Quote:
Originally Posted by Bambi
West Virginia and TCU are currently in the Big 12 so it's hard to count them.
Louisville and Syracuse are great athletic programs and I would love to have them apart of a conference if we were simply "picking teams" as of today.
Pitt, MU, Utah, Rutgers and Maryland don't do anything for me.
Nebraska and Colorado have some historical significance but not exactly trending upwards nowadays.
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Iowa State, Baylor, TCU, WVU, and Texas Tech don't exactly bring a lot to the table, either.
The flagship football program in the Big 12 is Oklahoma, and they just got deep-dicked by aTm.
The flagship basketball program in the Big 12 is Kansas, and they have been knocked out of final fours twice in the recent past by teams on that list (who won the championship).
In the past 11 years, three teams on that list have won basketball titles. There is simply no comparison that it would be a better basketball conference. It's not even close.
Football is debatable. Texas has been down, but they are historically a strong program. Nebraska is similar in that regard, but Nebraska's modern success is much greater than that of Texas.
Oklahoma has been strong, but they are in danger of no longer being an elite program. aTm has been a good but not great program in recent history, but they have the brightest near future of any team in the bunch.
Louisville is clearly on the rise...very similar to Oklahoma State in that regard.
Overall, I would give a slight edge to the Big 12 as a football conference today, but those movers may have more upside down the road.
All in all, the Big 12 is a slightly better football conference, and the movers would be a much better basketball conference.