The SEC announced last week that starting in 2026 the league would move to nine conference games. The conference would have its 16 teams set up with three permanent rivalries protected every season, and then six rotating opponents each season. While we always enjoying mocking and blasting the SEC, when appropriate, this is not one of those times. In fact, this is not hard, and is something the Big 12 Conference should have done when it moved to its current 16-team set up prior to the 2024 college football season.
The Big 12 has a relatively easily geographical set up, if it were to follow the SEC’s lead. Basically, it’d be four separate four-team pods. The standings would remain unchanged and would be simply the top two finishers, while using tiebreakers when necessary.
Here’s what the Big 12 should, and could, do.
Western Pod: Utah, BYU, Arizona and Arizona State
It’s natural from a travel perspective to pod these four teams together, especially since they’re both part of already protected rivalries with Arizona State–Arizona and BYU–Utah. Three of them are former Pac-12 foes as well. This is a win for all four of these programs to spend the most time playing each other, while incorporating the rest of the league.
Northern Pod: Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas State and Kansas
Here we go with an old Big 12 North make up for this part of the league. Longtime Big 12 fans will feel like they’re back in the early 2000’s, just missing Missouri and Nebraska (although, good riddance, amiright?!). This also protects Farmageddon, which as we’ve discussed plenty this week, needs to be protected before it gets set to end in 2027. That would be a crime. These schools are a natural fit and these old school Big 12 fans would be making regular road trips with these games protected.
Southern Pod: Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, TCU and Baylor
There’s an old Southwest Conference flare here, sans Houston. It was difficult to figure out whether or not to make an All-Texas pod, that’s also a true Southwest Conference throwback, or take this proposed approach. Obviously, I chose the latter. These teams have spent the last 10+ years as members of the Big 12, with of course TCU being the relative newcomer, but even that dates back well over a decade ago now.
Eastern Pod: Houston, Cincinnati, West Virginia and UCF
This is the clunkiest of the pods, but it was never going to be easy with UCF on an island in Central Florida, and West Virginia the team that is furthest east. But, it does allow a rivalry to build between WVU and Cincinnati, which would be fun for the league, and an ode to the old Big East. Meantime, three of these four teams did spend time together in the AAC with Houston, Cincinnati and UCF all being members of that conference once upon a time.
Conclusion
The Big 12 would be wise to follow the SEC’s lead on scheduling this way. It protects key rivalries, cuts down on travel, and while each school plays its three annual opponents, it also allows for each team to face every other Big 12 team at least once every two years, and then every opponent home and away in four years.
It is the best of both worlds. And while it pains me that the SEC figured this out before the Big 12, I won’t admit that they aren’t right. They did get this right. And the Big 12 would be wise to follow suit.
