Texas emerges in ACC expansion talk

Here we go again.

With the Big 12 possibly on the verge of dissolution, the ACC has emerged in published reports as a possible new destination for Texas, one of the nation’s most powerful athletic programs.

According to the Austin American Statesman, based on unnamed sources, Texas has three options:

-         Texas could join Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in leaving for what’s now the Pac-12.

-         With its own television network, the Longhorn Network, already established, Texas could try to make a go of independent status, like Notre Dame.

-         In a nod toward being aligned with the most academically prestigious of the BCS conferences, Texas could join the ACC.

According to the report out of Austin, talks between Texas and the ACC have yet to reach a mature stage. But national media outlets such as rivals.com have jumped on the story, saying that the ACC’s TV deal with ESPN would be more accommodating to the Big 12 than the Pac-12’s regional TV packages.

Meanwhile, the Palm Beach Post is reporting that Florida State has formed an exploratory committee to explore its conference options, including a possible move to the SEC.

Is it all just chatter? Perhaps. But Texas A&M already appears well on its way to joining the SEC, and if Oklahoma and Oklahoma State pull out of the Big 12, too, the rest of the schools in that conference will start looking for a lifeboat.

And the ACC might just be able to provide that.

Ken Tysiac