In light of the Houston Chronicle story that Texas and OU are reportedly seeking to join the SEC, the Big 12 stands on precarious footing. Say what you will about the lack of on-field success in Austin over the past decade, but it would be a really punch to the gut to the league to lose its two biggest revenue-producing brands.
In OU, the Big 12 would lose its best football program and its only team that’s competed for a national championship since the inception of the College Football Playoff in 2014. Though the Sooners have struggled on the big stage against the SEC with noteworthy losses to Alabama, Georgia, and LSU, the Big 12 title trophy has remained in Norman for six years in a row.
If OU and Texas actually leave, the only way for the Big 12 to save itself is to add four teams and become a league that truly lives up to its name.
Texas, though it has undergone four losing seasons since 2010 and has only one season with double-digit wins in that span (2018, when a 10-4 Longhorns squad beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl), is on its fourth coach in the past nine seasons. That being said, Texas is the top revenue earner in all of college football according to footballscoop.com at $156 million, $33 higher than the second-place team, Georgia. OU is the second-highest earner of the Big 12 at $94.8 million, followed by TCU at $65 million, OSU at $52.2 million, and Iowa State at $51.9 million.
Texas, too, leads the Big 12 in attendance. From the 2019 season, the Longhorns drew more than 96,000 fans per home game, the seventh-best figure in the nation according to data from the NCAA. OU is the next Big 12 program on the list at No. 13 with 83,000 fans. OSU, behind conference foes Iowa State and West Virginia, ranks at No. 28 in the nation with a little more than 54,000 fans per home contest.
If the Texas-OU story is true and eventually comes to fruition (even if it doesn’t happen until 2025 amid grant rights issues), OSU and the Big 12 would face a difficult reality check. The league would be down to eight teams for the first time since 1995 and would founder nationally without its top on-field performer of the past decade.