* It is 2021, and both the SEC and Big Ten have 16 members. Both have more lucrative TV deals than the Pac-12. Both have better football brands — more on-field success, more powerhouse programs — than the Pac-12.
* In other words, the Pac-12 is lagging behind its peers competitively and financially in much the same way it lagged its peers until this very recent, expansion/TV-contract fueled upswing.
* And guess what: In 2021, the league will have no options.
It will have no options because a small pool of possible expansion targets shriveled up when the conference opted against taking the Sooners this week.
Remember that the Pac-12, because of geography, has far fewer quality options than the SEC or Big Ten. There are only two big football brands out there, Oklahoma and Texas, and they are not options.
Texas isn’t an option for the same reason it wasn’t a viable option the time around.
Oklahoma isn’t an option because 1) the Sooners feel they were misled by the Pac-12 this time, or 2) are happy in the Big 12, or 3) are happy in the SEC.
* So where does the Pac-12 turn for more bulk, better football and a new TV deal that brings it closer to the whoppers the Big Ten and SEC will sign in the next few years?
It has nowhere to turn.
That’s why you could make a case that passing on OU may prove costly — because if the league needs to be bigger down the road to compete with its peers, it won’t have any options.
If the collegiate athletic landscape were static, then passing on OU would have minimal impact on the future. But we all know the Big Ten and SEC will grow in the next few years.
You get a chance to grab a program of OU’s caliber, you have to take it — not for today but for 10 or 20 years down the road.