(12-24-2019 05:23 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(12-23-2019 11:56 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(12-23-2019 11:51 PM)Aargh Wrote:  The B12 tried to raid the AAC a few years ago. The B12 wanted to go back to 12. They probably would have taken Cincy, Memphis or Houston. That would have diluted the payouts to then-current B12 teams. When ESPN wouldn't buy in, the B12 aborted their expansion plans. That probably left a bad taste in the mouths of some schools who went through a lot of time, effort, and $$ to apply for the invitations the B12 offered.

You're close, but it would not have diluted the payouts, b/c there was a clause saying the B12 could add up to 4 teams and ESPN would have to pay the full rate for each, without diluting current payouts.



The B12, due to political reasons, got greedy and tried to add 4, and ESPN squashed it by threatening to bail on the Big 12 when their current contract was up.

I think if they had tried to add only two, it might have worked.

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According to this in-depth article, the 2016-17 three-act farce was mainly attributable to political controversies, disagreements between Texas and non-Texas schools, and discouraging financial projections:

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Remember when the Big 12 was going to expand ...

Jun 28, 2017 Jake Trotter ESPN Staff Writer

As the Big 12 presidents and chancellors were wrapping up their summer board meeting in Irving, Texas, last July, one prominent school official was driving to a dinner when he flipped on his satellite radio.

...he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Almost careened off the road," said the official, who immediately began phoning his colleagues... They, too, were stunned.

"...an inferiority complex drove the Big 12 to begrudgingly explore inviting Group of 5 members, even when the desire to do so was never really there.

...It didn't take long for the Big 12's public expansion process to turn messy.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (and other TX officials) posted messages endorsing Houston's bid to join the conference. "Big 12 expansion is a non-starter unless it includes University of Houston," Abbott wrote.

Houston, meanwhile, failed to generate enough support among the non-Texas schools, which feared having to recruit against another Texas school for precious Texas talent.

BYU had been viewed as the frontrunner in any Big 12 expansion scenario. The LGBT community's opposition, however, severely diminished BYU's candidacy.

Elsewhere, close to 20 schools from the Group of 5 schools mobilized to compile talking points, brochures, PowerPoints and videos...

Yet just as the operation was ramping up, the appetite for expansion was rapidly waning again.

During league meetings... the expansion push lost almost all momentum, especially after Boren was informed that adding the likes of Houston or BYU or Cincinnati would not deliver the lucrative conference network for the Big 12 he so desired.

As the Big 12 began staging the in-person interviews in Irving, it was becoming clear no candidate stood much chance of inducing the eight votes needed to secure an invitation."

https://www.espn.com/college-football/st...ing-expand

Good post! OU President Ben Boren started the B12 expansion fiasco. Barry Switzer, OU's primary fund raiser for both academics and sports, immediately came out against expansion.