Big Ten Courting Texas

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Feb 12, 2010 5:00PM

The latest object of Big Ten affection will surely raise eyebrows across the NCAA landscape: the Texas Longhorns. The Lawrence Journal World reported yesterday that the conference has started “preliminary exchanges” with the school about possibly becoming that much sought after 12th team for the Big Ten, certainly a big step up over other rumored schools like Cincinnati, Pitt, Rutgers, and Mizzou.

If the Big Ten were able to lure Texas away from the Big 12, it'd be a huge coup for the conference. Besides having one of the nation's elite teams added to the roster (who needs your bowl-less team anyhow, Notre Dame?), the added television exposure and revenue would be huge for the conference, even if, geographically, it doesn't make much sense. Travel costs would be higher as teams would have to travel to Austin as opposed to closer locales (and vice versa for the Texas team).

Rumor has it Texas' main concern is maintaining rivalries with Oklahoma and Texas A&M, schools they could schedule each year as non-conference opponents. Over at the Tribune, though, Teddy Greenstein figures the better bet is still on Rutgers (and that lucrative New York City television market). That - along with Mizzou - makes the most sense. And the Big 12 figures to make much less fuss over losing Mizzou than their crown jewel. We agree with Greenstein: Texas is a nice dream but it's just that, a dream.