Kansas Football: 4 Reasons the Jayhawks Belong in the Big Ten

Conference realignment these past two seasons has mainly revolved around the Big 12. Last year, Nebraska and Colorado packed their bags and headed for the Big Ten and the Pac-12, respectively.

After the remaining 10 universities pledged to stick together following the Pac-12 attempted poaching of Texas, Texas Tech, OU, OSU and A&M, the Longhorns decided to leverage their power for a bigger paycheck.

Unfortunately, the Longhorn Network created an unfair recruiting advantage the Aggies refused to compete against, leading to Texas A&M defecting to the SEC. Now, Missouri has once again lifted their gaze to either the Big Ten or the SEC, hoping for an invite soon from one of the two.

The Jayhawks reside in a dying conference, watching their more powerful brothers to the south sneak peeks over at the rich Pac-12. It's dangerous to stay, and for a university with widely known academic acclaim and one of the strongest basketball programs in the nation, Kansas needs to start shopping for a new conference as well.

Considering where the Big Ten is located as well as the academic and athletic stature they boast, Kansas would easily fit in with the best of them. Heading to the Midwest is not only the Jayhawks' geographically simplest option, but their best option overall, and they should do everything in their power to make that happen.  

Of the 61 current members that reside in the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization based around academic excellence with respect to research, Kansas and only five other current members of the Big 12 have the honor of being a part of it. That's only 60 percent.

In the Big Ten, that number was 100 percent until the addition of Nebraska (who was just recently forced out of the AAU). The Big Ten has an academic reputation that glistens like no other conferences in the nation, and the University of Kansas would only exemplify that shine.

The conference would benefit from the addition of such an academically powerful school, and seeing that the Big Ten shows a lot of interest in the academic reputation coming first, this shouldn't pose any threat to an invite.  

Money is the key to pretty much anything in this world. If you have access to it, many options open up to you. Kansas unfortunately does not have that luxury.

Honestly, I believe that even though Texas A&M is a perfect cultural and geographic fit for the SEC, the Aggies would have had a lot more trouble receiving an invitation without huge TV markets like Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio to monetarily back them up.

Kansas sits in the middle of the nation around no "big" cities. However, this fact should not be an obstacle. Nebraska is even more barren of TV markets, and they got into the Big Ten with no problem. At least the Jayhawks control No. 31 Kansas City and No. 68 Wichita, which is more than No. 76 Omaha and No. 106 Lincoln.

KU needs to make a bid for the Big Ten, and if critics bring up a lack of TV markets, at least Kansas will have a legitimate counter argument. Another reason the Jayhawks should receive a Big Ten invite.   

Since the formation of the Big 12, the Jayhawks have owned the basketball court. KU has 11 of the 15 conference regular season championships and three overall NCAA Championships. 

On the court, beating Kansas in Lawrence is one of the toughest things to do for almost any school in the nation. The Big Ten has some strong basketball programs that are all extremely inconsistent with perhaps the exception of Michigan State. Bringing Kansas into the mix would change all that.

The Jayhawks' presence would create a much denser region of basketball significance. The Big East and the ACC have held the title of the strongest basketball conferences in the nation for years now, but with the Big East falling apart and the ACC bulking up, one of the remaining conferences has to challenge them.

The Big Ten is the only conference left with the right kind of structure and background to employ any threat to the ACC, and with a strong program like Kansas to boost the conference, they might just stand a chance.  

Kansas has never posed any kind of football threat to the Big 12 powerhouses. The Oklahoma schools, A&M, Texas and Tech (Nebraska back when they were there) all owned the conference's best players, programs and traditions on the gridiron.

Kansas has been a Big 12 bottom-feeder almost every year since the formation of the conference, save that magical 2007 season that concluded with an Orange Bowl victory over Virginia Tech.

The Big Ten has some storied programs as well, such as Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska and Penn State. KU won't exactly fare well against them and a few others, but overall, Kansas would do better against the 12 current Big Ten members than the other nine Big 12 members they play now.

With teams such as Minnesota, an inconsistent Illinois team, Northwestern and Purdue, the Jayhawks will place better and thus receive more opportunities to attend bowl games in December. This may not be the best reason to to seek out a new conference, but football prominence is an added plus for KU if they receive an invite to the Big Ten.