Big 12 Survives

In a complete surprise move the Big 12 conference has managed to survive with 10 teams - Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State. When Colorado bolted to the Pac 10, I thought for sure all the rest of the Big 12 South, excluding Baylor, would follow to form the new Pac 16. Then with Nebraska applying to join the Big 10 it seemed like a done deal.

Somehow the Big 12 came back with promises that UT, A&M and OU would be guaranteed $20 million a year in TV rights (still smaller than what SEC teams make) and that UT could pursue their own TV network, something the Pac 10 does not allow.

In a way it makes sense. They'll loose the Big 12 Championship game and now the UT vs. OU game will essentially be played for a BCS bowl bid every year. Why compete with 15 other teams for a BCS bowl game, when you can compete against nine. It also keeps the Aggie game intact, as one of the scenarios had the Farm School going to the SEC. I didn't understand the logic in this as the Aggies suck in the Big 12 and they want to move to a harder league?

So now the remaining questions. Will the Big 12 and Big 10 change names and they have the opposite number of teams? Will the Big 12 expand to get back to 12 teams, so they can keep the championship game and the money it brings? If so, will they invite TCU, Rice and UH back and recreate the Southwest Conference days?