BYU Football: 10 most likely conference realignments

OU's DaShaun White (23) and Delarrin Turner-Yell (32) bring down Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger (11) during the Sooners' 53-45 win in Dallas on Oct. 10, 2020.ehlinger
OU's DaShaun White (23) and Delarrin Turner-Yell (32) bring down Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger (11) during the Sooners' 53-45 win in Dallas on Oct. 10, 2020.ehlinger /
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AUSTIN, TX – SEPTEMBER 02: The Big 12 logo on the field at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium before the game between the Texas Longhorns and the Maryland Terrapins on September 2, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TX – SEPTEMBER 02: The Big 12 logo on the field at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium before the game between the Texas Longhorns and the Maryland Terrapins on September 2, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images) /

3 – Big 12 Goes All In

The Big 12 is viewed as the fourth best P5 conference only ahead of the Pac 12. Falling behind the Pac 12 for reasons other than Oregon winning a National Championship would be detrimental to the conference and again may end in them losing P5 status.

Perhaps the Big 12 will do the opposite of what they did in 2016 when they decided to do nothing. Maybe the Big 12 decides to become a 16 team conference that stretches from the West to East coast.

While impossible to predict which teams would join this conference the likely conference would look something like the following:

EAST West Virginia, Army, Liberty, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Tulsa, TCU, and UCF

WEST: BYU, Boise State, San Diego State, Texas Tech, Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, and Houston

Having so many teams would allow for the conference to allow minimal cross country travel. In other words, teams like BYU or San Diego State wouldn’t have to cross the Mississippi more than once a year.

Likelihood of happening: Medium-Slim

This model almost makes too much sense. Could the Big 12 get to the point where they are humble enough to invite Liberty and Army? My first thought is no, but this conference would be good enough for sure to remain P5 and they could take advantage of having games televised from the opening 12:00 PM ET time slot to the 10:30 PM ET time slot.