Big 12 Expansion And Realignment Rumors Are Getting Silly

When it comes to conference realignment news, it seems like everyone and their brother has an opinion on the subject. The problem is that a lot of people start to pass off those opinions as fact. There are so many rumors floating around right now that regardless of the scenario you imagine, there is probably an article out there to support the theory.

It doesn't matter how absurd or unlikely the idea is, there has probably been an opinion piece written and passed off as substantiated fact to support it. Even respected (at least were respected at some point) journalists have started to fling crazy ideas at the wall, like the Oklahoman's Berry Tramel who proposed the Big 12 just merge with the SEC to create a 24 team league. It's not just a silly notion, but one that is all but impossible. Just imagine the excitement over Iowa State in the SEC.

These kinds of silly ideas are what happens when people are working with only partial information.

Another popular, yet borderline impossible idea getting thrown around is that Texas wants to get into the Big Ten when the Big 12 Grant of Rights (GoR) ends in 2024-25. Now most people are aware that the Big Ten by-laws require any new members be from bordering states, which means states that fit into the contiguous layout of the conference.

Anyone who made it past the third grade should be aware that Texas doesn't border any states with Big Ten members. Kansas does border the Big Ten, but that's for another discussion. Texas bolting for the Big Ten in eight years would require a school from Kansas and Oklahoma to bridge the state based on the conference's own by-laws. So let's put that silliness to rest. The Longhorns won't ever end up in the B1G, for a multitude of reasons.

The best rumors lately have come from ESPN, which will have on-air personalities like Brett McMurphy claim the Big 12 isn't expanding at all and then within 72 hours, report that it's a "three horse race between BYU, UH, and Cincinnati."

The rumors are not going to stop. But fans who take the time to weed through the nonsense should be able to get close to figuring out what is going on and where conference realignment and Big 12 expansion is headed. If something sounds fishy or too strange to be true, it probably is.

If someone reports something one day and reports something completely contradictory a couple days later, they probably don't know what they're talking about. It's easy to say, "See, I told you so," when you have reported every possible scenario imaginable. If you pick a number between one and ten, anyone can guess that number if you give them ten chances.

The situation with the Big 12 is fluid, but that doesn't mean you have to believe every wild scenario being thrown out there. Some things are just simple logic. The Big 12 needs to gain something from expansion. Factors that are important are stadium size, TV market, financial backing, academics, success in basketball and football and location in comparison to other members. Based on that, you can cut that group of Big 12 candidates (that has more members than any D1 conference) down to about five or six.

It's up to the readers and fans to cut through all the silly rumors. And it's a lot easier when you know what conferences are looking for and what their own rules require. Speaking of silly rumors, how do fans think the six Big 12 member schools outside the state of Texas (KU, KSU, OU, OSU, ISU, WVU) feel about Texas state politicians saying the league must add Houston as a fifth member from the Lone Star State? Just something to chew on when you're thinking about how UH would get the required eight out of ten votes to join. This is not rocket science.