The running joke…a much overused one…has been that the Big Ten has 12 teams and the Big 12 has 10, so why not swap names? (gimme those ribs!). And this past week, we saw the Big Ten announce their new divisions names, with much public disgust.

But for the Big 12, there has been much talk of will or won’t they expand. Fans and local media have suggested going after SEC schools such as Arkansas and LSU. In reality, the Big 12 is not entirely in the position to attract such programs. Those that they could get would be schools such as BYU, Louisville and TCU as the top schools that would consider the move. After that, it’s only schools from CUSA and the MWC. Even TCU is less desirable as they would bring a limited new revenue stream. Schools such as UNLV and New Mexico would open up new markets, but with no lock to provide the necessary revenue to justify expansion.

The Big 12 has come to similar conclusions if they are considering a name change. The move would likely be to remove the “12″ in some form. The conference has hired GSD&M Idea City to consider new name ideas. It’s a safe assumption that if a move were made to remove the “12″ that the conference would be less likely to expand in the near future as changing the brand would be a permanent change.

In other Big 12 news, Oklahoma is in discussions to launch it’s own TV network, similar to what Texas is currently negotiating.