TCU, Baylor, Texas Tech Have Reached Out to the Pac-12: Report
With Oklahoma and Texas on the verge of leaving the Big 12 Conference for the SEC, eight Big 12 schools could find themselves looking for a new home.
Despite putting up a united front after their meeting on Thursday, the reality is that any Big 12 team that isn’t making calls to other conferences would be foolish. While we hope the Big 12 can survive, the reality is that things aren’t looking good.
According to TCU insider Jeremy Clark of Horned Frog Blitz, Baylor, TCU and Texas Tech have already reached out to the Pac-12 about joining there conference because according to Clark’s source, the Big 12 is “going to blow up.”
Courtesy of the SEC, the race appears to be on for super conferences, with 16 teams being the way of the future. That would require the Pac-12 to add four teams. Could that include four Big 12 teams? It could be the three Texas schools noted above and either Kansas State or Oklahoma State? So much remains unknown.
But understandably, the Big 12 is on the brink.
As noted, the Big 12 Conference held a meeting on Thursday night. This came just over 24 hours after a bombshell report from the Houston Chronicle that the Oklahoma and Texas were nearing a deal to leave the Big 12 to join the SEC.
After the Big 12 meeting took place, a statement of notes was released by the conference that read as follows:
- Oklahoma and Texas are founding members of the Big 12 and we value their traditions and history of success.
- The eight members strongly desire to retain the current composition, which has proven it can compete at the highest levels.
- There is a recognition that institutions may act in their own self-interest, however there is an expectation that members adhere to Conference bylaws and the enforcement of Grant of Rights agreements.
- This is a time of dramatic change within intercollegiate athletics that presents both opportunities and challenges, and the Big 12 Conference looks forward to continuing to play a major role in its evolution.
The Big 12 was founded in 1996 when the Big Eight (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri and Iowa State) and four schools from the Southwest Conference (Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor) came together.
