Arkansas officially a member of the Big XII
After over 2 years of debate and conference alignment, the Big XII lost three members but gained one, and with that one has reestablished themselves as a top force to be reckoned with. It's not that Arkansas is the best team ever, or even loaded with tons of history, it's simply that the Big XII lured an SEC team away, and almost landed the top program in any expansion plan (Notre Dame).
Arkansas signed the deal today, and is completely a full fledged member for the 2013 season, as of June 1st, 2013 them will be competing in the Big XII.
"It is truely a sign of how strong we are," Oklahoma Sooner AD Joe Castiglione stated. "We decided a more fairly shared revenue stream was appropriate, and Arkansas was a perfect fit. With Texas agreeing to share the revenue generated by the LHN, and us using that network to broadcast our own games as a conference, plus switching to a more even revenue sharing plan that rewards success, all were key factors in landing Arkansas."
"We gave up a lot to keep the Big XII together, it has been our home for many years and we would have been sad to leave. Taking a small revenue cut was worth saving the history and tradition of the Big XII. We will be trying to keep the Lonestar showdown, and face that Texas A&M failed to collapse the Big XII and instead just merely switched places with Arkansas makes it even sweeter," Bill Byrne the Texas AD stated.
While the 2012 season has not yet finished, projections for next year make people eagerly await the 2013 Big XII season as the Big XII will feature most likely 5 to 7 pre-season top 25 teams in Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Missouri, Texas Tech, and possibly even Baylor and Kansas State.