RE: Which conference values Kansas most?
Kansas is strictly a partner to either OU or Texas to the SEC or B1G. They will continue to suck in football and provide wins for other schools in the conference helping thier bowl eligibility, but lowering their SoS at the same time. The SEC schools need those W's in conference more than the SoS, so brutal is the schedule now.
I think the SEC would find more value in KU than the B1G. They can absorb the SoS hit a little better due to having more high powered teams. But what KU brings is elite Basketball on a Duke-North Carolina, Kentucky level. This would give the SEC a two-headed monster in UK-KU much like the ACC in Duke-UNC. It would make the SEC a top shelf Basketball conference in reality and perception, a true rival of the ACC with "depth" schools below those two such as Vandy, Florida, and currently South Carolina under Frank Martin. The other thing it would do is bring another true rivalry game in house with the Border War between KU and Mizzou. Finally KU would give the SEC a 5th AAU school and improve the pedigree of the conference academically, thus reducing the validity of the Squidbillies jokes about the conference.
For the Big Ten, KU is a natural fit with Nebraska, Iowa and even Illinois. In Bbasketball they would give the league a shot in the arm. But the B1G is deeper in strong basketball programs, just the elite ones are not quite on that Duke-UNC-KU-UK level (Indiana and Michigan are just a notch below that, in the Arizona, UCLA category), so the boost would not be as great. In Football the B1G needs more SoS boost than wins, so the value seems less.
Culturally KU if they came with Oklahoma, would be a good fit in either conference. In the SEC they would fit in with Mizzou, OU, plus UK and Vandy, as well as Tennessee basketball rivals. In the BIG I already laid out their fits., just add OU.
When I add it up, the SEC seems the better value. KU would still dominate in Basketball with many weaker programs, but would gain a massive SEC tournament rival in UK. Those games would be must see TV. I don't think KU-Michigan or KU-IU would be quite the same level.
Flipping the equation, KU faces the same long term issues that UNL and OU do about smaller state on the plains with declining demographics. Membership in the B1G is definitely better for the institution and attracting out of state higher end students and research grants. This could be a split decision if both conferences offered.
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