Texas Football: Deion Sanders wants Big 12 to add Jackson State

With the move for Texas football and the Oklahoma Sooners to the SEC complete this week, a lot of the focus around the college sports landscape now shifts to what will happen to the Big 12. Texas and Oklahoma leaving the Big 12 for the SEC likely set off the dominos to what will either be a lofty expansion for the conference or its complete collapse.

But we should know in a matter of days or weeks what the next steps will look like for the Big 12 in the wake of the loss of two mammoth programs like the Longhorns and the Sooners. Some of the usual candidates mentioned for the Big 12 to expand are prospects like the Houston Cougars, BYU Cougars, Boise State Broncos, UCF Knights, Cincinnati Bearcats, etc.

There was a former NFL superstar and the Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders that threw his opinion into the mix about his school being potentially added to the Big 12 this week. This doesn’t look like something that is realistic for Jackson State, but Sanders obviously never shies away from trying to get anything he is associated with into the limelight.

Sanders was the Jackson State head coach since 2020. And he’s made some waves with that program both on the field and on the recruiting trail since taking over there a little more than one year ago. But seeing if Sanders can sustain this type of success at an FCS program will be the real question mark moving forward.

Deion Sanders wants Jackson State in the Big 12 after departure of Texas football, OU

Still, this is an interesting pitch for the Big 12. It is likely for the Big 12 that, if it expands with an FCS candidate, that it would be with a program like the North Dakota State Bison.

Before trying to make a pitch for the Big 12, it would be good for Jackson State to make its mark with a significant win over a Power Five school. That has yet to happen for Jackson State, largely thanks to the altered 2020 college football season in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jackson State will get a big shot to get a marquee win over a Group of Five program this fall when the school takes on the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks on Sep. 18.

For the time being, most attention will likely fall on the eight remaining Big 12 schools and where each could land when it’s all said and done. If one school bolts from the Big 12 in the near future, that could see the rest find homes in a matter of just days.

Texas and Oklahoma will be playing in competition in the Big 12 this fall. But those two schools will be looking to make the move to start playing games in the SEC by the time the fall of 2022 arrives.