Texas Tech and Oklahoma State don’t fit the Pac-12, but in this landscape it could work | Opinion

The Big 12 has no rules in its bylaws that prevent its members from talking with other leagues, but conference schools are supposed to notify the league if they do.

This is akin to having a 45 mph speed limit sign in the middle of a desert.

Texas and Oklahoma are gone, and now every “loyal” member of the Big 12 is looking to see if somehow there is a better alternative elsewhere.

None of these new conference alignments make any sense, but reason and plausible geography no longer matter.

No one with the remaining Big 12 schools wants anything to do with the American Athletic Conference. They don’t want to take any of those schools, nor do they want to merge.

That is worst case, but it ultimately may be the case for the remaining eight Big 12 members.

According to people familiar with both the situations at Texas Tech and TCU, Tech and Oklahoma State have reached out to the Pac-12 to join. And TCU has already reached out to the conference as well.

Of the remaining Big 12 members south of Kansas, Tech and Oklahoma State may have the best chance to land in the Pac-12 but to do this will require clearing many steps. So many steps that it may not be possible.

Shortly after the SEC formally acknowledged that Texas and Oklahoma have applied to join their league, the Pac-12 started its annual football media days on Tuesday.

Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff acknowledged almost immediately that the league has received “significant interest from many schools” regarding expansion.

As a first-time commissioner, Kliavkoff may want to make his mark and give expansion a shot.

Store in this your brain: If the league does expand, this will only be temporary.

College football is heading towards a NFL-lite system, which will consist of 30 to 50 teams and two conferences. That’s the final destination.

Until then, the Pac-12 will examine if an Oklahoma State, TCU, Baylor or Texas Tech and the rest are good additions.

The Pac-12 media rights deal with ESPN and Fox expire in 2024, and the executives from both networks will have a significant say if the league expands.

One element working in favor of the remaining Big 12 schools is the demand for live TV sports programming.

As Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones once said when asked about declining TV ratings, “When demand goes down, right’s fees go up.”

TV executives are desperate to keep the model intact, which explains why sports leagues continue to bathe in money despite ratings that don’t always support the investment.

This still only makes any sense for the Pac-12, or any league, if the new members add value, and the payouts, to the current members of the conferences.

Texas paired with Oklahoma will add potentially as much as $20 million per school for the SEC.

There is no combination of the remaining Big 12 schools that will be worth that much to another conference.

And then there is the reality that Kliavkoff may face stiff objection from the presidents at the current Pac-12 schools, who will use whatever arbitrary standard to oppose inclusion.

Start with the fact that no Pac-12 institution has any religious affiliation. USC was founded by the Methodist Episcopal church in 1880, but the school really no longer functions as a religiously affiliated school.

The Pac-12 markets itself as being comprised of only top-tier academic and research institutions. There is a good chance some of the presidents may not regard the potential additions of an Oklahoma State or a Texas Tech as being aligned with the standards set by the current 12 schools.

The Pac-12 sells that its schools are all like the University of California, which boasts an acceptance rate of 16.3 percent of applicants.

However, Pac-12 member Arizona State clicks in with an acceptance rate of 86.5 percent, and Arizona at 84.6 percent. Washington State’s is 85 percent, and Oregon State is at 82.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the acceptance rate at Oklahoma State for incoming students is 70 percent. Texas Tech is 68.9 percent.

The Pac-12 sells that its a conference of members of the AAU (Association of American Universities). Nine of the Pac-12 schools are a member of the AAU.

Of the remaining Big 12 schools, Kansas and Iowa State are AAU members.

College athletics, and all of this conference realignment, has forced all of these leagues to erase their high-minded idealistic standards in the pursuit of more exposure, and cash to cover costs.

None of this necessarily fits, but this is where college football sits.

Which is why Texas Tech and Oklahoma State pine to be conference members in a league based in California.