Oklahoma Football: Why Possible Move to Pac-12 Makes Perfect Sense for Sooners

The wheels of conference expansion and realignment continue to spin as the Oklahoma Sooners appear to be zeroing in on the Pac-12 Conference as a possible landing spot should they decide to move.

Matt Hayes of the Sporting News passed along a report by the Oklahoman that linked OU and others to the Pac-12:

"The Oklahoman is reporting that the Sooners are in negotiations with the Pac-12, and that the Sooners, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech are close to landing the final blow to the crumbling Big 12 by heading west."

On paper, it seems like an odd move. It makes little geographic sense and the Sooners seem like a much better fit in a conference like the SEC, Big Ten or even the Big East.

In today's college football, though, the move is par for the course. Geography is completely out the window at this point; it's all about money and prestige—the schools can figure out things like travel later on.

Plain and simple, the Sooners see the Big 12 crumbling around them and they don't want to be left out in the cold.

If and when the Big 12 collapses, there will be no shortage of conferences willing to add Oklahoma, but by setting up their new conference affiliation ahead of time, Oklahoma has ensured that they will dictate where they land, on their terms.

If they had the pick of the litter of conferences, why did they settle on the Pac-12 and not the SEC, as Texas A&M did? The SEC is talking about a number of other teams, but I'm sure they would drop those if they knew they had a shot at OU.

The smart money is on the fact that Oklahoma wanted a conference that would add rival Texas as well to keep the rivalry between the two schools going. Given the (then) Pac-10's interest in the Longhorns a year ago, OU knew they could count on them to be interested once again.

I also wouldn't count out pride. Oklahoma doesn't want to be known as the team that rode the coattails of Texas A&M into the SEC.

We knew that Texas A&M moving to the SEC wouldn't be the end of conference shuffling. Now, we are seeing the other shoe drop. The Big 12 is not long for this college football world and the Pac-12 Conference will be the beneficiary.