Texas to the Big Ten? Why not?

This was a big topic on Colin Cowherd's ESPN Radio show Thursday morning, and I think it has merit.

The Lawrence Journal-World (a pretty big name for a newspaper in Lawrence, Kan., wouldn't you say?) had this rather noteworthy story today. Here are excerpts:

A source with ties to the Big Ten said that while most people's attention has been trained on the conference stealing Missouri, the Big Ten has engaged in “preliminary exchanges” with a much bigger fish from the Big 12.

“There have been preliminary exchanges between the Big Ten and Texas,” the source told the Journal-World on Wednesday. “People will deny that, but it's accurate.” ...

Travel costs, in terms of money and fatigue, make Texas seem on the surface like a stretch, but TV revenue would more than make up for the fatigue factor.

Getting TV sets in the massive state of Texas tuned to the Big Ten Network would qualify as a home run for the Big Ten.

Texas already receives the most TV money in the Big 12 because of its frequent national network appearances, but the source said Texas still thinks it can get a better deal for itself and is considering forming its own state-wide TV network.

It all makes sense. You say Texas is so isolated geographically from the rest of the Big Ten, and it's true. Austin isn't within 1,000 miles of any other Big Ten school. Those are long road trips for the Longhorns, nothing but long road trips.

And how does Texas walk away from a Big 12 that has Texas A&M and Oklahoma? Well, it wouldn't be that hard.

See, the restructuring of conferences to form even greater superpowers is nigh, and Texas may be the biggest of the big boys. It isn't going to sit idly by as the SEC and Big Ten take over the world. And the Big 12 as it is just doesn't have what it takes to be one of the biggest, baddest leagues in the land.

The Big 12's geography doesn't cover enough populated ground (other than Texas itself), it doesn't have its own television network, and it doesn't even have a television contract for football with ESPN.

Texas' athletic department is swimming in cash. It can afford to put all its teams on planes to East Lansing and West Lafayette. What it would get in return is part of the lucrative Big Ten Network pie, and a slice of the Big Ten football championship-game money that would be huge. That's just for starters.

Being in the same league with Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan would be big. But getting UT all that ABC, ESPN and BTN exposure to areas that only see it now on occasion would be golden, too.

Academically -- and I don't pretend to understand this stuff -- Texas is a highly regarded school that could enter into the Committee on Institutional Cooperation.

That consists of the 11 Big Ten schools and the University of Chicago. A snippet from the CIC Web site:

Purchasing and Licensing: By joining forces, member universities are able to negotiate better licensing terms and gain significant price advantages on products with relatively high margins. To date, CIC has saved more than $19 million on commodity purchases.

Again, I have no idea what that means. I just know the CIC is a very good thing for Big Ten members.

Notre Dame apparently is headstrong about not joining the Big Ten. The league doesn't need to expand. A conference-title football game would be nice, but when you consider carving up another slice of all its other goodies, I'm guessing it would be a push at best.

So I don't see the Big Ten going after a Missouri or Rutgers or Pittsburgh. There just isn't enough to gain. But Texas offers everything the Big Ten could want like big population, new territory, a great university, and  a powerful national reputation.

Texas, of course, is in an enviable position. It can subtly ask the Big 12 what it's going to do to make life there better in the future. It can wonder if the Southeastern or Pac-10 conferences will come calling with offers of their own.

Can you imagine SEC football with Texas added to the mix with Florida, Alabama, LSU, Georgia and company?

The Pac-10, meanwhile, has to be thinking about expansion itself. Stories have floated recently about Utah, Colorado and BYU perhaps being in its sights. But why not aim higher and go after Texas? It would certainly help the league get its own television network off the ground, and it would get some much needed eyeballs on a conference that often feels like it's operating in a vacuum when it comes to national attention.

For all its high-and-mighty attitude, the Big Ten can't just watch other conferences grow more monstrous without doing likewise. A Missouri or Pitt just gives you a football title game. It doesn't really move the national needle. A move to grab Texas is the logical way to become the main monster.

The Big Ten has good leadership. While it moves slowly -- like being the last conference other than the Ivy League to have a postseason basketball tournament --  it makes good moves when it does make moves. The Penn State addition almost two decades ago was a great one.

It's a league that is its own boss. Imagine how bossy it would be if it annexed Texas.