TCU athletic director on realignment: The Big 12 needs to begin playing offense
The Big 12 appears to be on life support with flagships Texas and Oklahoma heading to the SEC by the summer of 2025, at the latest.
But TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati offered a different perspective this week, saying the league is stronger than it’s being perceived these days.
“This is a strong conference with a lot of tradition and history,” Donati said. “We are in a position to strengthen this conference and I know we will do that.”
Donati said it’s important that the conference “begins playing offense and flips this narrative.”
The Big 12 must go down the expansion route to sustain its long-term viability. There are a number of schools at the Group of Five level, or an independent such as BYU, that should have interest in joining the league.
BYU would bring immediate value and strengthen the league. A school such as Cincinnati is also an attractive target given its football program has been in the College Football Playoff conversation in recent years and its basketball success over the years.
Those would appear to be the Big 12’s top options followed by schools such as Houston and Central Florida. If the league wants to expand beyond that, others that should garner interest would include Colorado State, San Diego State, Memphis, Navy, Boise State, UNLV, SMU, among others.
Donati didn’t speculate on what schools the Big 12 may be looking at as it considers expansion. But he made it clear that TCU has positioned itself to play at the highest levels of college athletics.
TCU has invested close to $500 million in athletics facilities over the last decade and has fielded a consistently competitive football program. The basketball program made a recent run to the NCAA Tournament under Jamie Dixon too.
“A huge part of this job is to ensure that TCU and TCU athletics is in the best possible position to compete at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics,” Donati said. “As we have always done at TCU, we continue to work tirelessly to position our programs for overall excellence. That hasn’t changed and it won’t change.”
As of now, TCU is a loyal and proud member of the Big 12. After all, there doesn’t seem to be another option on the table with the Pac-12 saying it would not pursue expansion at this time.
That could change, of course, with the Pac-12’s TV rights deal coming up in a few years. So are the Big 12’s and Big Ten’s. That’s when more movement could happen.
Once those negotiations begin, a league such as the Pac-12 could have a stronger appetite for expansion if it means a better TV deal. Moving into the Texas market and the central time zone would seem desirable for the Pac-12.
This state is one of the most fertile recruiting grounds in the country and there are plenty of West Coast natives moving here. Yes, the state’s biggest schools are in the SEC but a combination of others would provide a Texas presence.
In the meantime, though, it’s all speculation. TCU and the rest of the remaining schools are all-in on the Big 12.
