West Texas meeting West Coast?

After Big 12 media days ended on July 15, there was a storm brewing, but almost no one knew.

Today, Texas and Oklahoma informed the Big 12 that they will not extend their grant of rights after 2025, thus almost solidifying their respective moves to the SEC.

With this move, the Big 12 has said that “The remaining eight institutions will work together in a collaborative manner to thoughtfully and strategically position the Big 12 Conference for continued success long into the future.”

In all reality, the Big 12 on death’s door.

It was a good run for 31 years and now that the SEC is jockeying for these schools, its not far off to think that other conferences start doing the same to try and keep up.

You can take it to the bank that Texas Tech has already started inquiring elsewhere about the future of our University. So far, the PAC 12 seems to make the most sense to me and I’ll tell you why:

• This move gives the PAC 12 a footprint in Texas
• Closer proximity to Lubbock than other conferences
• Familiarity with Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado
• Who can say no to a November game at 70 degrees??

Could we see a PAC 16 with two-eight team divisions, an East and West?

This offers the most common sense landing spot.

EAST Division

• Texas Tech
• Oklahoma State
• Iowa State
• Kansas State
• Arizona
• Arizona State
• Utah
• Colorado

WEST Division

• USC
• UCLA
• California
• Stanford
• Oregon
• Oregon State
• Washington
• Washington State

Will this happen? The talks are just heating up and I for one like the way this looks quite a bit.

The realignment conversation is FAR from over and Texas Tech is in the middle of the most important weeks in its athletic history when it comes to these talks.

What would you rather do?

Would you rather add to the Big 12? Do you want to head west to the PAC 12? Do you want to head east to the ACC? Do you want to drop to the AAC?

I know a lot of us at Viva the Matadors have strong opinions on the future of our Athletic Department.

You should too.