The Big 12's dysfunction

Thought this was a good piece by Pete Thamel.

I found a few of the nuggets very interesting, but of course there is this one that stands out to me:

Quote:Here's the uncomfortable question for the Big 12: Do Oklahoma and Texas offer more value to ESPN and FOX in the Big 12? Or are ESPN and FOX better off with Texas or Oklahoma in one of the leagues where they control the network?

If Texas went to the Big Ten, it would be a boon for FOX, the Big Ten's financial partner in the Big Ten Network. If Texas went to the ACC, the same could be said for ESPN and the upcoming ACC Network. Same for Oklahoma, which would likely go to the SEC, where ESPN owns a majority of the inventory and is a partner in the SEC Network.

I posted about it on the CS&CR board. Boren really needs to move away from Stream Of Consciousness speaking when behind the mic. In his efforts to prove OU is not Bevo's sidekick, he will destroy the Big 12.

(09-16-2016 10:30 AM)megadrone Wrote:  I posted about it on the CS&CR board. Boren really needs to move away from Stream Of Consciousness speaking when behind the mic. In his efforts to prove OU is not Bevo's sidekick, he will destroy the Big 12.

I'm not sure about that. I think the Big 12 is already terminal.

I think Boren is mainly just looking out for OU's interests and trying to save face as much as possible. There is such disunity and dysfunction in the league that Boren, I think, is just letting the public in on it so he doesn't look like a passive victim in all this.

More to the point, I don't think Boren's words alone could sink the Big 12 if the league wasn't already unrecoverable.

(09-16-2016 10:53 AM)AllTideUp Wrote:  

(09-16-2016 10:30 AM)megadrone Wrote:  I posted about it on the CS&CR board. Boren really needs to move away from Stream Of Consciousness speaking when behind the mic. In his efforts to prove OU is not Bevo's sidekick, he will destroy the Big 12.

I'm not sure about that. I think the Big 12 is already terminal.

I think Boren is mainly just looking out for OU's interests and trying to save face as much as possible. There is such disunity and dysfunction in the league that Boren, I think, is just letting the public in on it so he doesn't look like a passive victim in all this.

More to the point, I don't think Boren's words alone could sink the Big 12 if the league wasn't already unrecoverable.

He was a major cause of the Big XII turning into the Big 8 again a few years ago.

Well, they need something to talk about other than the raging dumpster fire the football situation is in.

It's a little funny that on the one hand, no other conference offers them the power, control and easy path to the playoff that B12 does. But at the same time it's that very "easy path" that is destroying their national competitiveness the same way it did to the top teams in the SWC. Iron sharpens iron while butter just melts and slips you up.

(09-18-2016 03:06 PM)10thMountain Wrote:  It's a little funny that on the one hand, no other conference offers them the power, control and easy path to the playoff that B12 does. But at the same time it's that very "easy path" that is destroying their national competitiveness the same way it did to the top teams in the SWC. Iron sharpens iron while butter just melts and slips you up.

Neither OU or UT can be made happy outside of the B12. The fact that they won't just invite two and go to an 8 game schedule proves they both want out.

The article points out the voting blocks against certain candidates and BYU's uncertainty. This league will stay at ten with a ccg until the GOR runs out.

The thing that is annoying to me is they are going to get the $20 million extra per team per season regardless. If OU and Texas truly are just looking for a cash grab then they and the rest of the Big 12 should expand and do so in a way that makes sense.

Memphis - SEC territory. Respectable football recently but they won't come in and be a threat to the top Big 12 powers. FedEx money, sponsorship and new recruiting grounds with tons of talent.

UCF or USF - SEC and ACC territory. Decent overall schools. Great New recruiting grounds.

ECU - Decent New recruiting grounds. In ACC territory.

Cincy - Good school. B1G territory, new recruiting grounds.

If this expansion isn't about getting better and they are gonna just leave the conference anyway, why not get something out of it? If you're going to get the same amount of money regardless of whatever team they add who cares.


That's my take on it anyway. Taking 2 of those 5 schools would cripple the AAC and would give the Big 12 not just more money, but would open up doors to new recruiting and so on.

By them considering BYU or Houston that to me makes it seem like they are interested in quality and it's not just a cash grab.

Who knows.