Big 12 Speculation Continues

The Big 12 sources say nothing is done yet, but rumors are abound about teams jumping to the conference. Some say it is a done deal with FSU and Clemson moving to the Big 12. They say the age of the superconference is upon us. FSU and Clemson are in and Virginia Tech is on deck. Some even say that Notre Dame is about to join the conference. Is any of it true?

Well, not quite, but it could be headed that way. We also know several pieces of information that can help us have some informed discussions on this issue.

Texas has been trying to get Notre Dame in the Big 12 since 2010 and seems to have made a little bit of headway. Unfortunately for them, Notre Dame has a TV Deal with NBC through 2015. It seems unlikely that a move would happen before then. Unlikely, but not impossible. The Big 12 could come up with some sort of unique revenue sharing for Notre Dame to work around their current deal. They do something similar for Texas and it would be difficult, but not impossible. Notre Dame would certainly bring more to the table for a Big 12 TV deal even if it was in a limited fashion.

In addition to all of that, the athletic director at Texas is saying to some in the Big 12 that he thinks Notre Dame is seriously looking at the Big 12. The most obvious point about Notre Dame in the Big 12 is that nobody knows how it would work. It will certainly be interesting to follow though.

Everyone is trying to figure out what works best for them. It is a confusing time and nobody knows for sure what will happen, including my Seminoles.

The rumor is that FSU and Clemson are talking more and more about moving as a package deal out of the ACC. FSU and Clemson would be wise to move together for travel costs, current rivalry, and other reasons. It seems that the ACC schools will have to make the move. Another rumor is that nobody wants to see the ACC de-stabilize and that either FSU and/or Clemson are going to have to make the first move.

Also apparently the SEC has told the Big 12 to see if it really wants to grow beyond 12. Is the SEC scared that in a superconference situation the Big 12 gets better than the SEC? Clemson, FSU, Notre Dame and VT together may make the Big 12 the premier conference.

A high level source in the Big 12 says the conference will end up with 12 and a half schools. That source speculated that the teams would be FSU and Clemson or FSU and Louisville. The source seemed fairly certain that FSU would be one of the teams moving. The half was for Notre Dame. It seemed that the source says the league will be 12 teams unless Notre Dame joins at which point they could move to 14. Wild stuff. I would be down for FSU playing Notre Dame every year starting in 2014 though. Sign me up for the Big 12.

-Noland