Comments on: Big 12 football: More Big Ten expansion talk

By: mike

mike — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 08:07:56 +0000

b10 doesnt like good academic schools. they like good RESEARCH schools. they only care about aau membership because its good for research. and while the acc has lots of aau members, those schools focus more on undergrad studies and weak in research (compared to the b10). in reality the schools that fit the b10 best academically from the acc is pitt and maryland. Call me crazy but look at Marylands ranking in the ARWU rankings. colorado and texas look like other good expansion candidates based on their post grad/research

By: Vincent

Vincent — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 13:49:04 +0000

Virginia and North Carolina are Delany’s dream duo — flagship universities in fairly large states, AAU members, solid academics (albeit a bit different than the land-grant likes of Maryland, which better fits the Big Ten mode than the more liberal arts-oriented UVa and UNC) and strong all-around athletics. But can he successfully pry the two? And what about Virginia Tech (which can be separated from UVa if it finds a good landing spot) and N.C. State (run by the same state university board as Chapel Hill)? Theoretically, both could jump to the SEC, but many UNC fans don’t want NCSU there for a perceived football recruiting advantage.

By: Rodeo

Rodeo — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 15:54:53 +0000

The Big XII still seems like a dead end road to me…nothing has changed. Boren holds OU back.

By: Brad Holland

Brad Holland — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 08:50:46 +0000

I truly believe the Big Ten needs to challenge the “Grant of Rights” and go after Kansas and Oklahoma. The B1G would have two schools that are basketball and football powerhouses.

This would put the B1G right at the doorstep of Texas, which in turn could bring in Notre Dame in the future. I know Oklahoma is not in the AAU, but they are like one spot below Nebraska in the Nat’l Academic Rankings…and Kansas is an AAU member.

The Big Ten has to make these last two spots as 15th and 16th schools really count, and Kansas & Oklahoma bring more to the table than any other expansion scenarios for name-brand athletics along with great academics.

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 05:00:04 +0000

Chris made some great points. As long as UT is in the Big 12, Texas will control the conference. By the time UT goes independent the Big 12 will be in shambles…all of the named programs will have moved on to greener pastures. it will happen when UT becomes a top 5 program again…Mack is feeling the pressure. It will be too late for the likes of OU or OSU. Hope the big cigars are thinking ahead and not just counting money coming in at this time. All of that can change with new contracts for other conferences. Expansion is not good if it weakens the conference. Brand names are important. They tend to have more fans than just live in the state their team is from. USC, OU, ND, Ohio St., all have national audiences. Those are the kinds of programs the Big 12 should reach out to…there are still a few out there. FSU, Clemson, Miami. Add BYU, Boise St., and Pitt. The consumer ultimately determines who makes the money and how much they make. If the Big 12 eventually expands and adds a bunch of weak sister teams who are leftovers just to get to 16 in order to be part of a new playoff system in the future, bad football is bad football no matter how the games are hyped…while new markets and TV sets and eyeballs are important when considering expansion, if no one is watching because the product is poor, the league is dead. Waiting to expand just ensures the weakening and eventual destruction of the conference. I just hope the last 2 spots the SEC has, they are holding for OU and OSU. It won’t take much, UT going independent, or KSU or KU bolting for the B1G and the next stampede is off and running.

By: RT

RT — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 01:22:32 +0000

BTW,Mizzou will not leave the sec for the Big10. The sec tv contract is going to be much better than the Big10 contract. Early part of 2013 a new sec contract is coming and a new sec network. It will surpass the Big10 contract by a wide margin from what I understand.

By: RT

RT — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 01:17:52 +0000

For those that don’t know the complete story. Mizzou was offered a jr. partnership to join the Big10. Mizzou wanted to come in as = to the other members. Nebraska jumped in and said they would take a jr. membership and thus they went to the Big10 instead of Mizzou. Nebraska is still not getting a full share of the pie.

By: David

David — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 23:36:49 +0000

No way Missouri leaves SEC. TV contract on the horizon next year. HUGE money. Big Thin missed the window.

To those who think they would you are hysterically off the mark. The Big Thin took Nebraska. It wasn’t academics.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 21:43:50 +0000

It is too late for the Big XII and OU and OSU. OU and OSU had the chance to go to the PAC 12 and turned it down. OU tried to bluff Texas later with saying they would go to the PAC 12, but guess what…the PAC 12 said no thanks. The Big XII could have gone big when they were at 8 teams. They could have looked east and gotten the best schools from the ACC and Big East. That would have given them an 8 team eastern division and an 8 team western division. The problem was Texas didn’t want to expand past the 10 teams needed to keep a TV contract. Texas knows it is harder to control 16 teams (their own team and the other 15) than it is to control 10 teams. Texas will keep expansion from happening for the Big XII. They want to control the conference and they want to limit the number of teams getting a recruiting inroad into Texas. I expect over the next 4-6 years the Big XII will gradually go down to ACC and then Big East stature. The SEC will dominate all major bowls since there is not a limit on the number of teams from 1 conference that can play in the 6 major bowls. So, in the future if a team from the Big XII doesn’t win the conference the best they will be able to do is get to the Alamo Bowl. If a team from the SEC doesn’t win the conference they will still get to the playoffs or one of the other 6 major bowls. This year the SEC would have gotten 6 teams into the 12 slots for major bowls. What is worse is the Big XII sided with the SEC to get this new system. How stupid can the Big XII be? We should have sided with the Big 10 and Pac 12 to demand only conference champions in the playoffs and limit to no more than 3 the number of teams from any 1 conference can get picked for the 6 major bowls.

By: BigRedTeam

BigRedTeam — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 19:46:50 +0000

The Big 12 needs to be proactive or else it will have to settle for LEFTOVERS !