Will probably be OU wins but they don't like Texas so we slip to #4! Blake Griffin is going to be special guest on Gameday. Anyone see the picture of him on ESPN Body Magazine? Not an ouce of fat there!

Blake Griffin: ESPN The Body Issue

Just got my ESPN mag yesterday, QM. Haven't gotten to gawk look at it yet.

Looks like TCU to the Big 12.

Is that to get BACK to 10?

10, until Mizzou leaves, then 9.

This is way too much math for football...

I hear the possibilities that exist out there are: Louisville, West Virginia, BYU, and believe it or not, Tulane (to get a foothold in Louisiana i'm sure and after teams like LSU and the like will try to get a foothold in Texas after A&M goes to the SEC, i'm starting to like the idea of Tulane kinda).

Shoulda also clarify: don't think the TCU thing is an absolute done deal yet, but the offer has evidently been made and everything i hear is that TCU will accept. Can't imagine they wouldn't.

Just in - Wally Amundson, AD for North Dakota State announced his bid for Big 12 membership.

"Ve sure are hexcited aboot joining in sucha good converence, doncha know. Since Nebraska left, you fellas need a good, cold place to place to play, up Nort, doncha know. An you can't get much furter Nort than Nort Dakota, by golly, unless o course you to to Canada, eh, an they don't have the same size football fields, doncha know."

Big 12 Commissioner Neinas had no comment on AD Amundson's statement.

Ya sure you bet'cha....

Of course, there was a time not long ago when UND and NDSU could have been an upgrade to the likes of Baylor and Iowa State.

Just sayin'

How many teams the last 7 or 8 years have been consistently better than TCU? No more than a handful. I have to admit, i wasn't really looking for the Big 12 to add more Texas teams, but to imply that TCU is some sort of a joke program would imply someone who simply hasn't been paying attention.

just heard a clip on the radio that the President of Texas A&M sent a letter to the SEC explaining that they were trying to apply to the Southland Conference, not Southeastern Conference, and would the SEC let them go? They wanted to enter a conference where they had a chance of winning a football game...seems the typo in conference name wasn't caught...imagine the surprise at A&M to find they were admitted to the SEC...pretty dang funny stuff

IMO, A&M will be in the SEC what they've been in the Big 12....a team that finishes mid-division. Texas A&M has 1 Big 12 championship in 15 years in the Big 12 and 2 appearances in the game (i.e., 2 division championships).

Ditto that. They'll be somewhere in between Vandy and Bama, Kentucky and LSU.

They'll be Tennessee. or

Watch out if A&M can figure out how to play the second half of a game!

See if I send you any of my Christmas cookies.

It won't matter one bit. LSU and Alabama will play each other before the end of the season.

I won't be totally happy this year unless OU wins the natl. championship and does so by beating an undefeated SEC champion to do it. Ideally, they'd beat LSU in a quasi home game at the Sugar Bowl.

It is hard to think anyone would beat OU this year. Certainly, they are not a flawless team, but they are deserving of the #1 spot imo.

The Cotton Bowl needs to get into the bowl rotation. Right now, the Big 12 is getting the royal shaft on that end of the deal. You have the Sugar Bowl (SEC country), the Rose Bowl (Pac 12 country), the Fiesta Bowl (also Pac 12 country), and the Orange Bowl (ACC/SEC country).

I am optimistic that in the next 5 years the bowl system will have a makeover. By then the Big XII will likely be gone.

I might have agreed with you about the Big 12 a couple of weeks ago, but i don't think so now. If Mizzou stays (and i think they will now), we'll have 10 teams and might go to 12. Even if Mizzou goes (and it's not as if Mizzou is a cornerstone of the conference anyway), i think the Big 12 stays now. We'll see i guess.

No one is going to stay long term with the longhorn network. The Big XII has one amazing team right now. That said OSU is pretty darn good too.

Texas has returned to their mediocrity. They lose at least 5 games this year. Texas had a good ten year run but has spent most of the last 40 years as average.

TCU spent almost al of the last 40 years as average and without their current coach, they go back to a sub 500 team. To me, that is not the cornerstone to a good confrence. Right now it is OU and everyone else.

Missouri, ISU, Kansas are all really bad teams. All have their moments but are not good enough. Without Griffin, Baylor goes back to also being a really bad team. TT is back on the rise, but the Big XII is stymied by too many average teams. OU has done the right thing by making their non confrence schedule tough.

In 5 years, Missouri will bail and so will OU. No one wants Texas to be doign what they are doign with the LHN. It has nothing to do with revenue sharing. Nebraska, Colorado and Texas A&M did not leave because of revenue sharing and OU was not going to leave because of revenue sharing. I know TAM is having a poor year, but TCU does not equal TAM.

I agree with some of what you said, however, i think a lot of what you say is applicable to other conferences. Who in the Big 10 is truly good right now? Iowa State, Kansas and Missouri are at least the equal of Indiana, Purdue, and Northwestern (actually, those 3 Big 12 programs i would argue are better). Or take any conference you wish: comparable or better than Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Ole Miss. Or Oregon State, UCLA, and Washington State (who is finally showing signs of life). I think OU is fine with the Longhorn Network so long as they stay away from high school stuff....don't think OU cares about Texas' money and plans on getting its own network too. Missouri has shown its wandering eye, so i can't predict what they'll do. They could go to the SEC and be what they are in the Big 12 basically...a mid-tier team. They'd be right there with the Mississippi States and Tennessees of the world.

Oh...and i disagree that Tech is on the rise. They reached their peak under Mike Leach and are slowly heading back to earth. (Having said that, i won't be shocked if they beat K-State Saturday in Lubbock.) And as far as comparing TCU to Texas A&M: tough comparison. Culturally, there are many more A&M followers, no doubt. Who has had a better football team the last 10 years? (Even last 20 years really.) Again, no doubt: TCU.

(Just enjoying the discussion.....hopefully you aren't taking this as argumentative.)

Missed one other thing: I think you are underestimating Art Briles at Baylor. That guy can just flat out coach (and recruit). I think he has finally made Baylor relevant again. Not saying they are going to be up there with OU or Texas, but when you were as bad as Baylor was, being competitive year in and year out is quite an achievement and i think he'll continue to do that.

The Big 12 has the best conference rating of any conference right now under the computers. I'd argue that the Big 10 and Pac 12 are the bastions of mediocrity right now. Truly good (not great, just good) teams in the Pac 12 right now: Oregon, Stanford and Arizona State. In the Big 10: Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan, Michigan State (iffy, but for now), and Illinois (ditto).

Hey, I never said the Big X was any good. But they do have teams percieved to have been better over the last 40 years. That alone garners more than the remnants of the Big XII. The Big X is horrid. But they still have name recognition like Michigan, Ohio State, Nebraska, Michigan State, Illinois, and Penn State.

But I am going to compare your teams. Right now I agree Iowa State is probably fairly good, but Northwestern would probably beat all of the teams you named. Don't get me wrong, I am not calling Northwestern good. I think KSU is better than Illinois and I do think (as of right now) the teams in the Big XII are better than the teams in the Big X.

But I am talking long term. If history is any indicator of future success, the Big XII is stuck with Oklahoma, a handful of above average teams and a handful of aweful teams.

Taking that same history, the Big X would be holding a couple of really good teams, a lot of above average teams and a few really bad teams. I have always been an advocate that the football in the Big XII was better than the Big Ten (and still is). But I think if you look at the modern era, the remnants of the BigXII are really not that good (outside of Oklahoma - who even had a terrible ten year run after Switzer).

What did they lose with Nebraska and Colorado - the majority of North Championships, 6 NC's and countless confrence championships (not just counting the Big XII). In TAM, they lose a good bowl team for a majority of their program. In TCU, they get a team that has been hit and miss over the last 40 years with a heavy emphasis on miss. If not for their confrence they would never have made any BCS game, let alone a ten win season.

KSU will go the way of their coach. When he leaves so does their program. The remaining North teams will never vie for anything. Nor will Baylor, or Texas Tech. Until Brown is gone nor will Texas, but I am betting he is fired this year.