Ad Disclosure
Report: Group of 5 conference will attempt to ‘poach’ remaining Big 12 teams during potential realignment
By Paul Harvey
Published:
The college football landscape could be in for another massive shakeup if Texas and Oklahoma do indeed wind up in the SEC.
As things currently stand, the Big 12 is one of the Power 5 conferences in the country. But should the Longhorns and Sooners leave, that would drop the conference to just eight teams without the two biggest powerhouses left. And if that does happen, one conference is reportedly planning on making a run and grabbing some of the remaining Big 12 programs.
According to Chip Patterson with CBS Sports, a report in The Athletic cites high-ranking sources within the AAC says the conference “plans to act as an aggressor” and “will try to poach the Big 12’s leftovers, potentially as a group.”
The AAC is currently an 11-team conference that has schools across the southeast (UCF, South Florida, East Carolina, Tulane), stretches up to Philadelphia (Temple), into the midwest (Cincinnati, Wichita State), and has programs in Texas (Houston, SMU).
Should Texas and Oklahoma bolt, it will be interesting to see what programs are targeted by the AAC. There are reports that Kansas and the B1G have already communicated about realignment.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.