RE: Why is Big XII rumored to lose 1/2 their broadcasting $, while PAC remains unscathed?
I think more than anything this is just simple math.
The Big 12 had 10 schools. Each brought some value, though any individual school's value is debatable. The two biggest value earners left. So that greatly reduces the overall value. That leaves 8 schools. 4 new schools were then added, but these were schools no other power conference was inviting. So while they add something, not even the ACC or the old Big 12 thought they added enough value. But you also add more mouths to feed. So you take the 10 schools, remove the two largest chunks then add some back in and divide by 12.
The PAC had 12 schools. It also lost it's two biggest value earners. But, as of now, the PAC has not added any mouths to feed. It's also important to point out Texas/OU added more value that USC/UCLA. I would argue significant more value, though what significant means is a semantics debate. Still, you take big chunks out of 10 and dilute the remaining into 12 pieces. Or you take a smaller chunk out of 12 and don't dilute.
As an aside, I'd throw this out there. The old Big 12 was a decent conference. It wasn't as good as either the Big 10 or the SEC as evidenced by the fact those conferences are now superpowers and the Big 12 is not. But it had good schools and a solid base. Then it lost 6 of those schools. Arguably the top 6 by value (some may argue the exact ranking of some of the schools, but that's somewhat besides the point). For any conference to lose that much is pretty significant. Take the SEC from 20 years ago, back when it was 12 schools. Imagine the SEC losing it's top 6. Which would be Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, and let's say Auburn as #6. Look at the leftovers - Arkansas, South Carolina, Mississippi, Mississippi St., Vanderbilt, and Kentucky. Not horrible, but it's not a good football conference. Arkansas is not going to anchor a power conference. Kentucky is a somewhat better version of Kansas, elite basketball without complete crap football. I'm not sure the other 4 schools do a whole lot of needle moving. Point being that any conference, even the mighty SEC, can't really sustain losing the top half of the conference. Eventually you lose some status, particularly if you're just back filling with G5 schools.
(This post was last modified: 08-06-2022 10:54 PM by Jericho.)
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