The team for Texas to beat in the Big 12 is Oklahoma. Win that game, and they punch their ticket to the title game. (unless there is a three way tie in the South). Even if they lose the title game, they still will likely get a BCS at-large bid. In this “Pac-16” scenario, the same would be true.
That absoultely would not be true in the SEC West. Texas would have to get past LSU, Alabama and Auburn (and Arkansas is no pushover) just to get to Atlanta. That’s more talent than Texas faces in the entire Big 12 or would face in an entire “Pac 16”. If it doesn’t win the SEC, then Texas has to compete with those schools, plus Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and potential SEC East additions for an at-large birth or even a tier-one bowl.
Ehhh, wrong. Beating Zero U, OU, is more a rivalry than a stepping stone to the Big Dance. Texas' mantra is to beat EVERYONE we face.