As I suspected (due to the in-state political structure, if nothing else), Texas and Texas A&M are a package deal. Wherever one goes, the other will follow. If the Big XII indeed does collapse, this has huge implications for the two Oklahoma schools. Both the Pac-10 and SEC would likely take Texas and Texas A&M, but taking Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in addition would be another ball of wax entirely. Perhaps one pair goes west, the other goes east, and maybe they all stay in the Big XII, but even so the Texas / Texas A&M package deal could play a huge role in how expansion plays out.