(05-03-2017 05:00 PM)billybobby777 Wrote: (05-03-2017 04:46 PM)B easy Wrote: Trying to read the tea leaves here and decipher the truth out of all the speculation but it appears that the BIG XII will eventually completely dissolve. This would be different than the Big East leftovers situation because the BIG XII conference would simply cease to exist. Therefore, those potential 2-4 schools on the outside looking in wouldn't have the same bargaining power that UCONN, UC, & USF had when they started cherry picking mostly C-USA programs to join them.
I think that adding BIG XII leftovers is an important step in making the AAC a power conference and this will further enhance and bolster our narrative, earning potential and the perception of our league.
American Athletic Conference is making a power grab - Boston Globe
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/colleg...story.html
Aresco said the American already has the athletic achievements of a power conference, citing UConn’s 2014 men’s basketball title and the school’s three women’s basketball national championships since the league was formed in 2013, after the breakup of the old Big East.
He said the key now is to find a ‘‘legislative path’’ to be counted among the other big conferences when it comes to autonomy and post-season consideration, especially in football.
‘‘We’ll also need a better TV deal, we know that,’’ he said. ‘‘But the very first step is to be perceived by you, the media and the fans as a P6 conference. Perception in many cases becomes reality.’’
If be shocked, but it did happen that way for the SWC and WAC 16....I can hope
Don't know about the WAC---but the SWC had no exit fee and UH held most of the NCAA credits for the conference (which would revert to UH if the conference dissolved). There wasn't much of a hard cash reason to rebuild. Of course, I think the name value and maintaining the existing ties to the remaining schools was the best move (in other words, I would have rebuilt the SWC around the core that was left---but that's another debate).
In this case, there would be MANY reasons to rebuild the Big12 rather than leave---
1) The Big12 exit fee for Mizzo was 12.1 million. So there will be a sizable bank of exit fees if multiple Big12 members leave.
2) NCAA credits--The Big12 has done well in basketball, so there is a nice bucket of NCAA credits that will be left in the conference treasury.
3) The Big12 maintains standing as an "autonomous conference" along with heavier weighting in NCAA D-1 and FBS voting. Strangely, there is no established NCAA mechanism to remove an existing autonomous conference from that group nor is there any established mechanism to add conferences to the autonomous group. They haven't really discussed it.
4) Nine years remaining as a contractual "full share" member of the CFP. That's about 55 million a year
5) Three years left of the Sugar Bowl agreement at 30 million a year.
6) Better bowl package for the next 3 years and---due to higher average attendance--likely better bowls and bowl opponents than any G5.
7) Better conference name recognition and the ability to construct a best of the rest conference that would start with a core of all P5 members.
They have a ton of financial reasons to rebuild where the SWC didn't.