I get the attraction of the SEC. More money. Stronger conference. Better attendance. Better TV exposure. But damn I hate this snotty league. Twenty five years in the SEC and Arkansas is still treated like an outsider. It's not just Finebaum. Fans of other teams dismiss Arkansas. The media does it. The league office does it.
I wish the Big 12 would get its act together. Tell Texas they are going to have to be a part of the league, not run it. Drop the Longhorn Network and convert it to the Big 12 Network. Arkansas would be a better fit there. It would be easier for fans to travel. Plus, with the exception of the Longhorns, most of those places were fairly friendly toward our fans in the SWC days.
Maybe it's just me but from the first year in 92 I've always had the impression that the SEC looks down its nose at Arkansas.
That's exactly what needs to happen. I understand why there is an attraction to the bigger money in the SEC, which has paid significant benefit to Arkansas. But the Big 12 (if they could get their act together as you mentioned) could have a much better/stable conference with a more significant and valuable t.v. package if they would be proactive in initiating back-channel discussions with certain teams to join/rejoin the Big 12 while also having guarantees from the networks that if they could pull it off, the t.v. package would be increased by "X" to create greater revenue shares for all teams that are involved. And yes, that means getting Texas under control as well.
The only way I see this working out is the Big 12 (and I'm not sure that Bob Bowlsby is the guy to get it done) convincing Nebraska, Missouri and A&M to come back from the SEC and asking Arkansas to leave the SEC and join the Big 12. That puts a solid conference together with not just 12 teams, but 14. All would add significant value to the Big 12 in many ways and their addition would create stability for the Big 12 that they haven't seen in years. It wouldn't solve the W. Virginia problem, but it gives them time to address that in the future and it offers W. Virginia time to find a new conference home that is more regionally relevant if that is the direction that they want to go with this.
That might give you a North Division of 7 teams with Nebraska, Iowa State, Kansas, K-State, Missouri, W. Virginia and Arkansas, with a South Division made up of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, TCU, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Baylor with two divisional crossover games each year.
Personally, with the hiring of Morris and his strong ties in Texas, I think this would be a really great move for Arkansas but as always, revenues make things more possible so the deal the future Big 12 would need to cut should be one that 1) guarantees equal revenue sharing among all teams and 2) provides a t.v. package that is within 2 million per team of current revenue distributions in the SEC.
Now is that going to happen? Doubtful. But the Big 12 needs to find a great negotiator to be the Big 12 Commissioner who has enough contacts in the media and who garners enough respect in college football to put this deal together. That's a tall order, but it needs to happen and it would probably be the kick-start to the next round of realignment.