Dreaming of a bigger Big 12

The good old days.

The Big 12 Conference is in its second year without a championship game, thanks to realignment.

For Sooner fans it was great to see OU play in eight of those title tilts, winning seven of them. An extra game is always what every rabid college fan dreams about. This weekend those dreams will come true for a lot of fans, as nearly every conference will hold its championship games while the Big 12 will have season-ending games.

The Big 12 needs to fatten its conference and get back to an additional championship game. Maryland and Rutgers are joining the Big 10 Conference in 2014. More realignment is going to come, and now is the time for the Big 12 to up its ante.

My dream is that some of the billionaires in this part of the country (like Jerry Jones, T. Boone Pickens, Aubrey McClendon, to name a few) pool their dough to lure Notre Dame and Arkansas to the Big 12. Those teams would be in a north division with Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and West Virginia. I mentioned those rich dudes because they have sports interests in their portfolios.

And hey, why stop there? Maybe those billionaires would pony up more moolah and try for Florida State and Louisville, too. The Seminoles are a football powerhouse and have recently shown up on the men’s basketball radar. The Cardinals have been a decent football team most years, and they are a power in men’s basketball. Of course, then the conference might have to go to an East-West format. Put those two in the east with Notre Dame, Kansas, Kansas State, West Virginia and Iowa State. Arkansas, Baylor, OU, OSU, Texas, Texas Tech and TCU would represent the west.

With these teams, a lot of cities would love to host some championship games in football and basketball.

The billionaires have a lot more on their plates than worrying about the Big 12, but no doubt it’s time for the conference to recruit more teams and get back into the championship game, and give us rabid fans something more than just a dream.