2011 Conference Realignment: 5 Teams That Can Save the Big 12

With Texas A&M re-aligning itself with the SEC, barring a lawsuit, the Big 12 continues to crumble after the conference re-alignment talk from last summer.

After Nebraska and Colorado left the Big 12 to join the Big Ten and Pac-10 (now Pac-12) respectively, talks of Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech of joining the Pac-10 to become the Pac-16 started to appear.

Now that Texas A&M decided to leave the Big 12 for the SEC, it appears talks of the Pac-16 super conference are beginning to re-emerge.

I, however, believe that there are several teams out there that can join the Big 12 to keep the conference competitive.

Houston Cougars

Under Kevin Sumlin, the Cougars have gone 23-16 the past three years and are one of Conference USA's top teams.

Playing in the big market city of Houston, the Big 12 would gain loads of revenue by adding Houston to the conference.

And even if Houston doesn't have the best football reputation, neither did Colorado when they joined the Pac-12. The addition of the Buffaloes was purely a business move by Larry Scott to gain revenue from the Denver market.

With the Cougars' competitiveness and the Houston market, Houston would make a great addition to the Big 12.

SMU Mustangs

Another move that would generate a great deal of revenue is adding Southern Methodist University to the Big 12.

The SMU is located in Dallas, Texas, one of America's larges cities, and in the state with the best economy.

The Mustangs have had a history of winning, as well. While the days of the Pony Express with Eric Dickerson and Craig James are the most famous, SMU captured the 1935 National Title and are steadily improving under head coach June Jones, who took Hawaii to the Sugar Bowl in 2007.

Tulsa Golden Hurricanes

Another competitive team out of Conference USA, Tulsa would be more of a competitive addition to the Big 12 puzzle than one to help revenue.

The Golden Hurricane have been having recent success in football and would keep the Big 12 a competitive conference with Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

TCU Horned Frogs

Last year's Rose Bowl champions, the Horned Frogs seemed like an obvious choice to become a Big 12 member during LAST year's talks.

However, even with the loss of Colorado and Nebraska, the Big 12 never approached TCU, and the Horned Frogs are set to become members of the Big East next year.

The smart move for both would be for TCU to go to the Big 12. They would get the national recognition that they deserve, and the Big 12 would remain a power conference.

Brigham Young University Cougars

An Independent this year, BYU would be making a smart decision in joining the Big 12. They would get the national recognition they deserve, and would benefit from the increased revenue they would get from being a member of the Big 12. And that would be a huge bonus playing in Utah.

Coach Bronco Mendenhall is taking BYU to great strides since they won the national title in 1984 and could contend for Big 12 titles for years to come.