Big 12 in 2016

[Lobot]

If they send McCaw, they better not let him speak to media because the first question he'll get is, "why are you not fired." That's going to be a really awkward meeting.

[red_n_black_attack]

The Baylor situation is a mess, but it was the right thing to do. As a prospective or up-for-consideration member of the Big 12, I like the firing of Art Briles as a start and hope the house cleaning continues. There isn't room in college athletics for harboring criminals or sexual misconduct. To be clear, I understand kids may make some small mistakes underage drinking, car accidents, pissing in the potted plants, getting into fist-fights or other things non-athletes also do at that age that wouldn't warrant jail time or felonies. The crimes we are seeing coming out of Waco fall into the felony category.

I would hope our coaches are working with the kids to help them grow into responsible adults, which means holding them accountable for their actions. I know it could be a step back for the program (at the moment), but Baylor fans should be proud they are re-loading or rebuilding with a moral compass.

[red_n_black_attack]

Okay,we know a lot rests on the decision to fold the LHN into a Big 12 Conference Network, but I don't exactly know what that means from a content standpoint. I have never watched the Big 10 Network or the SEC Network (other than channel surfing and stopping for a game here and there). I understand it gives third tier rights and some games of the week may be only accessed on the Network instead of ABC/CBS/ESPN/Fox, impacting availability to watch basketball and football; however, what is the other content? Does each member school get a dedicated amount of time for coaches shows, program updates, conference-wide recruiting efforts as well as an outlet for the other Olympic Sports? What type of content might be available in late June or early July when no sports are being played and training camps haven't opened?


Why do I as a fan, want to watch a conference network?

[Lobot]

I personally only check these conference channels during football season when nothing else is on. The AAC basically gets the functions of a conference net from CBSSN to some extent. LHN is free for me so I flip by at the end of the ESPN channels. It's usually showing a coaches show or a football rebroadcast or classic rerun. I also run into WBB, Baseball and softball on there. The only live football they usually have is UT vs. Iowa St. which is usually the most lopsided game of the year.

If it were folded in a conference network based on what I've seen from BTN and SECN, each school would be responsible for providing X hours of content for whatever sports they want to have on. So there's an allotment of time that each school gets to showcase themselves. Somebody please correct me if I'm off here. Where this would be beneficial is getting some of our less attended or smaller sports some TV time to assist in recruiting. I think CBSSN broadcast one of our WBB games last year and as an out of market fan, I would like to see what's going on there occasionally so a conference net would be beneficial for folks like me to keep track of sports that don't normally get broadcast.

Here's the thing though. ESPN which runs everything except BTN and Pac 12 Net is going through major cost cutting right now because they're losing millions of subscribers to cord cutting households. So unless ESPN unplugs from the cable model and these network get positioned for streaming or skinny bundles, they're going to go away or get spun off. The only reason I'm a subscriber to my cable provider is that ESPN and CBSSN don't stream to non cable subscriber households. That's going to change and soon. That broadcast revenue model is all but dead.

So the question becomes if the BIg 12 does a network of it's own, who wants to broadcast it? ESPN's not going to want it right now. FOX already has rights to the Big 12 which leaves you with NBC or CBS and they aren't going to want it based on their current model of having a minor channel for sports. They might bid for tier rights for the Big 12 but not want to host a whole network. That leaves the Big 12 itself to go with the BTN model and I'm not sure based on LHN's finances if that would be financially feasible for the conference based on the amount of viewers they'd get out of it. A lot of Big 12 territory is flyover country.

I think you wait and see what Texas decides to do after this summer's meetings and the expansion vote. If they leave (or get thrown out) then the conference stands a decent chance of imploding and none of this matters.

[cpawstoney]

The only reason I'm a subscriber to my cable provider is that ESPN and CBSSN don't stream to non cable subscriber households. That's going to change and soon. That broadcast revenue model is all but dead

During our Big East days, I had an ESPN Insider account. I bought it to stream ESPN3 when the Bearcats were not on one of the main channels. I dropped it when that became offered as a bonus by the cable providers but that is another option if you don't want to pay for cable.

[coach]

conference newtwork=many repeats

[Lobot]

Enquirer Infographic of UC demographic comparison to each Big 12 school :

http://projects.cincinnati.com/Pages/Big12UC/index.html

[Lobot]

Brian Davis from the Austin Stateman and David Ubben were in Cincinnati yesterday meeting with Bohn and Ono. Here's Davis profile article of UC.

http://www.hookem.com/story/big-12-e...-claw-forward/

[Lobot]

Ubben's podcast (requires Flash) : http://flyovercountry.weebly.com/mai...nto-the-big-12

[Lobot]

Houston Chronicle takes a shot at weighing the expansion candidates.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/spor...#photo-6836192

[richard k.]

Houston Chronicle takes a shot at weighing the expansion candidates.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/spor...#photo-6836192

None of these articles concerning expansion, both the possibility thereof and the potential teams, is of consequence unless and until one or more of the current members with a school name including the word "Texas" decides that expansion is a good idea.

[Lobot]

Richard, I personally totally agree. On the flip side, I'm just trying give everyone all the reading material possible.. Big 12 meetings start on 5/31 in Irving.

[Bearcats1232002]

I think it is pretty obvious that IF the Big 12 expands we are in good shape but I think "IF" is the optimal word. It seems like no matter what study, report or person says the Big 12 should expand, the powers that be in the Big 12 make sure they rationalize why they shouldn't. You can tell they just don't want to expand and I don't think they will this time around.

[Lobot]

I think it is pretty obvious that IF the Big 12 expands we are in good shape but I think "IF" is the optimal word. It seems like no matter what study, report or person says the Big 12 should expand, the powers that be in the Big 12 make sure they rationalize why they shouldn't. You can tell they just don't want to expand and I don't think they will this time around.

Spot on. They don't plan to vote on expansion during this meeting anyway as far as I know. That's really not expected until July. I think we'll have a better idea of whether Texas Tech or TCU votes can be swayed before then though based on what happens this week.

Weather permitting, I may wander over to Big 12 HQ tomorrow morning and see if I can get near the place without getting beat up by security.

[Lobot]

Unrelated. Baylor just Hired Jim Grobe as an interim coach. Last seen at Wake Forest. Not surprised that it wasn't Phil Bennett but Phil could have done the job if it weren't due to connections to Shawn Oakman