Texas Basketball: 3 teams that benefit from collapse of the Big 12

Baylor

Among the true meteoric level rises in the Big 12 among the top men’s hoops programs is the defending National Champion Baylor Bears. Baylor and longtime head coach Scott Drew have established themselves as a bona fide national power after winning the National Championship this year in a dominant performance in the final game of the NCAA Tournament against the Gonzaga Bulldogs and head coach Mark Few.

Drew and the Bears have gone from a men’s hoops program that was an absolute doormat in the Big 12 to one of the most relevant in the entire country.

That rise to national prominence is something that the Longhorns are hoping for the men’s hoops program with former Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Chris Beard now at the helm.

Moreover, Baylor could have a difficult time finding a home in this round of conference realignment. But definitely, the most marketable part about this school is the academic prestige and the prominence of the men’s basketball program.

Baylor could find itself in a more advantageous spot in whatever conference it plays in next (even if it is the Big 12) with the strength of the basketball program now. This will be a calling card that could draw other power conferences such as the PAC-12 and maybe even the ACC or Big Ten to want Baylor in the mix with Texas and Oklahoma leaving for the SEC.