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Big 12 solidifies its seat at the big boy table
Published: 5/18/2012 3:13 PM
Last Modified: 5/18/2012 3:13 PM

After four defections, three commissioners, two years of uncertainty and one school network that just won't go away, where is today's Big 12?

Apparently the same place it was two years ago -- positioned as one of the premier conferences in all of college football.

The Big 12 and the Southeastern Conference set the college sports world to oohing and aahing Friday afternoon, announcing a five-year deal beginning in 2014 that will match the league's two champions in a New Year's Day Bowl.

Sure, this game could become little more than a consolation prize once details of a college football final four are made clear. But the meaning of Friday's announcement seems deeper than a single bowl game.

In the race to super conferences, we've found our fourth to join the Big 10, Pac 12 and SEC. Big 12, welcome to the big boy table -- or should we say, "Mr. Dodds, we've been keeping a seat for you."

Can you believe, if the Pac 12 had been willing to take Oklahoma and Oklahoma State without Texas this September, local fans would be preparing for a permanent West Coast swing. And the SEC and Atlantic Coast Conference would be announcing a landmark bowl partnership today.

How quickly things change? Which is also to say, this too can change.
But for the moment, the Big 12 is positioned perfectly -- somewhat in spite of itself.

Maybe the Rose Bowl's Big 10-Pac 12 matchup and this new partnership between the Big 12 and SEC will be the conferences' going-away gift to the bowl system -- while four marquee teams head to the Football Four, the league's long-time partners will get the next best games.

It could be that simple, but I wouldn't count on it. Friday's move seems to signal the next wave in the steady march to four 16-team super conferences. SEC commissioner Mike Slive doesn't bet on losers. And today he just bet that the Big 12 -- not the ACC, Mountain West, Big East or some yet-to-be formed league -- will be the fourth surviving power football conference.

Notre Dame, want to guarantee your place in the national title picture? Better hop on the Big 10 or Big 12 bandwagon. Florida State, Miami, Clemson, Virginia Tech, the Big 12 has more than enough space if you guys want to join a football league.

If you convince those schools to make a move, the next step is pretty clear. How about the Rose Bowl and Big 12-SEC Bowl serving as the two national semifinals? The two winners play in a neutral site championship, and the four conference championship games become de facto national quarterfinals.

As for teams like Tulsa? Well, at least you can play for a national title in all the other sports. Or perhaps, the Conference USA's and Sun Belts of the world will be forced to merge with the elite level of the Football Championship Subdivision and play for its own national title.

Those scenarios are still off on the horizon, but Friday's announcement looks like a pretty significant step in that direction.

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nonplused (9 months ago)

Currently, the Big 12/SEC semi-final would be more like the de facto national championship. As a Big 12 fan, I would rather play the winner of the Pac 12 or Big 10.

I understand everything is cyclical, but I remeber years when the Big 12 north champ didn't beat anyone in the south but Baylor.

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Tulsa World Sports Editor Michael Peters has nearly 20 years of daily newspaper experience. A 1993 graduate of Texas A&M, he worked at papers in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Beaumont, Texas, and Galveston, Texas, before joining the Houston Chronicle as High School Sports Editor in 2008. While in Houston, he coordinated coverage of the 2008 Texas Class 5A state football championships and the 2011 NCAA Men's Final Four.

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