Vernon: Kansas should welcome conference realignment

While you were home for Thanksgiving, eating those home cooked meals, drinking your “beverages” and watching football, your old friend decided to stop by Lawrence. You may have missed him, but he left a note. He even dropped off some of his belongings.

This is your old friend that used to get in trouble at home and used to come stay at your place for a couple of days. Then, he grew older and it became a nuisance; he made you uncomfortable, and sometimes you worry about your safety. Well, he’s back, but with a new plan for the future. One that he hopes you will join.

This old pal is conference realignment, and the Big Ten (or 12 — oh, wait, 14) got him drinking the good stuff again. The Big Ten added Maryland, Rutgers and a whole bunch of TV sets to its already powerful repertoire.

The SEC may be the young, flashy pitcher that rightfully wins the Cy Young Award, but the Big Ten is your reliable 20-game winner that carries you through the playoffs.

The Big Ten added a new pitch to its arsenal with Rutgers and Maryland, but it needs something new to complete it. Internet chatter broke out that it may want its final pitch to be Kansas and North Carolina.

You see, a conference is not complete with 14. That’s not how this whole shindig is going to shake out. Now the Big Ten wants two more, and if it calls Kansas, Kansas should listen.

Here’s the thing: the Big 12 (10) appears to be stable right now. It got a respected new commissioner and poached two solid new teams.

The fact of the matter is that Texas still owns this conference and walks it around on a leash. Texas has its Longhorn Network and likes the Big 12 (10) revenue pie to be split between 10 teams. Not 12. Not 14. Not 16. 10.

When our old pal realignment last came a-knockin’ he had another offer. He wanted to bring two new pals from the East Coast to join the Big 12 party. But, Texas…er… The Big 12 wanted to keep the pie cut at 10 slices. And the conference used the excuse of having a round-robin schedule to cover it.

But most Kansas fans don’t realize how close the school was to being screwed when the Big 12 was being read its last words.

With the conference staying at 10, it missed a vital opportunity to get up and play with the big dogs. It may very well one day do that, but for now, it’s not.

This is why Kansas should leave its Big 12 roots to go to the Big Ten. To get away from Texas. To move toward stability. And to join a more prestigious academic league. Not to mention the lucrative Big Ten Network that will help increase Kansas’ national visibility.

For now, it appears our old friend realignment has cleaned up his act and is now here to pay us back for the nonsense he used to put us through.

• Updated Nov. 27, 2012 at 11:24 pm
• Edited by Brian Sisk