College Football Insider: To Have or Not Have Divisions in the Big 12

With just 10 teams remaining in the Big 12, there may be some realigning that takes place to allow the conference to have divisions, as well as allow it to develop some additional rivalries to help enhance its appeal.

But what is the best way to make this a much more appealing conference to football fans?

With 10 teams, it appears that it is possible that each team could play one another once each and every season thanks to the size of the division. Imagine each team meeting one another once a year. That would certainly be ideal for both the conference and the fans of the teams involved in the Big 12.

Because the teams would be playing each other once a season, you could expect fans to be looking forward to those games each and every year (just like fans look forward to rivalry games in the NFL).

Teams would alternate where they play each other from one season to the next, building up interest by fans and creating a rivalry out of every single matchup that could be offered. It would be a step in the right direction for the Big 12 and would make them pretty appealing to the fans.

Playing one another once a season would definitely be a step in the right direction for the Big 12. They could eliminate one non-conference game as a result, go with just three non-conference games and have nine in-conference games. Since fans aren’t that attracted to non-conference games, having nine regular in-conference games would be very popular and make the Big 12 unique in that aspect.

Would fans be all for nine conference games? You bet they would.

Would it benefit the Big 12 to have divisions? If they did have divisions, it could be beneficial in creating some additional rivalries, especially with the Big 12 Championship Game (which could go away if there weren’t divisions). Having North and South divisions like they used to have in the Big 12 would be a good idea because of this playoff.

So how should the new divisions look? Here’s a shot at what these divisions could look like if the Big 12 decides to split back up into two again:

North Division: Kansas Jayhawks, Kansas State Wildcats, Iowa State Cyclones, Missouri Tigers, Oklahoma State Cowboys

South Division: Texas Longhorns, Oklahoma Sooners, Baylor Bears, Texas A&M Aggies, Texas Tech Red Raiders

These seem like pretty likely choices for new divisions in the Big 12. This would also enable the Big 12 to keep its conference championship game, which would be ideal for the conference and its fans.

This, of course, is if they don’t take in any additional teams, which right now doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen.

The Big 12 just may decide to stay the way that it is and keep its 10 teams in place and not allow anyone else to come in and be a part of the conference. In this day and age, it all boils down to how each conference and each team can make more money, so you can bet that whatever the best moneymaking situation is, the Big 12 will go for that.