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Will Texas let the Big 12 expand?

R

Redwood Forrest

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The Big 12 is sitting on a potential pot of (inventory) gold: About $75 million worth. The number equates the market value of 70 football and basketball games owned by conference schools outside of the current media rights deals. There are 10 football games -- one per school each season -- worth about $4 million each. Even though we're talking mostly body-bag non-conference games, that's $40 million to be sold to a potential network partner.

There's another 60 basketball games controlled by the schools worth about $35 million. Those games are usually shown on pay-per-view or local/regional cable systems. A network partner would have to buy up that inventory. Programming is anchored around football and men's basketball.

The addition of two more teams in expansion adds to that inventory. Meanwhile, Fox and ESPN reportedly continue struggling financially. “They [rightsholders in general] don't have any choice but to continue to buy content,” Bowlsby said.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...-something-soon--or-else-seven-things-to-know

It seems this Pot 'O Gold will force the B12 into expansion. Just who it will be remains to be seen. I can't fathom how Texas calls all the shots out there. I do not like Nebraska but at least they had the guts to leave and move on. Off hand I will say yes Texas will cut a deal because the ESPN golden goose will not lose money on the next contract.
 
4

4Q Basket Case

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It'll be interesting theater.

I can't imagine a school worth having who would accept UTw's hogging of revenues. But if the 'horns give on the new guy, the rest of the conference will howl for equal footing.

So I think they have four options:
- Do nothing and risk losing ESPN money at the next contract.
- Go after somebody who will accept red-headed stepchild status in order to join. Become the heir-apparent to the Mountain West.
- Boot UTw, let them fend for themselves, and go about putting together a worthwhile conference without them. Risky, but the 'horns aren't exactly dealing from a position of strength right now.
- Do what they should have done a long time ago and split revenues more equitably.

My guess is there will be lots of sound and fury, in the end signifying nothing. They moan, whine and cry, but end up twiddling thumbs until the ESPN contract is up. Hoping all the while the clown car in Austin regains former glory in the interim.
 
R

Redwood Forrest

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4Q Basket Case said:
It'll be interesting theater.

I can't imagine a school worth having who would accept UTw's hogging of revenues. But if the 'horns give on the new guy, the rest of the conference will howl for equal footing.

So I think they have four options:
- Do nothing and risk losing ESPN money at the next contract.
- Go after somebody who will accept red-headed stepchild status in order to join. Become the heir-apparent to the Mountain West.
- Boot UTw, let them fend for themselves, and go about putting together a worthwhile conference without them. Risky, but the 'horns aren't exactly dealing from a position of strength right now.
- Do what they should have done a long time ago and split revenues more equitably.

My guess is there will be lots of sound and fury, in the end signifying nothing. They moan, whine and cry, but end up twiddling thumbs until the ESPN contract is up. Hoping all the while the clown car in Austin regains former glory in the interim.
Click to expand...
I don't think the other nine have the guts to cross Texas. Can the conference kick someone out?
 
D

deliveryman35

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I think the Big 12 is doomed. If Cincinnati and BYU are the best potential add-on's you've got, then I really think they need to blow this conference up. Let the SEC pick up Oklahoma and the rest go their own merry way.
 
4

4Q Basket Case

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DallasRTR said:
From what I've read about Oklahoma, I think they are ready to leave.
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I hear both sides. The group that I agree with wants to tell UTw to stick it where the sun don't shine.

The other group, that I've never understood, has convinced itself that if they don't play a bunch of Texas schools, they won't be able to recruit in Texas. Which I think is bunk. Oklahoma is one of 5-10 names that can recruit anywhere they want.

The other thing I hear a lot is that OU would leave in a heartbeat, but the Oklahoma legislature would require that whoever took them would have to take OSU too. Nobody wants the 'pokes, so the deal's dead before it starts.

I don't know what the truth is. But I don't think OU needs UTw. It may need Texas high schoolers, but not the burnt arnge.
 
GrayTide

GrayTide

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At this point I don't think anybody really cares what happens to Texas and the big 12. As for Oklahoma let them join the PAC 12 with Okie State that gives them 14 teams. Texas and the other hanger ons can join the Sunbelt or AAC.
 
trenda

trenda

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The Big 12 will be able to find a couple of schools willing to adhere to UT's demands; but BYU won't be one of them.

A school like Memphis would take the deal, just to get in. Cincinnati likely would as well.
 
TideEngineer08

TideEngineer08

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BYU and Cincinnati would be nice additions. They aren't getting anyone from a current Power 5 conference, so they will have to settle. That's Texas's fault, as well as the rest of their fault for kowtowing to Texas. But BYU has a national following. They would have to adjust to their quirky way of doing things, but hey, they've adjusted to Texas all these years so why not? Cincinnati provides a bridge to West Virginia. They have a nice basketball history, some worth as a football school, and they are in a big state with a sizable football recruiting population (though it's mostly belongs to Ohio State).

They can create 2 divisions, put Oklahoma in one and Texas in the other. Keep the Red River Shootout, which is in early October anyway, as an annual game and probably get a rematch in the conference title game 50% of the time which would be a big tv draw.
 
S

Sagamore Bill

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I do not want OU. Yes, they have the "name", but they are just as greedy as Texas. They have demanded and recieved higher conference revenues (along w/Texas) for years. The two of them are jointly the reason Nebraska left. Couple that w/ OU's demand that they picked thier games when the conference was divided. It allowed them to avoid Nebraska for years. They are as demanding, needy, however you look at it as Texas. No, the only reason they would want to be in the SEC is money. Let them go to the Pac-12.
 
D

deliveryman35

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Sagamore Bill said:
I do not want OU. Yes, they have the "name", but they are just as greedy as Texas. They have demanded and recieved higher conference revenues (along w/Texas) for years. The two of them are jointly the reason Nebraska left. Couple that w/ OU's demand that they picked thier games when the conference was divided. It allowed them to avoid Nebraska for years. They are as demanding, needy, however you look at it as Texas. No, the only reason they would want to be in the SEC is money. Let them go to the Pac-12.
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The way their fans bad mouth the SEC all the time I'm not even sure they want any affiliation with our conference anyway. I don't see it happening.
 
WylieTexasTider

WylieTexasTider

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4Q Basket Case said:
The other thing I hear a lot is that OU would leave in a heartbeat, but the Oklahoma legislature would require that whoever took them would have to take OSU too. Nobody wants the 'pokes, so the deal's dead before it starts.

I don't know what the truth is. But I don't think OU needs UTw. It may need Texas high schoolers, but not the burnt arnge.
Click to expand...
Same deal that forced Baylor on the B12. Texas Gov at the time was a Baylor grad. Used political clout to force aTm and UT to keep Baylor or funding would dry up.
 
A

ALA2262

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WylieTexasTider said:
Same deal that forced Baylor on the B12. Texas Gov at the time was a Baylor grad. Used political clout to force aTm and UT to keep Baylor or funding would dry up.
Click to expand...
Turns out that State Senator David Sibley got the ball rolling and LT Governor Bob Bullock was the driving force that enabled Baylor to be included in the Big 12.


"In Texas, word leaked out that UT & Texas A&M were close to leaving the SWC; UT to the Pac-10[SUP][17][/SUP] or Big Eight and eventually Texas A&M to the SEC. Texas state senator David Sibley, a Baylor alumnus and member of the very powerful Senate Finance Committee, approached UT Chancellor Bill Cunningham and asked him pointedly whether UT planned to leave the SWC on its own for the Big Eight. Cunningham tried to change the subject. Ultimately he did not deny it.[SUP][8][/SUP]
Sibley approached LT Governor Bob Bullock, a Texas Tech and Baylor alumnus. Texas state senator John Montford of Lubbock was equally motivated to protect Texas Tech's path to the Big 12. The trio put together a group of legislators who worked to threaten Texas and Texas A&M's access to the state of Texas's Permanent University Fund.[SUP][8][/SUP]
Bullock called together a meeting of supportive legislators as well as UT's and Texas A&M's leaders on February 20, 1994.[SUP][18][/SUP] UT Chancellor William Cunningham admitted that Texas planned to join the Big Eight[SUP][8][/SUP] and A&M's leadership still targeted the SEC.[SUP][8][/SUP]
A deal was worked out where all four schools would go together to the Big 12. A&M was convinced not to pursue SEC membership (LSU was prepared to sponsor the Aggies) in return for Bullock finding the votes to approve the construction of Reed Arena. Baylor and Texas Tech would join the Aggies in coming with UT into the new version of the Big Eight.[SUP][8][/SUP]
Texas's Governor Ann Richards, a Baylor and UT alumna, is often credited with getting Baylor included, but, was absent from the February 20 meeting[SUP][8][/SUP] and no investigative reports confirm her active involvement. The Baylor Report claimed that she presented herself as neutral. Richards' former Chief of Staff, John Fainter, is on record saying "She just was not involved to any great degree in working that out...I'd have to say she was informed, but she wasn't pounding the table or anything like that." Richards was aware of the public perception of her involvement and the thought amused her.[SUP][19][/SUP])"

UT officials informed the Big Eight leadership that the Austin school was now receptive to an invitation and the Big Eight issued invitations to Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, and Texas Tech. All four schools quickly accepted.[SUP][17][/SUP]
At the time of the deal, Texas politicians denied any coercion took place. Over the years, investigative reporters challenged that notion. The idea that Bullock and the state government coerced A&M to join and forced UT to take Tech and Baylor to the Big 12 has constantly been downplayed by Cunningham,[SUP][19][/SUP] but former UT president Robert Berdahl claimed that UT was threatened. “As I recall, it wasn't a very veiled threat to cut budgets if Tech was left behind.”[SUP][8][/SUP]
Baylor President Herb Reynolds thanked Bullock and the other politicians for helping Baylor get into the conference. Despite Baylor's strong credentials, clearly Reynolds felt the politicians played a key role in getting the Bears and Texas Tech into the new conference.[SUP][20][/SUP] The minutes of the February 23, 1994 meeting of the Baylor Board of Regents where the Big 12's invitation was accepted state, "Baylor University owes a strong debt of gratitude to Lt. Governor Bob Bullock, Senator David Sibley, Senator John Montford, Representative Rob Junell, and other legislators for their invaluable assistance during the deliberations leading to the acceptance of the invitations."[SUP][21]"

[/SUP]​History of the Big 12 Conference - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
TideMan09

TideMan09

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That's why Texas A&M earned my respect when they left Texas & The Big 12 in the dust never looking back on their way to The SEC..Folks kept saying that The Aggie's didn't have it in them to leave their supposed Big Brother behind by coming to the SEC. welp, they did have it in them by giving Texas the proverbial middle finger & became their own school away for the dumpster fire that the Big 12 has become..
 
WylieTexasTider

WylieTexasTider

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ALA2262 said:
Turns out that State Senator David Sibley got the ball rolling and LT Governor Bob Bullock was the driving force that enabled Baylor to be included in the Big 12.


"In Texas, word leaked out that UT & Texas A&M were close to leaving the SWC; UT to the Pac-10[SUP][17][/SUP] or Big Eight and eventually Texas A&M to the SEC. Texas state senator David Sibley, a Baylor alumnus and member of the very powerful Senate Finance Committee, approached UT Chancellor Bill Cunningham and asked him pointedly whether UT planned to leave the SWC on its own for the Big Eight. Cunningham tried to change the subject. Ultimately he did not deny it.[SUP][8][/SUP]
Sibley approached LT Governor Bob Bullock, a Texas Tech and Baylor alumnus. Texas state senator John Montford of Lubbock was equally motivated to protect Texas Tech's path to the Big 12. The trio put together a group of legislators who worked to threaten Texas and Texas A&M's access to the state of Texas's Permanent University Fund.[SUP][8][/SUP]
Bullock called together a meeting of supportive legislators as well as UT's and Texas A&M's leaders on February 20, 1994.[SUP][18][/SUP] UT Chancellor William Cunningham admitted that Texas planned to join the Big Eight[SUP][8][/SUP] and A&M's leadership still targeted the SEC.[SUP][8][/SUP]
A deal was worked out where all four schools would go together to the Big 12. A&M was convinced not to pursue SEC membership (LSU was prepared to sponsor the Aggies) in return for Bullock finding the votes to approve the construction of Reed Arena. Baylor and Texas Tech would join the Aggies in coming with UT into the new version of the Big Eight.[SUP][8][/SUP]
Texas's Governor Ann Richards, a Baylor and UT alumna, is often credited with getting Baylor included, but, was absent from the February 20 meeting[SUP][8][/SUP] and no investigative reports confirm her active involvement. The Baylor Report claimed that she presented herself as neutral. Richards' former Chief of Staff, John Fainter, is on record saying "She just was not involved to any great degree in working that out...I'd have to say she was informed, but she wasn't pounding the table or anything like that." Richards was aware of the public perception of her involvement and the thought amused her.[SUP][19][/SUP])"

UT officials informed the Big Eight leadership that the Austin school was now receptive to an invitation and the Big Eight issued invitations to Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, and Texas Tech. All four schools quickly accepted.[SUP][17][/SUP]
At the time of the deal, Texas politicians denied any coercion took place. Over the years, investigative reporters challenged that notion. The idea that Bullock and the state government coerced A&M to join and forced UT to take Tech and Baylor to the Big 12 has constantly been downplayed by Cunningham,[SUP][19][/SUP] but former UT president Robert Berdahl claimed that UT was threatened. “As I recall, it wasn't a very veiled threat to cut budgets if Tech was left behind.”[SUP][8][/SUP]
Baylor President Herb Reynolds thanked Bullock and the other politicians for helping Baylor get into the conference. Despite Baylor's strong credentials, clearly Reynolds felt the politicians played a key role in getting the Bears and Texas Tech into the new conference.[SUP][20][/SUP] The minutes of the February 23, 1994 meeting of the Baylor Board of Regents where the Big 12's invitation was accepted state, "Baylor University owes a strong debt of gratitude to Lt. Governor Bob Bullock, Senator David Sibley, Senator John Montford, Representative Rob Junell, and other legislators for their invaluable assistance during the deliberations leading to the acceptance of the invitations."[SUP][21]"

[/SUP]​History of the Big 12 Conference - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Click to expand...
Bullock was a hands on LT Gov who twisted arms and pushed Richards agenda. With knowledge of folks in office as it went down, Richards pushed it from behind the scenes. It was an election year Bullock who was liked and respected by both side had more political capital the Richards who was in a fight she'd lose with W. Bullock worked well with Bush which is one reason folks thought Bush could unite DC.

Regardless, politics got Baylor into the B12.
 
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