(07-21-2021 10:51 PM)ArmoredUpKnight Wrote:  Big12 owns the trademarks for the Big14 name. Go ahead and use it add teams till you get the 14.

If you can hold the remaining 8 teams, add 6.

Rivalries will help too since you are losing the most iconic rivalry in college football.

Cincy (keg of nails)
UCF (war on I-4)
South Florida (war on I-4)
BYU
Memphis
SMU (Iron Skillet)

AAC tv money was negotiated before the CFP expansion news. If ESPN or Fox can guarantee the AAC expansion candidates more tv money, we will likely jump.

Brand dilution is not the way to go. The little-8 are not that stupid.

I'm increasingly of the opinion they will ride out four years with Texas and OU, as that brings the most money. They will negotiate to select two schools (only) as replacements in conjunction with ESPN consultants to maximize value and get the best contract possible. This gives them four years to find them. The last thing they want to do is trigger a revaluation of the existing contract by changing membership in booting Texas and Oklahoma. Even if they can extract $75m each for leaving three years before their contract expires, they have to worry that the contracts with ESPN and CBS will lose more than that in value (only $6.5m drop per school per year makes that a money loser), not to mention reduced exposure. It's still advantageous to have OU and Texas on the schedule for the next four years, two home football games and four basketball games, over not.

After emotions blow off some steam, cooler heads will point that out. It's better to ride out the four years and methodically work out the replacement plan even inviting as much as two and a half years in advance (AAC rules have a crazy 27 month notice rule). Plenty of time to vet them with their media partners and get the best next TV contract.

Riding out also gives the remaining schools four years to shop themselves to the other three power conferences. Who knows, one or two of them might get lucky. There's your Machiavelli angle, which I'm sure KU and WVU have got to be thinking of. Perhaps Baylor, OK State and TCU have similar thoughts.