Football News

J. Robert Byrom

Written by J. Robert Byrom

Another conference realignment article starts off with a joke about how the Big 12 has 10 teams, the Big Ten has 12, and the Pac 10 has become the 12 Pac.

As lame as it is, it is truly the best way to start this article.

Let's face it, the numbers do not add up anymore. Having a number in the conference name is as about as shortsighted as drive-up ATMs with braille on the buttons.

The Big 10 and Big 12 were bound to step on each others toes eventually. While the Big East, SEC, and ACC have all expanded with nary a joke made about either of them.

While the Big 10 may be used to the jokes as they have had 11 teams ever since Penn State joined in 1990, having a number in your name makes less and less sense with every round of realignment.

The Big 12 and Big 10 are now stuck with the names the other one so desperately needs.

Name-swapping, while seemingly so simple, is simply just not an option. Too much history is attached to the names and talking about the history of either conference would become annoyingly confusing for anyone outside of the state of Nebraska.

For the Big 12, a name change makes sense. Even if they do add two more teams soon, it is unrealistic to think they would stay at the same number forever.

Of course, the new name for the conference is obvious but no one wants to say it. The old school Big 8 fans want nothing to do with it but it is time for the Big 12 to become the Southwest Conference.

We have all heard the jokes, about calling it the Longhorn Conference, The Texas 10, or Texas and the Little Nine. All those jokes have been pointing out the obvious, without Nebraska and Colorado, the conference has shifted south.