Pac 12 Texas: Idea of Longhorns Coming West Nothing to Be Excited About

They say that all you need to do is head east, and you'll find out why everybody packed up and went west.

I don't remember who wrote that or why, but it definitely seems relevant as far as the Texas Longhorns football program is concerned. The only difference is that it sounds like it’s going to go ahead and skip the first part.

In the event that you haven't heard the latest word around the campfire, there are rumblings that Texas and three other Big 12 programs could bolt for the Pac-12 in the very near future. According to ESPN's Joe Schad, the concept of a "Pac-16" has at least been discussed.

Those other three universities, in case you're wondering, would be Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. But obviously, Texas is the big one, and it's certainly worth noting that the Longhorns were on the verge of joining what was then the Pac-10 last year before negotiations fell apart.

This time around, the idea of Texas and the other schools heading west (figuratively) to form the Pac-16 is much more believable. Thanks to the departure of Nebraska for the Big Ten and the impending departure of Texas A&M for the SEC, the Big 12 is a sinking ship, and the big-money programs need to head for fertile dry land if they want to remain big-money programs.

For Texas in particular, that's why the Pac-12 makes sense. It's a conference on the rise with its own record-setting TV deal. And to make matters even more attractive, the word from Forbes is that a move to the Pac-12 would not mean the end of the Longhorn Network, for good or ill.

So without getting into the nitty-gritty, the point is that shacking up with the Pac-12/Pac-16/whatever would be good business for Texas. For the record, it's also much safer business than going independent.

I can understand this much. But as you can probably tell from my tone, I don't like it.

First and foremost, the whole point of a "Pacific-12" is to have a home for schools and universities with some connection to the actual Pacific Ocean. That definitely applies to the California schools and Northwest schools. The others? Close enough.

But Austin, Texas? That's a long ways away from the Pacific, and it's certainly not the kind of locale that comes to mind when you think of the Pacific Ocean.

But never mind that. There are actual athletic matters to discuss.

The Pac-12 is home to some pretty big schools with some pretty accomplished football programs. Oregon is fresh off a run to the BCS National Championship Game. Stanford went to a BCS bowl last year and could do so again this year. Washington, Oregon State, UCLA, Arizona State, my beloved Cal and all the others have, at the very least, proud football traditions.

Next to Texas, though, every football program in the Pac-12 looks like a pee-wee organization. Football is not a sport in Longhorn country. By my understanding, it is closer to a religion.

This is fine, but bringing Texas into the Pac-12 would create a pretty awkward situation. The program is big enough to immediately overshadow all the others, sort of like planting a redwood in a garden of azaleas.

In time, this is going to create more problems than simple awkwardness. One of the chief fears, of course, is that of recruiting. There are a lot of players in the Pac-12, including two of its biggest stars in Oregon's LaMichael James and Stanford's Andrew Luck, who came from the state of Texas, and you naturally have to wonder if the flow of talent would stop and redirect itself towards Texas if the Pac-16 actually came to fruition.

It's a more likely possibility than you might think, especially if the Longhorn Network is allowed to persist. This is at least part of what drove Texas A&M away from the Big 12, and it's not an issue that is going to go away simply because Texas changed conferences.

Even if the effect of this problem is minimal or, by some stroke of lucky, nonexistent, having the Texas in the Pac-12/Pac-16/whatever would still be a huge bummer.

The simple reason for this is because Texas would immediately become the dominant program in the conference. That may be good for business, but it's not exactly a kind gesture to the tradition of the conference.

I guess such things don't matter.

Wait, check that. We're talking about college football.

I know such things don't matter.