To understand the defiant spirit of the remaining eight teams in the Big 12 conference, it’s instructive to consider that the mascots of nearly half of the remaining schools carry guns. This is not a group that’s wired to accept defeat.
But for the sake of the future of the Big 12, the league needs to stick its guns into their holsters. When the obvious became official on Thursday and the Pac-12 announced it wouldn’t be expanding, the eight remaining Big 12 schools now officially have the opportunity to link arms and build a new future.
And for the Big 12 to grow into a vibrant new league for the next generation, the league’s leaders need to resist all of the quick-trigger leadership instincts.