Big 12 Media Days/Expansion Reboot

[Lobot]

Needed to reboot the thread a little. Big 12 Media days happened earlier this week here in Dallas. David Boren, the president at OU, and several coaches in the league are in support of the expansion idea. Bill snyder at K-State was the most vocal advocate and I'd like to think his opinion carries some wait as he used to be an AD. Art Briles didn't come out and say it per se, but supports divisions in the league for football which only make sense if you have 12 teams.

Here's some reading material for you:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...-12-media-days

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...ion-from-day-1

http://www.bringonthecats.com/2015-k...state-wildcats

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoot...-12-media-days

http://newsok.com/big-12-football-wh...rticle/5435116

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8...on.html?pg=all

[Lobot]

And now comes this. The Big 12 has actually, finally, formed an expansion committee. President Ono's friend Gordon Gee is on it.
http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article...GZ02/150729694

[red_n_black_attack]

I think it is good that WVU is well represented on the expansion committee. It's a good sign there is an expansion committee! How does Gee being on the committee help or hurt the Bearcats?

Is he going to be loyal to his fabled Buckeyes or see getting a foothold into this state as a way to expand both TV markets and recruiting areas? Does Gee see UC as "One of the Little Sisters of the Poor"?

Gee will play his moves smart, not letting anything out until he's ready to let it out.

Also - any insight on the goal of the committee? Did all members of the Big 12 agree to look at potential expansion candidates or just see it as a good thing to have the formal information in their back pockets?

[Chewbacca2099]

I don't know about anyone else but I hate that Gee is on this. He has said in the past that we like the city of Cincinnati, but we want it to be an Ohio State city. He is not going to support us as an expansion candidate if he still cares about OSU which I'm sure he does

[Lobot]

I think if he going to evaluate expansion properly on behalf of WVU he has to remove himself from the Ohio State thing and vote in the best interest of his university which would seem to be adding a travel partner in eastern time. I think it's just as important that David Boren is on the committee. He's the biggest voice in favor of expansion of the university presidents. It's also important to note that Texas does not have a voice on this committee. That could be good for us and bad for the conference depending on how things shake out.


Something else that came out yesterday was in an Article from Foxsports that stated that the Big 10 had five teams ready to bolt from the big 12 during the last go around and That OU and Kansas are likely to jump to the Big 10 if the Big 12 starts to fold up.

[richard k.]

I think if he going to evaluate expansion properly on behalf of WVU he has to remove himself from the Ohio State thing and vote in the best interest of his university which would seem to be adding a travel partner in eastern time. I think it's just as important that David Boren is on the committee. He's the biggest voice in favor of expansion of the university presidents. It's also important to note that Texas does not have a voice on this committee. That could be good for us and bad for the conference depending on how things shake out.


Something else that came out yesterday was in an Article from Foxsports that stated that the Big 10 had five teams ready to bolt from the big 12 during the last go around and That OU and Kansas are likely to jump to the Big 10 if the Big 12 starts to fold up.

If that is true, and it is a HUGE "IF" then perhaps they are, at long last, truly looking out for the long term interest of the conference via the expansion committee. While it is hard to know exactly what the thinking is at UT, it is hard to believe that they don't recall their previous conference's situation when it imploded because no one outside the state of Texas gave a hoot about it - and if OU and Kansas left the Big 12,. with Nebraska, Colorado and Missouri already gone they would be faced with the same scenario. It is equally hard to believe that the administration at UT could be that dense, unless they have another P5 conference invite in hand - but I doubt it would be as cozy/generous a relationship as they currently have with the Big12.

[Lobot]

Richard, this is totally opinion on my part but my take on Texas is that they are stubborn and entitled and that the university is basically controlled by rich donors who are very conservative in regards to the school and want to protect the university's stature in both the academic and sports world. UT is dealing with an admissions scandal right now where the scenario was that wealthy donors and politicians were allowed to completely bypass the admissions office to get the kids in that they wanted in. This is Texas politics in a nutshell and I think that the political climate down here is playing a big role in the way the university brass is addressing the expansion topic. It's basically an attitude of "We're bigger, better and richer than you and we'll do what we want to do." I fully expect them to still be fiddling in a fire if the conference falls apart.

This is an op-ed but it highlights the problem. http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallas...missions.html/

[nolte50uc]

it's interesting who's on the committee. painfully obvious that it's staffed to ensure that expansion is the recommendation. (Gee is going to promote his current university, he's not going to look out for any OSU benefit at a cost to his current employer.)

on the surface, this all sounds great for UC. it's what else that's potentially going on that scares me. that said, even if Kansas and OU bolt, the remaining B12 is still > the current AAC IMO

[coach]

Even if we were to get an invite one wonders what the stability of that situation would be as well. It still seems to me that the possibility of the b12 breaking up and ending up in some newly formulated/reconstituted aac is as good a bet as any. It would be wonderful if the acc took a preemptive strike and increased their base including us. Much better geographically for rivalries. At some point the tv money well will run dry, and travel will matter.

[bearcatbret]

If OU and Kansas were to leave, it does not leave a whole lot left in the Big12. TCU and Baylor, in my opinion can not sustain their recent success. If the end game is a power 4, the bottom tier, yes Mr. Gee, the Big 12 does have bottom feeders, will be left out of expansions. I see Texas going to the SEC. OU and Kansas to the BIG, and UC going to the ACC. I do not see this happening soon but then again, I do not see UC going to a P5 conference soon.

[richard k.]

If OU and Kansas were to leave, it does not leave a whole lot left in the Big12. TCU and Baylor, in my opinion can not sustain their recent success. If the end game is a power 4, the bottom tier, yes Mr. Gee, the Big 12 does have bottom feeders, will be left out of expansions. I see Texas going to the SEC. OU and Kansas to the BIG, and UC going to the ACC. I do not see this happening soon but then again, I do not see UC going to a P5 conference soon.

It would be really interesting seeing Texas in the SEC - just wonder how long the likes of Alabama, Florida, LSU, et al, would put up with the Longhorn Network and the rest of their shenanigans.

[coach]

The sec would not take texas with the lhn, and i think texas really would have to think about joining the sec if the invite even came their way. They're not exactly knocking the cover off the ball in the b12, and to step into the b12 might plunder their fball program back to a middle of the pack team. See Michigan. They certainly would not position their situation publicly from that perspective, but they likely would be more competitive in the pac or big whatever.

[coach]

Correction............step into the sec

[Lobot]

It would be really interesting seeing Texas in the SEC - just wonder how long the likes of Alabama, Florida, LSU, et al, would put up with the Longhorn Network and the rest of their shenanigans.

I don't believe they will. There was a theory earlier from some of the OU writers that the ACC would be the best fit for Texas because of LHN. Bare with me. It does make some sense. The ACC can take them as a part time member similar to ND. Since the ACC is already dealing with ND's TV contract so Texas wouldn't be out of the question since the confernce set a precedent. Texas and ND can then schedule each other every year OOC (?) for a P4/5 game. Other than that it makes makes no sense but from a TV money standpoint it would make some sense to Texas. I think OU runs off to the B1G if this happens and takes one other. The better schools in AAC jump to the BIG 12 and maybe they retain P5 status but I doubt it. I might mean the BIg 12 could take 3: UC, UCF and Houston. This would crush TCU and Baylor's recruiting I suspect although TCU would probably live on since they were good before they joined the BIg 12 due to coaching. Or probably, I'm throwing darts.

[Binturong05]

Is Univ. of Oklahoma sufficient academically for the Big Ten? Granted the Big Ten bent the rules for Nebraska.

Side bar: how is it the official name of the university is University of Oklahoma but the nickname is OU?