With the SEC having 13 teams they are going to be looking to go to an even number of 14. The Big XII is on shaky ground with 9 and all the fate in Texas and Oklahoma's hands. Do they expand or will the Pac-12 offer an invitation to some schools and go to the Super Conference.
I this week predicted it happening and that's because college sports is all about business and money and tv contracts in football right now. Bigger footprints in bigger markets equal a bigger pay day!
Even though I think that is coming, I don't want that. I think 12 is the magic number for conferences. It works for 2 divisions of 6. Scheduling among 6 teams from another division you see teams more often than you would with 8 teams in the other division. Unless there are no non-conference games, your going to take time to build rivalries in your own conference.
Then look at the history of conferences. They were built with like universities in a certain region, hence the names. Atlantic Coast Conference. Big East. Pac-10. Southeastern Conference. Southwest conference. The Big Ten has its footprint in the mid-west and so did the Big 8. The teams didn't have to travel to far to go to compete. Yes the big pay day is football and it costs money to send baseball and other olympic sports on the road.
Now a day or so of thinking about it, what would be best for the landscape? I think 16 is too big. I think that it would work for a few years because of the novelty of the thought, but its just too big. Look at the Big East with the huge conference it has for basketball, or the old WAC when it was spread across 3 time zones and eventually split to the Mountain West and WAC.
Here is where I hope that the Big Ten stays at 12 for the time being and has some history with the way it is set up now. I'm excited about it and don't want to see it change.
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