Introduction
Today, sports play an essential role in the United States because of the possibility to share common, fair values, uphold justice, and unite communities. Millions of Americans enjoy watching football, baseball, and basketball and discussing the quality of games. To promote the sports trend in education, school and college teams are properly trained and gathered into groups to play against each other. The Big 12 is one of the well-known collegiate athletic conferences and the only autonomous one to organize its champions in all sports right on the field of play (“Big 12 Biography”). This organization is known for its competitive excellence, a variety of sports teams, and the environment that inspires and motivates. Although several universities left the Conference for other purposes, many facilities are eager to join the Big Body.
Body
Despite a variety of statements that expansion could ever happen, the representatives of the Big 12 consider adding new schools.
The main reason for the Conference expansion is the intention to improve the quality of the sport.
As one of the oldest members of the Conference, Baylor supports expansion in case “the right schools” that bring benefits are chosen (Lyttle).
The Oklahoman believes that expansion allows adding value to the Conference, but quality should always prevail over quantity (Lyttle).
Location changes cannot be ignored as one of the potential benefits of the Big 12 growth.
Iowa State has one of the best locations in the Conference and could enlarge its fan base if Central or South Florida joins the Big 12 (Lyttle).
The idea to join the Tigers from Memphis is also based on its perfect location and close reach to every school from the Big 12 (Harker).
There are many good examples for the Big 12 Conference to use in its growth and development.
Brigham Young University (BYU) remains one of the strongest options for the Big 12 to be included in its expansion because of many reasons.
The BYU School is characterized by a strong football position in the country (Buettner).
BYU takes No. 86 in the list of American schools as per its overall education quality, compared to other members of the Big 12, with the highest No. 93 for Texas (Harker).
Houston State is another good applicant for the Big 12 due to its current perspectives and plans.
At this moment, Houston demonstrates a high-quality game against Florida in the Peach Bowl (Harker).
After Tom Herman was hired as head coach, the Houston team shows special achievements and creates a solid competition against its opponents (Buettner).
The representatives of South and Central Florida are of great interest to the Big 12.
During a long period, Florida can save its position on the football market with the help of its location and several fans (Harker).
The University of Central Florida shows how to establish one of the best TV markets at schools, competing with Orlando only (Buettner).
The Big 12 Conference remains one of the core sources of competitiveness and cooperation.
Sometimes, people need additional reasons to understand the worth of such organizations like the Big 12 Conference, and the spirit of competitiveness usually attracts much attention.
The Conference was founded in 1996, and since that period, the league has obtained 63 team titles from the National Collegiate Athletic Association and organized 689 national championships (“Big 12 Biography”).
In a constantly growing sports field, the Big 12 is known for its high commitment to such standards as fair competition and achievement balance, regardless of the realignment challenges (“Big 12 Biography”).
There are 50 independent states in America, and each region has its unique characteristics and resources, but cooperation either in sport or any other field unites the country and its people.
The Big 12 is a 26-year-old symbol of American sports unity where ten members demonstrate their power for cooperation even if many wondering about the fairness of the expansion process are left (“Big 12 Biography”).
The founders of the Big 12 promote conference expansion under such principles as competitiveness, media market, academic achievements, and fan base that remain the same for all the potential members (Harker).
Conclusion
In general, one can define many positive and negative aspects of the Big 12 Conference expansion. However, the main idea is the same – sport unites millions of Americans, and this type of cooperation has to be supported under any condition. Today, many academic facilities and their teams demonstrate their desire to join the Big 12 and participate in championships at local and national levels. Still, the current members of the Conference are not ready to open their doors to all applicants and try to set several clear rules and standards to be followed. Expansion is a good thing for the Big 12, but its success depends on how well all the candidates define their strengths and weaknesses and present their actual contributions to the development of the Big 12 in the United States.
Works Cited
“Big 12 Biography.” Big12Sports, 2019, Web.
Buettner, Joe. “The Big 12’s Best, Worst and Unrealistic Options for Conference Expansion.” Oudaily, 2016, Web.
Harker, Nathan. “Nine Big 12 Candidates: The Pros and Cons.” Desert News, 2016, Web.
Lyttle, Kevin. “Big 12 Schools and Expansion: What’s in It for Them?” Hook’em, 2016, Web.