Comments on: Big 12 football: David Boren in the eye of the hurricane http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/2011/12/27/big-12-football-david-boren-in-the-eye-of-the-hurricane/ Thoughts from The Oklahoman Sports Columnist Berry Tramel | NewsOK.com Mon, 22 Apr 2013 20:41:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5 By: Tim http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/2011/12/27/big-12-football-david-boren-in-the-eye-of-the-hurricane/comment-page-1/#comment-93350 Tim Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:13:43 +0000 http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/?p=7897#comment-93350 First, there will always be the David and Goliaths in any conference. That’s reality. How the Goliaths treat the Davids matter. The NCAA has done a lot in the last 30 years to bring about more parity. We are a long way from those days. It has never been more true that on any given Saturday a David can beat a Goliath. I always felt the Big 8 saved the SWC and now the SWC via UT’s actions (again) destroyed the old Big 8 and the Big 12. The SEC has handled the money issues much better than most conferences though from top to bottom, their conference is no different than any others….a few Goliaths and many Davids. What the money does is to ensure the survival of at the the football programs (and other major programs) at those schools. We didn’t do that in the old Big 8, SWC, or Big 12….lesson should have been learned a long tome ago. It seems money bought peace in the family.

Second, When I watch a SEC game, no matter who is playing it always seems the stadiums are full or almost full no matter the won loss record. I can’t say that about the Big 12. If programs don’t win, the stadiums are
not full. kU, CU, even KSU before Snyder’s return always seemed to
have many, many unsold seats…or no shows. I think this is the real peril for those teams who left the Big 12 with the exception of NU and possibly A&M. Did you see how many fans showed up at the Independence Bowl for Missouri? Not a far trip for a Mizzou fan and fairly inexpensive, too…way cheaper than traveling to the homesites of SEC schools. Norman, Lawrence, Manhattan, Ames, Stillwater….all cheaper than SEC venues. Will money be enough to sustain programs that do not win…it has in the SEC…to the benefit of the Goliaths….not too many Davids have won the SEC title. geography will be a factor for some of those schools. Is it better for some of the Davids to go to a Conference USA where they could be a Goliath, or to be canon fodder for the Goliaths in major conferences. Which is more important…winning programs or money. A winning program can produce money…look at BYU, Boise St., TCU…..

]]> By: CharlieW http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/2011/12/27/big-12-football-david-boren-in-the-eye-of-the-hurricane/comment-page-1/#comment-93326 CharlieW Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:19:19 +0000 http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/?p=7897#comment-93326 Excellent post, Mr. Wolfe. OU purposely let the OU-NU rivalry die. NU had enough of UT saying jump and Mr. Beebe saying how high. NU had no choice but to look for something better by moving to the B1G.

]]> By: jeff wolfe http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/2011/12/27/big-12-football-david-boren-in-the-eye-of-the-hurricane/comment-page-1/#comment-93270 jeff wolfe Wed, 28 Dec 2011 11:11:03 +0000 http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/?p=7897#comment-93270 thanks for addressing this. I think the bottom line is tv money/relationships. college football programs can hire coaches, and recruiters, and build attractive facilities, keeping themselves viable until an overwhelming amount of cash or a suspicious relationship makes one or two programs look like the world wrestling federation fix is in. The old Big 8 was already suspect being dominated by OU and NU. At least a divisive advantage in recruiting was given by tv during those times. The addition of Texas was much more of the same problem. Any network (ESPN) that doesn’t take into account that their money and deals are powerful forces in the lives of every student athlete at every institution in a conference is irresponsible. Add a leading institution saying openly that they are just looking out for themselves as if this is justification, and the Conference is a dead man walking. Failure by the Big 12 to address this issue is the foundation of all others, not who flirted with who first. The Big 12 conference had years to change course and failed. They had warnings from dissenting voters and statements issued publicly and did nothing. They lost two fine members and did nothing. Now they are losing two more and the response is way too little, way too late. The result is tragic for everybody. There will be no winners in this monumental greed/power grab screw up. Geography is a hard and unyielding master. A jet plane is not as much fun or as safe as a college campus for the 99% of student athletes who are already way over exploited.

]]> By: Tim http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/2011/12/27/big-12-football-david-boren-in-the-eye-of-the-hurricane/comment-page-1/#comment-93048 Tim Tue, 27 Dec 2011 21:43:05 +0000 http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/?p=7897#comment-93048 Yep…UT…we haven’t seen the last of their shenanigans, yet. Won’t be too long and they will go independent. While the NU move may work out athletically for them, no way do the other moves. Mizzou and A&M athletics will hurt. A&M football is already millions in the hole. Yes, they get a lot of money from the SEC…but I think the new deal in the Big 12 was close to the same as the SEC. So, now A&M must compete with the likes of LSU, Alabama, Auburn, etc. The SEC West is not any easier than the old Big 12 South. Big risk for A&M who will be lucky to finish in the middle of the pack…same for Mizzou. Mizzou played for a few Big 12 championships….not likely to happen in the SEC for a long time. A&M has had a decade of down years. Don’t see that changing for a while…good they are getting some of that SEC money. Both schools should have stayed put and waited on conference additions. The Big 12 isn’t done yet…unfortunately UT still holds the key since the others got scared and ran off into the forest.

]]> By: Joe http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/2011/12/27/big-12-football-david-boren-in-the-eye-of-the-hurricane/comment-page-1/#comment-93016 Joe Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:17:14 +0000 http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/?p=7897#comment-93016 Actually, what happened in 2010 made perfect sense. Colorado has always wanted to be in the Pac but could never get an invite. The Pac is a much better cultural fit for the Buffs and the geography is a wash. For Nebraska, as Josh said, the Big 10 is better in terms of cash, academics and stability but is a slight downer in terms of geography (although Nebraska vs. Michigan St/Penn St etc. makes more sense than Nebraska vs. Texas/Baylor ever did). However, the 2011 moves were all about getting sick of Texas pushing the conference to the brink by flirting with the Pac. Colorado and Nebraska moved on by themselves in their own interests. Texas tried to form a cabal of other schools to destroy the Big 12. Colorado or Nebraska leaving on their own means little, in the long run. If the big 12 has just picked up two more schools and if Texas had a behaved all the realignment this year would not have happened. However, Missouri had to look out for themselves as it would have been devastating for them to be left in some sort of C-USA/MSC/Big 12 leftovers league if Texas ever brought its three little buddies to the Pac. Likewise, A&M probably preferred Big 12 stability to going to the SEC but they definately preferred the SEC to the PAC-16. At the end of the day, all the blame lies with Texas.

]]> By: Jason http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/2011/12/27/big-12-football-david-boren-in-the-eye-of-the-hurricane/comment-page-1/#comment-92970 Jason Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:49:28 +0000 http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/?p=7897#comment-92970 Josh is right. Nebraska is much better off in the B1G. Oklahoma made their bed in 1996, why should NU ever trust OU following that?

]]> By: Josh http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/2011/12/27/big-12-football-david-boren-in-the-eye-of-the-hurricane/comment-page-1/#comment-92947 Josh Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:57:19 +0000 http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/?p=7897#comment-92947 You can say whatever you want about the reason Nebraska left, but the Big Ten is better for them in every way possible. Monetarily, academically, stability-wise, etc. It was a no-brainer.

]]> By: Tim http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/2011/12/27/big-12-football-david-boren-in-the-eye-of-the-hurricane/comment-page-1/#comment-92897 Tim Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:58:03 +0000 http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/?p=7897#comment-92897 Missouri, Colorado, and Nebraska all sought greener pastures. Shame on them. The Big 12 Conference was good for them and OU just made it better for all by backing Texas down. Believe me, the folks in Texas were not and are not excited about UT going to the PAC -12. While academically it might have been a good match for UT, culturally, it was not. What does it say about MU, NU, and CU that they would rather run than get behind the force (OU) that can deal with UT? They were just looking for greener pastures….good luck…OU got the conference a better revenue deal. TCU and WV are coming in – better than what CU, NU, and MU have been over the last 5 years in the conference. And the Big 12 isn’t finished expanding yet. NU, CU, and MU did little to strengthen the conferences they joined. I’ll give NU some credit, they are better under Pelini and maybe things work out quickly for NU in the Big 10. Not so with CU, MU, or A & M – which is a whole other story. CU went from bad to worse. MU in the SEC East has more competition than it did in the Big 12 North. A&M…..good thing Sumlin is the coach…but they will need a lot more than that. UT is going no where unless it goes independent. Look for that to happen when they have restored their program back to top 10.

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