With Big 12 Looking, Hogs Fortunate to Have Stayed in SEC

Had a few disgruntled people who feared SEC competition gotten their way, Arkansas would be in much worse position in college athletics this week

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormack announced a couple of days ago that the conference is going to look westward with its expansion efforts. 

Notice he didn't mention looking east. That's because every team of value immediately east of the Big 12 is in the SEC and wasn't willing to step down to the Big 12 even when Texas and Oklahoma were in the conference.

That didn't keep a few misguided people from pushing to take that downward step because they didn't believe Arkansas could compete in the SEC in football. It was a narrow-sighted argument that not only didn't look at the athletic program as a whole, it ignored multiple runs as a Top 5 team, crazy upsets of Top 5 opponents and a pair of SEC conference championship game appearances.

Arkansas currently has the most dominant athletic program in the SEC. The pile of SEC championships and deep playoff runs from various sports is as high as Mount Magazine.

Maybe it was the Pepsi talking. Maybe they're just cowards who are afraid to play where the big boys play and don't have the perspective to see Arkansas as a big boy also.

Yet, the Razorbacks are the most dominant baseball team of the past decade, one of only five teams with Vegas odds better than the +2,000 line to win a national championship in basketball this year, champs in soccer, softball and still one of the most feared track and field and cross country programs in the world.

Add in the football team's 10-4 record over the past 14 games and status as a legitimate threat to shake things up in the SEC West, and it's more than clear how big of a mistake it would have been to tuck tail and run when things got tough on the football side.

These grumblers also ignored the long treasured history of Texas being the world's most prominent home wrecker when it comes to college conferences. The Big 12 wasn't long for the world in its current form with the Longhorns around.

Sure, had that handful of noisy people won out, Arkansas could have exchanged going to blows with Alabama for two-stepping over the perennial doormat Longhorns, but as Oklahoma found out, there is no real path to a college football championship in the Big 12.

Iron sharpens iron, and other than Oklahoma State and occasionally Baylor, there is a tremendous lack of iron across the Midwest. If Texas and Oklahoma don't bail at the end of this season, then there will be a little more iron with Cincinnati, Central Florida, Houston and BYU in what will be a much stronger conference.

Even if Texas and Oklahoma follow through on their move to the SEC, the Big 12 will be stronger than its current iteration. Had Arkansas made the jump and then got scared as everything moved toward super conferences, the Hogs wouldn't have had the option to jump back under the warm SEC blanket.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey wouldn't have taken well to Arkansas bailing, plus the Hogs don't have the clout in the current environment they once carried when they jumped from the Southwest Conference with South Carolina. 

The original move in the 1990s was about bringing eyes to basketball in a time when SEC basketball was Kentucky vs. a bunch of warm bodies. Arkansas brought much needed rumps in seats and eyeballs on screens at a national level.

That move worked out as Arkansas, Kentucky and Florida brought national titles to the SEC and forced programs like Alabama, Auburn, and Tennessee to up their games while even Ole Miss, South Carolina and Vanderbilt made their presence felt on the court for a short while

The modern era is about bringing TV markets. While Arkansas fans are fiercely loyal, if the whole state were watching at the same time, it would be less than half the potential viewers in Dallas-Fort Worth or Houston. A North Carolina school brings Charlotte, Raleigh and 10 million potential viewers, more than three times what the Razorbacks can bring.

Bolting from the SEC for the Big 12 would have been a massive mistake. 

As one of the smallest markets in America, Arkansas would need multiple Final Four and College Football Playoff runs to stand even a slight chance. 

Arkansas isn't AAU certified, so the Big Ten wouldn't be an option. If the Pac 12 were to win the battle with the Big 12, it would be hard to justify bringing in a school from a tiny market that isn't a cultural fit and would generate major travel expenses.

It's hard to imagine it since the Razorbacks have been associated with the premiere conference in the land, but logic is logic. Had Arkansas made the jump, it would most likely be left behind with the formation of super conferences.

Fortunately, someone had the wherewithal to tell that group to sit down and have a Coke and a smile. The Hogs enter Saturday's game against South Carolina knowing that not only can they compete in football, but that with a few breaks, there is a path to a championship in football, basketball and baseball this year.

Times are good for Arkansas fans. Thanks by the masses of Razorback fans who stretch from one end of the state to the other are in order for those at the top who stood strong and believed in the state's flagship team.

It could have been a mess. Instead, the state of the athletic program is stronger than it's ever been.

Iron sharpens iron.

Cupcakes just make you fat and slow.

HOGS FEED:

WATCH-LISTEN TO RAZORBACKS-GAMECOCKS ON SATURDAY

SEC ROUNDUP: MIKE LEACH OFFERING MARRIAGE ADVICE ... AGAIN

WHO WILL MAKE THE CALL ON RB DOMINIQUE JOHNSON'S RETURN?

WATCH SAM PITTMAN'S PRESS CONFERENCE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

BIGGEST GAME FOR FANS IN RAZORBACKS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE WILL BE AT END OF SEASON

RAZORBACKS COACH DAVE VAN HORN PREVIEWS FALL PRACTICE STARTING

SHANE BEAMER COMPARES KJ JEFFERSON TO BILL BRASKY (READ IT TO FIND OUT WHO THAT IS)

HOGS UP IN POLLS THAT NOW INCLUDE FLORIDA'S BIG LEAP

EVERYBODY EXCEPT LSU HAPPY ABOUT OPENING WEEKEND FOR SEC TEAMS

RB DOMINIQUE JOHNSON STARTING TO SEE WORK IN PRACTICES

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