The conference realignment dust has somewhat settled for the moment. Big 12 commish Brett Yormark has nudged the conference to sixteen teams with the recent additions of Colorado, Utah, Arizona State, and Arizona. For the time being, Gonzaga and U Conn will not be included in the Big 12 mix.
With OU and Texas headed to the SEC at the conclusion of this season, the Big 12 now stands at sixteen teams with the broadest geographical foot print of any of the Power 4 conferences left standing.
All things considered…I would think the eight original Big 12 teams have to be very pleased as to how the conference landed. I mean, from my view, this new Big 12 will be the third best football conference behind the SEC and the Big Ten with the ACC coming in fourth.
From a basketball standpoint, the Big 12 was already the toughest conference in the land and will remain as such with the additions of Houston, BYU, Cincy, and Utah. Basketball-wise…I would rank the conferences in this order…1 Big 12, 2 SEC, 3 ACC, and 4 Big Ten. The year in and year out hype as to Big 10 basketball is a joke. The Big Ten teams chronically underacheive in the tournament, yet always lead the way with the most teams invited to the Big Dance.
From a football standpoint, the additions of Utah, BYU, and UCF intrigue me….with the other five basically being inert filler. Don’t forget….the Utah Utes have been in back to back Rose Bowls and have one of the truly great coaches in college football in Kyle Whittingham.
As an OU fan, let me say this, if the thing with Brent Venables does not pan out…this new alignment of Big 12 football teams currently has six coaches I would seriously consider as replacements…. Kyle Whittingham, Chris Klieman, Sonny Dykes, Gus Malzahn, Dave Aranda, and Joey McGuire.
I can’t imagine Joe C ever having any interest whatsoever in Mike Gundy in that Mullet King is not into playing difficult schedules….pffft. There will be no room in the SEC for head coaches with the passive submissive gene. If I had been Boone…I would have fired Mike Gundy after the Florida State Kick-Off classic bullshit in 2012 and hired Todd Monken as my new coach then and there. But that’s just me.
UCF is the most intriguing member to me though beyond Utah. Don’t forget UCF has had recent success in playing in New Year’s Day Bowls and has a coach in Gus Malzahn who came within a few minutes of winning a national championship when he was at Auburn. Add to the fact, UCF has a huge enrollment and is right there in Florida amidst some of the most fertile high school football recruiting grounds in the nation.
As far as predicting how this season goes…I have not a clue. The Big 12 has 150 new players who have entered the league via the transfer portal. I do think though…it should be a great conference race with probably seven or eight teams having a chance to win the conference crown.
I in no way see Texas as a clear cut favorite despite all the usual Texas pre-season bullshit hype. When Texas actually does something in football….I’ll change that point of view.
Mike Gundy of all people at the Big 12 Media get together picked his own O State Cowboys to win the Big 12 this season. Whatever. Where was the hubris back in the Golden Ages of the Boone Pickens Renaissance when it was needed? Give me a break. Seriously.
From my view, K-State’s Chris Klieman and Utah’s Whittingham give the Big 12 two of the best unheralded coaches in the nation. They both consistently get the most out of their roster talent.
That’s it for me today.
I think I’ll do my OU football preseason outlook tomorrow.
Enjoy this mild weather day before the heat returns.
MJ