Michigan Football: What about Kansas, Iowa State and the Big Ten?

Should Michigan football and other Big Ten programs want to add Kansas in light of all the conference realignment talk?

It’s been a crazy few months in the world of college football and it’s about to get even crazier as Texas and Oklahoma appear headed to the SEC.

For Michigan football, Ohio State, and the big programs out there, this isn’t going to have a dramatic impact. The Big Ten is in a solid position and as of right now, brings in more TV money than the SEC does, although that could change.

So is the Big Ten going to look to expand? Well, Kansas is already starting talks with the league, which shouldn’t be a surprise since the Jayhawks were nearly left out in the cold last time conference realignment happened.

Of course, the prospect of adding Kansas on the football side of things isn’t overly exciting. The Jayhawks would immediately have the worst football team as Rutgers is on the rise, but it would give Nebraska a traditional rival and it would be a dynamic addition in basketball.

Unless the Big Ten was to add Texas, Oklahoma, or Notre Dame, there really isn’t a big football brand out there that’s going to be available. Maybe SEC schools vote down Texas and OU. Texas A&M certainly doesn’t seem thrilled, but the money will probably be too good to pass up.

And if all the reporting is correct, the move is basically a done deal. That leaves the eight schools left in the Big 12 with two options: Stay and expand or look elsewhere.

Well, according to Mike Vernon of The Bleacher Report, Kansas has a call with the Big Ten and Iowa State is also in the mix for Big Ten expansion.

What about Kansas, Iowa State moving to Big Ten?

The first school mentioned was Kansas and while Michigan football fans weren’t thrilled about the idea, it does make sense from a basketball perspective.

Notre Dame would be a logical choice but that doesn’t appear likely. So truly, the biggest brand available might be Kansas basketball. Yearly matchups with Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, and Purdue would be legit.

There would be a lot of natural rivalries and Nebraska-Kansas actually used to be a pretty fun matchup on the hardwood even though the Jayhawks were dominant in basketball as much as Nebraska always dominated the series in football.

Iowa State makes sense too. The Cyclones have turned into a perennial NCAA tournament team in hoops and Matt Campbell has done amazing things with the football program.

Iowa already plays Iowa State on a yearly basis and it’s the only other program that makes sense out of Big 12 programs. I don’t love the addition of Kansas State and the rest of the programs are just too far south for it to make geographic sense.

The Big Ten doesn’t need to make a move just to make one. Iowa State and Kansas could work and probably could secure a better TV deal for basketball. Yet, on the football field, even a pretty solid Iowa State program isn’t going to generate a ton of extra excitement.