Quote:
Originally Posted by Saul Good
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.
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Starting with basketball I do agree that Louisville has a seat at the table with the big boys after finally breaking through with a title this year. Pitino is a guy that most of us end up rooting for but their recent recruiting classes do not compare to Kansas. I would rank them overall the second best program on this list with both Oklahoma State and Syracuse fighting for the 3rd place. Kansas State will continue to move forward as well.
Football isn't comparable. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State all have been in the BCS in the last three years with Texas back on the upward trend in both performance on the field and recruiting. Having $40 million more than any other team in college athletics doesn't hurt their chances.
Again Louisville is really the only relevant program from the movers side. (With the exception of TCU and WVU which we are including in the discussion). Texas A&M is interesting so we will see what happens with them but it's hard to take a program with a 15-19 bowl record all that seriously until we see some sustained success. No doubt they had a good year last year but they don't belong in the same category as the Big 12 football schools.