JockStocks: RIP Big 12

It is ironic that Colorado, which has become one of the laughing stocks of the conference, is going to bring down the conference of Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Supposedly, Oklahoma and Texas are being courted by the SEC; Nebraska and potentially Missouri are targets of the Big Ten, and the PAC-10 is eyeing as many as four more of the Big 12's members. So, what is going to happen? We are going to have four mega-conferences: Big 10, PAC-10, SEC and ACC. Goodbye Big 12, goodbye Big East, goodbye Mountain West.

This is a sad day for football traditionalists, but it is a big day for athletic companies. Now we could see companies like Nike (NKE) or Under Armour (UA) notching apparel and equipment deals with individual conferences (this may be difficult at first since teams have individual contracts, but don't underestimate the persuasive power of a group). What about sponsors? The Big 10 and the PAC-10 do not have conference championship games but would when adding new teams. Such a move could be huge for potential sponsors. There are major sponsors for the Big 12 and SEC championship games, one has to assume that the same is going to happen for the Big 10 and PAC-10.

There is money available, but the biggest money is going to come from television contracts. If once-powerful and now-weak Notre Dame can sign a multi-million dollar contract with NBC, imagine what kind of deal a revamped Big 10 could sign. What if Oklahoma or Texas decided to strike out on their own as an independent and sign a major television contract? That could mean big money for either of those teams.

Unfortunately, it looks like we will only remember that great days for the Big 12 and the classic clashes. Of course, the move to college mega-conferences could mean big money for the big schools. The rich get richer and the poor may get poorer ... we shall soon find out.