Illinois Basketball: Illini competition could get tougher with Big 12 shake up

The landscape of the college sports world is changing, and the Illinois basketball program, among others, could be affected greatly.

Just a few days ago, the news of Big 12 powerhouses Oklahoma and Texas wanting to branch off and join the SEC broke and sent the college sports world in a spiral. As the hours have gone on since the news broke, it seems that the agreement for the two teams to join the SEC is all but signed at this point.

With the Big 12 losing their two biggest teams, this could mean the conference dissolving. But where are the other eight teams going to land if the Big 12 becomes an afterthought?

Illinois basketball competition could get a little tougher in the near future.

The first domino to fall after the Oklahoma and Texas departures could end up being Kansas. It is being reported that the Jayhawks have started communication with the Big Ten about possibly joining the conference.

This would be a big addition to the Big Ten. If you purely look at the two main revenue sports, football isn’t as nearly as big as the addition of Kansas basketball. The Jayhawks have had one of the best basketball programs in the country for decades now and adding them to the Big Ten would make the conference even tougher.

It would also be intriguing to see Illinois play Kansas on a yearly basis. Bill Self left the Illinois basketball program for the Jayhawks in the early 2000s, so everything would come full circle to see Self match up against the Orange and Blue.

Kansas would give the Big Ten 15 teams, though. That would make divisions uneven, giving one division eight teams compared to the other division, which would have seven teams. What other team would be the best addition from the Big 12, if another team did in fact join Kansas in coming to the Big Ten?

I actually believe Iowa State would be the next logical choice for many reasons. The main reason is the fact the Cyclones have been competitive in revenue-generating sports over the past couple of decades. Iowa State won the Big 12 in football this past season, and they have been good at basketball in recent years.

Iowa State and Iowa already play every year, so it would be a natural fit to have them in the conference anyways. The Cyclone and Hawkeyes have one of the most underrated rivalries, so this would be fun to see in the Big Ten.

Let’s snag a couple of tough teams from the Big 12. That conference is most likely going to break up, so I want to see Kansas and Iowa State competing in the toughest conference in college sports.