The Big 12 is struggling with what to do next.

The future of the conference probably depends on it expanding from 10 to 12 schools and re-adding a conference championship game in the next couple of years, but none of the whopping 17 expansion options are no-brainers.

That led columnist Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman to suggest something drastic — a full merger with the SEC.

[T]wice in the last six months, prime decision-makers in our state, independent of each other, have floated an idea to me. An influential person at OU, then the same from OSU.

Merger. Merge with preferably the SEC, but if not, the Pac-12. Not a split. Not six schools heading west, like was discussed in 2010. A merger. Ten Big 12 schools join the SEC to form a 24-team conference, or join the Pac-12 to form a 22-team conference.

Ultimately, Tramel says it would be lucrative for all the power-conference schools to work together to negotiate even bigger TV payouts, but he realizes that’s not going to happen all at once:

Getting all 65 schools, getting all five conferences to cooperate and unite, appears to be a mighty mission. College football tried something similar with the College Football Association 35 years ago, with some success, though the CFA gradually divided, with each conference working its own deal.

So why not a gradual return to solidarity? Before 65 can get together, perhaps 24 can get together.

Tramel’s idea sounds impossible and there would certainly be a lot of hurdles to jump over before anything close to a Big 12-SEC merger could ever happen.

But the college football landscape has changed a lot over the past 10 years, so it’s not completely unreasonable to think things could look entirely different by the time teams are gearing up for the 2026 season.

However, getting the SEC on board with the merger would be a monumental task for the Big 12.