You seriously think the big 12 has no importance? Yep, a bad year this year and only 1 appearance in the playoffs in 3 years. It's worth noting a conference championship game would have got them in the playoffs in year 1. Baylor and TCU were #5 and #6 in the final playoff rankings. TCU was #3 the week before but Ohio St beat #13 Michigan which helped them jump TCU who had a regular season game against Iowa St. HOWEVER, it is what it is and they've been left out 2 out of 3 years. A conference championship game this year would not have helped them. This was just a down year though for the conference. They made the disciplined choice not to expand just because Boren thought they were at a "psychological disadvantage" because there was no clear advantage for the health of the conference. They only have 10 teams and aren't tied into any massive conference network which would be hard to adapt into a different forum. They have the most flexibility out of any conference and should be able to adapt more quickly when the sports media landscape becomes more clear. They also have not been left behind in media payouts including a massive increase last year. OU has made a lot of threats and we have no idea what Texas wants to do. However, they are making a **** ton of money and can control their own conference. OU was able to push through that rule change so their QB could play an additional year a day after it failed. That would not happen in another league. We'll see how time shapes everything out. They just have the most open spots (assuming conferences max out at 16) than anyone.
The Big XII isn't of "no importance" but they are the 4th best conference in college football and only ahead of the PAC right now in terms of importance. The Big XII made the decision to not expand because the whole charade was to get additional money and it worked. It is widely considered a poorly ran conference, but it still IS a major conference and the landscape of college football can change quickly, and the Big XII could become the second or third best conference at any time. I am somewhat doubtful that it will ever be what it was before because it has allowed the SEC to suck a lot of talent out of Texas.
Probably nothing to see for the immediate future and I'm sure they'll make up a ton of exemptions but the new California ban could severely limit the PAC's exposure and any potential expansion plans. The ban prohibits state-funded travel to various states notably Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Kansas. In other words, the PAC won't be able to send their California schools for away games at more than half of the Big 12 or SEC schools. Big for football, just as big for basketball as that also cuts off the 3 biggest blue bloods. All 3 California schools have played or will play in Texas the last few seasons and each of them have future games scheduled in banned states. It only affects contracts signed after 1/1/17 so those will still likely be played. But should be interesting to see how this pans out. http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/06/california_bans_travel_to_alab.html#incart_most-comments
