Big 12 Basketball: Top 5 candidates to join league in potential realignment

2. BYU

From a logistics standpoint, this would be a home run move for the Cougars. BYU remains independent in football and would certainly benefit greatly from a conference, let alone a power conference home. In basketball, the program is in tremendous shape and will continue to be one of the best teams in the WCC. They might always be behind Gonzaga, but this was a top 25 team this past season and they could make a run in the Big 12.

There are many reasons why BYU to the Big 12 wouldn’t work, even if the move would make sense for the program. The geography would need some justification, as they’d be out on an island in Utah. The university also prohibits athletics events taking place on Sundays, and the conference adjusting everything around that would be quite difficult.

BYU football has been consistently good, appearing in bowl games in 14 of the last 15 seasons. Though the Big 12 is a new animal, it’s clear that they would compete from day one in both flagship sports. There would have to be a few concessions from both sides, but this is a marriage that could work, and would certainly be beneficial to both BYU and the Big 12. However, the conference chose TCU last time, why settle for BYU during round two?