I’m going to start this by saying that I’m a Hawkeye fan so I see this from an entirely different perspective from the outside looking in. If the Big 12 is to survive Texas has to go. The only reason OU, A&M, and others want to leave is because of Texas greed. Texas could care less about anybody but Texas. They are killing the Big 12 slowly but surely. Texas will continue to demand more and more from the rest of the Big 12 schools sucking the life out of them and then when they can’t take anymore they’ll go independent. Everything Texas has done over the past 2 years has been setting them up for that inevitable goal. If the Big 12 is to survive they have to find a way to get Texas out and then attempt to bring in other schools from other conferences to get back to 12. If we have learned anything from the Big Ten it’s this, only when money and power/influence are shared equally can a conference thrive and be strong. I think there are a lot of schools that would be interested in joining a Big 12 that has OU, A&M, and the rest of the Big 12 teams making a strong conference. Again this is coming from someone on the outside looking in. I just feel that unless you get rid of Texas this drama is only going to end badly for ISU and the other smaller schools in the Big 12. I will say it is too bad that ISU can’t get into the Big Ten because when you look at it geographically and culturally you are a good fit for the Big Ten you are also now surrounded by Big Ten schools so it would be a natural fit for both. Again just an outsiders view.
I will try to give you a real answer. First off, I have no problem with Texas being the big dog here in the conference. Look at them...they are in terms of TV's...revenues....footprint. It just is.
Secondly, I think you are under the misunderstanding that having Texas in our conference hurts us. They bring a boatload of money to the conference. Is it equal sharing? No, but if you go look at the actual numbers, the difference is like a million bucks or something, it's not like Texas is getting 90% while the rest of us get the scraps. Our income is going up huge. And this is important to a school like ISU that always has to do more with less. I know this is your first post but if you would read the threads, you'd see this common rebuttal....that money will do more for ISU than it will for Texas. They have already blown way past the point of diminishing returns. 5 million extra for us means something...for Texas..not so much.
In addition to just revenue, they usually field some pretty good teams making competition better....making the conference stronger. They bring face time to the conference, strengthening every member.
Name one school that could replace Texas that would:
A) Bring in the same amount of Clout
B) With said Clout...not want to do the same thing Texas is doing now.
Even the Longhorn network helps every other school in the conference. If there is a match or game against them and we do well...How nice is that as a recruitment tool..."here's some footage of us kicking the snot out of Texas...on their own network". This is could be big for Texas recruits especially...their families will be able to at least watch them play against Texas.
Also now after this year...every conference game will be Televised...I know the Big 10 has already had this but we haven't. This evens the playing field.
So while I can see where you think you are coming from, your suggestion to drop Texas would be impossible firstly, and Secondly would hurt every member of the Big 12. The answer is simply having another team that has the same clout as Texas to balance the scales if you're worried about that. Oklahoma would like to be but just doesn't have the TV's. In a wet dream...Notre Dame "could" be that team. But that's a whole other subject.