Warning: This post is purely speculation. There is not a shred of factual information in this article. For entertainment purposes only!
People are still discussing potential expansion candidates for the Big 12 conference. Kirk Bohls, former North Dakota State head football coach, allegedly said via rumor, that he took the head coaching position at the University of Wyoming because that school was going to be invited to join the Big 12. An interesting, but extremely remote possibility. Unless, somehow, the Big 12 is going to lose another member school. Which school could that be, and how could that happen with the conference's media Grant of Rights signed by all members? Which school could the Big 12 be losing next? Seems a rather remote possibility at this time. Even so, if one looks a the conference's geography, there are two possibilities that jump out: Iowa State and West Virginia. Both are islands off the conference's mainland and both are within the logical footprint of the Big Ten Conference.
Currently, the Big Ten is trying to add Men's Ice Hockey as a conference sport with all members participating. Of the current and future Big Ten membership, only five members participate in NCAA division one Men's Ice Hockey: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State. A further four members participate in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) division 1 level: Illinois, Indiana, Rutgers and Penn State; plus two schools that participate in the ACHA division 2 level: Maryland and Iowa; and the last three schools participate in the ACHA division 3 level: Nebraska, Northwestern, and Purdue.
Of course, the Big 10 members playing ACHA D1 hockey probably will be the easiest to promote to NCAA D1 level as most of the facilities necessary most likely will be in place, so one can add three more teams for the Big 10 Hockey conference in the near future. Now the members playing in the ACHA D2 level will need more help before those teams can be promoted, and the members playing in the D3 level will need even more help. Question is will these member schools undergo the expense of program promotion even if the Big 10 offers considerable financial help. It would be unreasonable to expect the Big 10 to bear all the expense after all.
The University of Iowa, from what I've heard through the grapevine, seems to be rather disinclined to promote their hockey program. Now if Nebraska is willing to promote their hockey team, that would leave them without a border rival in hockey, something the Big 10 brass doesn't want to happen. Now if Iowa won't promote their program, what team could serve as a border rival for Nebraska in hockey? Well, the natural answer would be Iowa State. In truth, the ISU hockey team is in better position for promotion than the Hawkeyes much like Illinois, Indiana, and Penn State; so if Iowa refuses to participate in NCAA D1 hockey, ISU could serve in their stead as an ice hockey only member; and I've heard faint rumors to that effect though I don't know how much truth there is in them (not much more than likely).
Assuming the above scenario plays out resulting in the ISU hockey team being promoted (a very highly unlikely occurrence), how would this promotion affect the other athletic programs? Could men's ice hockey be the vehicle for ISU's other sports programs to be invited to the Big 10 as that conference expands to 16 teams? So if ISU becomes the Big 10's sixteenth member, who would be number 15? There is one obvious possibility: the University West Virginia, and they have an ACHA D1 hockey team similar to ISU. In other words, the Big 12 could lose two teams in this hockey scenario (da-da-daaa!).
Let's assume ISU and WVU become Big 10 members 16 and 15. What schools could the Big 12 replace them with? Now in this situation, adding Wyoming actually makes a lot of sense as a replacement for ISU, and BYU as a replacement for WVU to get the conference back to ten members. My goodness, the Big 12 scrambling for new members yet again! Okay, which schools become numbers 11 and 12 now? Well, I assume the University of Cincinnati would still be available along with Tulane University. Both schools are located in big TV markets and highly fertile recruiting grounds, so they would be top targets if no ACC schools are available to add. If Cinci becomes unavailable, then Colorado State would be the next logical candidate. All of these schools have various levels of potential, assuming no other "name" school is available. The Big 12 will end up looking much different if this hockey scenario plays out. Then again, the chances of this happening are similar to winning the Power Ball lottery. Why write this post? Entertainment for you and especially me. I just like to speculate on almost impossible scenarios to play "what if."
