Going Coastal With the Horns

Nebraska's the first domino: The Big 12 as we know it is dead, just in time topick up the Cougars

We'll just have to hope Texas doesn't go all West Coast on us.
Courtesy photo
I can't imagine Missouri not a Big 12 school, but I may soon have to learn.
Even harder? Adjusting to the re-branding of our favorite Columbia bar

As a Mizzou sports fan, it pains me to be in a position of siding with Nebraska.

But my alma mater probably has no choice but to follow the the University of Nebraska right out of the gasping Big 12. Nebraska and Missouri once appeared to be the two hold-outs in the aggressive expansion efforts of the Pac 10 and the (reactionary) expansion of the Big Ten conference. But now, Nebraska has reportedly agreed to join the Big Ten (which already had 11 teams).

Missouri had already been handed a loyalty deadline of June 17 by the largely-toothless Big 12 — either stick with our conference or make way for college football to change forever with no apparent regard to history, geography or any sport but football.

Sadly, it's looking like everyone will cave, with an announcement on the new super conferences to be made as soon as Friday. (The Show-Me State looks like it's saying, "Show-Me the money," positioning itself for the best possible outcome). Apocalyptic — but more and more likely — scenarios have the Big 12 conference losing its major players to the Pac 10 (who are expected to swipe six Big 12 teams, including powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma) or the Big Ten, leaving a pitiful Big 12 conference with no automatic Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bid and perhaps the University of Houston as a small consolation prize.

It's an unfortunate picture for fans of the conference made for southwest America. (Oklahoma and Texas in the Pacific 10? Doesn't that just sound wrong?) The conference I so love is projected to lose all of its Texas teams (including politicking Baylor over Colorado if some legislators have their way) along with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

But the ink's not completely dry — it may still be in the pen. A lot of the rearranging has to do with television ratings, and there could be a few surprises still ahead.

Texas is being called the linchpin here, and I guess we've nothing to do but hope they don't go all West Coast on us.

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income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

As the cost of raising a child balloons in major cities like Houston, many families are weighing the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas — not just Houston — that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support a stay-at-home partner and a child, the report found. If two parents worked in the household, necessitating some additional costs like childcare and transportation, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in Houston, however, is somewhat more affordable. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $21,868 to raise a child in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts, where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report acknowledges ways families are working to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family