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BYU Football: Proposed divisions for the new Big 12

By Adam Gibby

Oct 23, 2021; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; A general view of the Big 12 Conference logo on the field after the game between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Oklahoma Sooners at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 23, 2021; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; A general view of the Big 12 Conference logo on the field after the game between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Oklahoma Sooners at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 27, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; BYU Cougars quarterback Jaren Hall (3) throws the ball against the Southern California Trojans in the first half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 27, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; BYU Cougars quarterback Jaren Hall (3) throws the ball against the Southern California Trojans in the first half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

It appears that Oklahoma and Texas may play in the Big 12 for two years with BYU Football before leaving for the SEC.

When Texas and Oklahoma announced that they would be leaving to join the Big 12, most assumed that the two squads would play for one final year or at most two years. As time has passed, that is starting to look less likely as the Big 12 has now announced that they plan on forming two divisions with a total of 14 teams.

What this means is that in all likelihood, the divisions will remain the same once the Longhorns and Sooners leave for the SEC following the 2025 season. Because of that, divisions have taken center stage as opposed to being made once the two teams leave, which is what most of us expected.

There are a lot of different ways to do the divisions, however it does feel like all of the Texas schools need to be in the same division, or at least all of them aside from Texas Tech who is a few hundred miles away from any of the other Texas schools, but again, the assumption is that the Texas schools will all stay together.

For the sake of this article, we will assume that Oklahama and Texas are in different divisions so that when they leave there won’t be any reshuffling.

I believe that there are two very realistic scenarios and then I will outline a third that I believe would be the best, but probably won’t happen.

Most Likely Scenario

North: BYU, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Cincinnati, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State

South: Texas Tech, Texas, TCU, Baylor, Houston, UCF and West Virginia

This is the scenario that is being thrown around by different news outlets and is making its rounds around Twitter. Geographically this makes the most sense. All of the Texas schools are playing each other and all of the midwest schools are playing each other. Of course BYU, UCF and West Virginia will still be outliers in the conference but from a travel standpoint, this is the most economical and way to get visiting fans to travel to games.

Chance of happening: 60%

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