NewsOk: The Big 12 Conference should have listened to Kevin Weiberg

[Dooley]

I was with you until the $20 mn per year. $10 mn might be feasible. "Power" status - I think the major conferences and networks would like to define "power" conferences as those having auto bids to the national playoffs. To achieve that, the playoffs will have to expand to 6 (2 teams with byes) or 8. If it's 8, that league would have a shot at power status. If 6, no -- they would do 4 champs plus 2 at large.

I don't want to quibble over money from a hypothetical conference that will never happen but a conference that consists of BYU, UCF, USF, Houston, Cincinnati, UCONN, Baylor, Texas Tech, Ok State, K State, Iowa State, TCU, and WVU is not all that different than the ACC football-wise. The ACC is better at the top with FSU, but once you get past FSU and Clemson, you get a whole bunch of average to really bad. Top to bottom, I think that hypothetical, never-going-to-happen conference between the AAC and B12 would be better than the ACC. It's a better CONFERENCE (as a whole) than the ACC.

 

[bobbyinaz]

I was with you until the $20 mn per year. $10 mn might be feasible. "Power" status - I think the major conferences and networks would like to define "power" conferences as those having auto bids to the national playoffs. To achieve that, the playoffs will have to expand to 6 (2 teams with byes) or 8. If it's 8, that league would have a shot at power status. If 6, no -- they would do 4 champs plus 2 at large.

You are right. There is no way a conference of the leftovers gets anywhere near $20MM/yr. The Big 12 with UT, OU & Kansas is getting around $20MM.

No matter how hard it is for us to swallow, adding the AAC schools, who according to ESPN are worth $2MM/yr, to the remaining dregs of the Big 12 doesn't move the TV revenue contract that much. Even $10MM/yr is probably a stretch.

The current 4 team playoff contract is in place for 12 years. It will take at least 3-5 years for them to see how this works before there is even any thought of adding additional teams. My guess is we don't see more than 4 teams in a playoff system for 8-10 years

 

[pj]

I don't want to quibble over money from a hypothetical conference that will never happen but a conference that consists of BYU, UCF, USF, Houston, Cincinnati, UCONN, Baylor, Texas Tech, Ok State, K State, Iowa State, TCU, and WVU is not all that different than the ACC football-wise. The ACC is better at the top with FSU, but once you get past FSU and Clemson, you get a whole bunch of average to really bad. Top to bottom, I think that hypothetical, never-going-to-happen conference between the AAC and B12 would be better than the ACC. It's a better CONFERENCE (as a whole) than the ACC.

Football quality, yes, but market size, no. Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia are major states. FSU and Miami get more of Florida than USF and UCF. Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, and Houston don't really deliver Texas, combined they are still behind Texas and Texas A&M. West Virginia's population is smaller than metro Pittsburgh. Iowa State, K State, and Ok State are second fiddle in relatively small states. BYU brings a bigger audience than Navy but not dramatically so.

 

[bobbyinaz]

I don't want to quibble over money from a hypothetical conference that will never happen but a conference that consists of BYU, UCF, USF, Houston, Cincinnati, UCONN, Baylor, Texas Tech, Ok State, K State, Iowa State, TCU, and WVU is not all that different than the ACC football-wise. The ACC is better at the top with FSU, but once you get past FSU and Clemson, you get a whole bunch of average to really bad. Top to bottom, I think that hypothetical, never-going-to-happen conference between the AAC and B12 would be better than the ACC. It's a better CONFERENCE (as a whole) than the ACC.

Whether it is or not is debatable but, that would have nothing to do with what a potential TV contract would be worth. No network is paying top dollar to get the 3rd or worse teams in TX & Fla plus the other crappy markets that conference would offer.

The good news is, as you said, it is a hypothetical conference that will never happen

 

[HuskyHawk]

No conference has mismanaged itself as poorly as the Big 12 - I'm even including the Big East in that. The Big East couldn't do anything to save itself from ESPN's checkbook, but the Big 12 definitely could have solidified itself for the long hall.

They were so busy serving Texas' best interests that they neglected their future in terms of expansion and a network.

They should be sitting pretty at 12 with West Virginia, Louisville and Cincinnati and they should be planning their network...but they have West Virginia on a useless island and everyone will be on pins and needles as they start to close in on the current contract expiration.

On top of that, they could have avoided losing Missouri and A&M, and with some foresight, Colorado (by adding Utah long ago).

 

[B1GOSU]

If Texas had played nice in the sandbox, think of what the Big 12 could have been..........go back to the days of the SWC. Assuming that the SWC and Big 8 inevitably joined forces for TV money anyways, Arkansas could have still been in the picture and joined the Big 12 at its formation.

If Texas had continued playing nice in the sandbox, none of the other teams would have sought out other conferences. If Texas could have led the way to spear a movement to have designated North-South rivals, it would most likely have happened. This means Oklahoma and Nebraska would have played every year as they did in the past. Not saying Nebraska would have stayed in the Big 12 with a Big Ten invite, but it sure would have been more like "home" if they had Oklahoma as a yearly rival and Texas playing nice.

Now, let's assume the Big 12 also moved to 14 schools like the B1G, SEC and ACC..........you would have had the original Big 12 plus Arkansas plus one other school (assume TCU here).

That would have been a formidable conference, even though it would still lack a population base outside of Texas. However, that grouping would have been strong, thus making it likely that other schools might have wanted to join from the ACC, such as Florida State and Clemson.

That could have been one heck of a football conference in that scenario. Certainly better than everyone outside of the SEC.

Texas-Texas A&M-Oklahoma-Nebraska-Arkansas-Florida State-Clemson - 7 traditionally strong football schools

Baylor-TCU-Kansas State-Oklahoma State-Missouri - 5 traditionally middle of the pack schools that all have had moments of greatness that could rise up to a higher level from time to time

Kansas-Iowa State-Colorado-Texas Tech - 4 traditionally weaker football schools, but every conference has a group of bottom feeders.

Now, imagine that those schools formed a conference network. Maybe not as large a population base as the BTN or SEC Networks, but certainly nothing to sneeze at either.

The Big 12 had great potential that Texas didn't want. Texas had to be the alpha dog.

 

[B1GOSU]

On the flip side, we could argue the same thing with the B1G.

Nebraska and Notre Dame both wanted to join decades ago. Imagine what having those great Nebraska and Notre Dame teams would have done to the B1G and the dynamic with Ohio State-Michigan over the decades.

Texas - yes TEXAS - inquired about joining the Big Ten back when the SWC was on its last legs, but the B1G said it would not expand for at least a few years since Penn State had just been added. There would have been no talk about demographics in the B1G the past quarter century had Texas been in the conference ----- if Texas was capable of being an equal partner. That could have been interesting to see play out.

Now, assume both Texas and Nebraska were in the B1G --- Oklahoma would have no doubt wanted in the B1G. Would the B1G make an academic exception for the Sooners? It's possible.

Imagine a B1G with Ohio State/Michigan/Penn State/Nebraska/Notre Dame/Texas/Oklahoma - 7 flagship football schools. If the B1G wasn't so conservative until recently, this very well could have played out.

 

[justinslot]

We would all have been better off had the Pac-16 happened. 5 Cartel leagues still as the B12 and BE remnants would have merged, and the networks would have overpaid for that hot mess too. Nobody left out at the very least.

 

[FASTEDDY]

Hypothetical:

If BIG12 offerred UCONN (to give WVU a closer travel partner) would UCONN accept?

I say YES!