Big 12 Football: 3 programs most appealing to the PAC-12

Baylor

We’ve talked about this before, but there is the potential for the Baylor Bears to become a package deal with their rival school, TCU, that appeals for the PAC-12 in this round of conference realignment. The idea of the PAC-12 expanding with some schools from the Big 12 has happened before, and so it’s not a foreign thought to bring TCU and Baylor as a package deal into the mix.

What could appeal to the PAC-12 about bringing in a school from the Big 12 like Baylor is namely the combination of the willingness to invest in athletics to a competitive degree and the stature of the basketball program under head coach Scott Drew. But the football program could be a rather inconsistent presence for the PAC-12.

Historically, the Baylor football program is not one of the more successful, even among the remaining eight schools in the Big 12. The saving grace for that school is the fact that the basketball program is just coming off winning a National Championship. There is the potential for the PAC-12 to get a school from the Big 12 in Baylor that could be a similar basketball presence as Kansas, just with a more potent football program and a better institution academically.

Looking at this purely from a football perspective, if the PAC-12 administration and current schools believe that Baylor is a football program trending up under the direction of head coach Dave Aranda, this could be a good option for conference expansion. Baylor also makes for a nice package deal with a number of programs out of the Big 12, like the Texas Tech Red Raiders and/or TCU.