[College Football] Big Ten, Texas have initial talks

Wasn't pointing to it as a 1-to-1 example, it was just the first thing that came to mind of somebody walking away from cash for "other" reasons.

 

The only people thinking it is a big mistake are non-Aggie fans of rival schools ... Very telling.

This is good for many reasons, but the most important reason is that we cannot be in a partnership in a conference where one school tries (and often succeeds) in controlling everything. ESPN trying to force Tech to put their game on the LHN is a perfect example. Big XII is going to die at some point regardless of the fact if A&M leaves. Just a matter of time and we will do what is best for us.

The timing for going to the SEC is perfect. We are on the upswing, and our recruiting classes for the next 2 years already look amazing. It will only get better being the only team from Texas in the SEC. We are going into the SEC in much much better shape than Arkie did at the end of the SWC days.

That said, here is how I see this playing out ...
1) A&M heads to SEC for 2012 in a 13 team leagues
2) There will be mass re-alignment the following season with the PAC, B1G, and SEC all going to 16 teams, while Texas goes independent (although the LHN contract currently does not allow that)
3) #2 is significant for CFB as it paves the way for D1 Playoff

 

As the Big 12 turns, part II. What to make of it all.

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By Chris Fickett - Posted on 11 August 2011

Though rumors have been smoldering for months on message boards, the latest incarnation of Big 12 uncertainty started here on Wednesday, when Texas Gov. Rick Perry said "conversations are being had" regarding Texas A&M leaving for the Southeastern Conference.

No matter that Perry couldn’t say whether direct conversations had or were taking place between A&M and SEC officials, it was immediately assumed that A&M is on the way out because of its distaste of The Longhorn Network, a UT-ESPN partnership for a 24-hour, all-Texas sports channel that wants to air Texas high school games and Big 12 Conference games.

So where does that leave the already 10-team Big 12 if A&M bolts? Here's a recap of what we've written at The Star, what we know and what some other credible sources say.

The Star’s Blair Kerkhoff wrote Wednesday night that the Big 12 is viable with nine teams and would go on, citing many reasons, most notably that Texas isn’t going anywhere now that its network is going online and schools like Kansas and K-State won’t have a better option than hitching their wagons to Bevo. Plus, the already increasing TV revenues would be split nine ways instead of 10, giving the remaining schools millions of reasons to consider staying. Others have also reported the same thing, that the Big 12 can exist with nine.

Will it get to that point? The SEC might not be a better competitive option for the Aggies, writes The Star’s Sam Mellinger, and is A&M really winning if it one-ups rival Texas but becomes irrelevant on the field in the powerhouse SEC?

For his part, Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe says he is taking the A&M situation seriously. From a quick glance of comments, many have already declared the Big 12 dead before A&M leaves and are ready to fire Beebe again, just like the sentiment last summer when Colorado and Nebraska left the Big 12 and put the league on the brink of extinction when the Pac-10 came calling for Texas. But remember, Beebe serves at the pleasure of the member schools, and if the majority of them are happy with their current situation, that’s all that matters.

So to recap, if it even gets to the point where A&M leaves, the Big 12 can work with nine. That’s where we stand. What could change that?

Right now, as Blair says, no conference is on record as saying it’s looking to expand (the Big Ten openly pursued expansion at the end of 2009). The Big East has put expansion on hold. It’s believed that the SEC would stop at 14 if it took A&M (the 14th team doesn't appear to be OU).

But if another conference starts looking for new members, the nine-team Big 12 structure would be in peril. Then could we see Texas (which through the Big 12 gets its own network, a path to the BCS title game, scheduling certainty in all sports, and lots of cash money) making concessions to the other eight in order to keep its perfect situation in line?



Read more: http://campuscorner.kansascity.com/node/1956#ixzz1UkWLeSMs

 

Big 12 can survive even if Texas A&M departs
By BLAIR KERKHOFF
The Kansas City Star


As politicians do, Texas Gov. Rick Perry got everybody’s attention in the Big 12 without saying much. But his thought to a Dallas Morning News reporter on Wednesday afternoon poured gasoline on what had been 48 hours worth of message board fire regarding Texas A&M’s possible switch to the Southeastern Conference.



Nobody from A&M or the SEC has said publicly that a conversation has ever taken place between the school and conference.


The entire quote:

“I’ll be real honest with you. I just read about it the same time y’all did. … As far as I know conversations are being had. That’s frankly all I know. I just refer you to the university and the decision makers over there.”

Here we are again, dealing with uncertainty about the Big 12 because a conference member may believe a better situation exists elsewhere.

Granted, there was no follow-up question, like, “Who is having those conversations?” And nobody from A&M or the SEC has said publicly that a conversation has ever taken place between the school and conference. But I don’t recall the Nebraska and Colorado moves taking place in an open forum. Back channels is where this information flows and if “being had” is what Perry says, let’s make the leap that powers in College Station have been in contact with powers in Birmingham, Ala.

We know Texas A&M is unhappy with aspects of The Longhorn Network. Others aren’t pleased, but the Aggies’ more public reaction is understandable. No Big 12 school has a closer relationship to Texas, none is more impacted by decisions in Austin and at ESPN, which will carry the network. It launches Aug. 26.

A&M was joined by Big 12 football coaches Bob Stoops of Oklahoma and Missouri’s Gary Pinkel in denouncing TLN’s plan to show high school games in Texas, and the Aggies also didn’t like the plan for a second football game to be available to a school to televise.

The Big 12 put a moratorium on the prep games.

Is this enough for the Aggies to take their ball to a new conference, assuming the SEC has the gate open? If the answer is yes, then the Big 12 …

Exists as a nine-member conference.

Fox Sports, which has offered up about $1.2 billion for second-tier rights starting next year, would want it to continue.

Fox wouldn’t like losing A&M, but it’s not as though the Aggies would be taking a market with them. Cable companies in Houston would have plenty of eyeballs following Texas and the rest of the conference.

ABC/ESPN, which owns the league’s first-tier rights, would want it to continue.

Texas, which can’t bring its network to another conference and has no interest in operating as an independent, likes the Big 12 life. For those who believe in Longhorns independence, remember the program’s culture is shaped to compete for national titles in every sport, and that wouldn’t happen outside of a conference structure. Notre Dame football lives this way because most of its other sports park in the Big East.

Oklahoma, which is working on its own network and has filled a case with Big 12 football trophies, prefers the Big 12.

As for everybody else, staying in the Big 12 is a best-case scenario, assuming the SEC isn’t looking to become the first 16-team conference, and commissioner Mike Slive has said as much.

I’m often asked if the Big 12 schools around here have a backup plan if the conference unravels. I asked that of Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard in July.

“I’m not spending any time worrying about hypothetical situations,” he said. “We’re married (to the Big 12). I’m not talking about who else I want to be married to.”

That’s not to suggest Iowa State and everybody else in the Big 12 hasn’t considered alternative futures. Every school that sponsors Division I sports wonders about different neighborhoods or new neighbors. The conference ruptures over the last two years are too fresh not to consider options.

It’s worth pointing out that the Big East expands to nine for football beginning in 2012 and the ninth is TCU. Further expansion in the Plains could make sense, but it’s ultimately not where Kansas, Missouri, Kansas State and Iowa State want to be.

It’s also worth mentioning that if A&M leaves, the Big 12 — which has all but vowed not to grow to 12 — might be wise to think of returning to 10 and take a hard look at Brigham Young.

If the end result is an A&M departure, a valued member is lost. But the Big 12 would have many reasons, billions in fact, to continue.



Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/08/10/3069496/could-big-12-survive-more-shrinkage.html#ixzz1UkYGcWzS

 

do it...just leave already and let's get byu in. it's a downgrade for sure, but i'm sick of the whining.

 

If A&M bails, the PAC-12 might be proactive and gobble up BYU instead. Prepping themselves for the oncoming super conference shakeup.

 

Hate to break it to you, but the only people that think it is a GOOD idea are Aggies.

Sports reporters all over twitter and fans on rival message boards are all over A&M for this. SEC fans can't wait to get you in their conference, but only because they think they have another guaranteed win.

 

ok, then the 9 big 12 teams each get more money. just let aggies go.

 

http://blog.newsok.com/jennicarlson/2011/08/10/texas-am-to-the-sec-doesnt-make-sense/

Texas A&M to the SEC: Doesn’t make sense
Posted by jennicarlsonon August 10, 2011M at 6:16 pm The Texas-A&M-to-the-SEC talk is back.

Say it ain’t so.

This brouhaha was all the rage a year ago when it looked like the Big 12 might break up entirely, then it resurfaced earlier this summer when the Longhorn Network created scuttlebutt all around the league. After dying down a bit, rumors that the Aggies might bolt for the SEC are back.

Texas governor Rick Perry told the Dallas Morning News that his alma mater is talking to the SEC about the possibility of being a member in the future.

Of course, he also said he read about the swirling speculation at the same time as everyone else, so I’m not real sure how much the governor is in the know.

But for the sake of argument, let’s say Texas A&M is talking to the SEC about moving. Let’s say the Aggies do want to get the heck out of the Big 12. Let’s say they intend to bolt as soon as humanly possible because, as one Texas A&M official told the Houston Chronicle everyone in the conference is “tired of Texas.”

I have just one question for Texas A&M: do you like winning or losing?

Here’s the truth of the matter — Texas A&M football is on the comeback trail after some dark days. I’m not ready to buy completely into the hype — Oklahoma State is still my pick to finish second to Oklahoma in the Big 12 this season — but there’s no doubt that the Aggies are closer to the Big 12 championship than they have been in several years.

What’s more, if they continue to improve, you could see them running the table and having a chance to play for a national championship in the not-to-distant future.

If they stay in the Big 12.

Go to the SEC, and the climb to the top will be so much steeper. There are half a dozen teams in the SEC that are better than Texas A&M right now, and at least half of those teams show look like they’re not going to give ground any time soon.

So, in the Big 12, the Aggies could be championship contenders in a year or two, but in the SEC, they are a mid-level program fighting for their lives every year.

Umm, why is Texas A&M so hot to trot to the SEC again?

There are lots of other reasons why staying in the Big 12 is the thing to do — everything from not giving the SEC a recruiting foothold in the state of Texas to the big pot of TV revenues that the 10-team Big 12 gets to split — but if you want to strip it down to the most elementary of reasons, winning is it. Winning is so much easier in the Big 12, and winning is paramount in college athletics.

Perhaps the Aggies have an inflated sense of themselves, I don’t know, but if they take a look around, it won’t take long to realize that they could be the kings of this castle one day soon. If they think going to a land far, far away will solve their problems, they’re living a fairytale.

 

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/sports/ncaa-football/big-12/bad-idea-texas-am-leaving-big-12-sec

By Michael Felder

The Texas A&M to the SEC chatter has gotten increasingly, and annoyingly, loud over the last few days as the Aggies seem to be attempting to force their way into a league that really wasn't looking to expand from what we know. The goal being to get out of the dark shadow the Longhorns are casting across the Big Twelve from their mountaintop in Austin. Logic behind this being, if we go to another conference like the SEC we won't be in the shadow of the 'Horns, the Longhorn Network and everything that is burnt orange.

I think we all understand that. Most of us can even understand that element of resentment for Texas holding the Big XII together as their personal playground and then unleashing the Longhorn network as another revenue stream. The folks in Austin will be printing money and when you're the "little brother" in that state it stinks to look over and see them doing something that you can't do.

However, can we stop this ultimate reactionary mode of thinking? The sky isn't falling, they're in no worse a position right now than you were a year ago when you agreed to stick in the league. Yes Texas got the Longhorn Network but that has nothing to do with A&M and their possible revenue streams. That's not an avenue that is open to the Aggies. Or the Sooners. Or the Cyclones, Tigers, Red Raiders, Bears, Jayhawks, Wildcats, or Cowboys.

Only the Horns have the brand power to command and support a network on their own.

Now if you've got issue with them showing high school games, fight it. If you want the revenue split up for them possibly showing Big XII games on the network, fight it. Hell, if you don't think they should be showing any Big XII football games on their own network then run with that and support it. Any issue you have with content on the network should definitely be taken to the league and discussed, put to a vote and negotiated over.

Go for it. Have at it. C'mon, storm the grounds and cause a ruckus.

But seriously, the continuous talk of leaving and posturing is becoming tiresome. We all understand that your feelings are hurt. Oklahoma, feels the same way. So does everyone else in the league. But they're not throwing hissy fits and pouting, swearing they'll call their lawyer dad and he'll sue them. Trying to take their ball and go sit under the tree.

Honestly, let's look at the real facts; a year ago "The Big XII Was SAVED!!" A&M along with Oklahoma and Texas got the buyout money from the now departed Nebraska and Colorado, the league re-structured the revenue sharing deal to go up to 76% of the cash being equal share. Basically a 20% jump in the amount of money the Aggies would be seeing. Then Dan Beebe went out and got a shiny new TV deal with ESPN and Fox that will pull in $150 million a year, starting in 2012.

Do your math now. With a 76% equal share that's $11.4 million guaranteed for the 10 schools and another $36 million in cash to be doled out based upon appearances. Everyone isn't going to get the same amount of that $36 million, most certainly no one was going to get more than Texas most years. But, damn if Texas A&M, with their large fanbase, improving football, quality draw on television self wasn't going to be in the top third of that with Oklahoma in most seasons.

That puts you close to an SEC type number. Could be above the $17 million if the TV crowd is in love with the Aggies during a good season.

But, instead of getting to the new deal, playing a season in the new league, letting the buyout cash from Colorado and Nebraska get cold in the bank and working to contain the Longhorn Network's push the Aggies decide to go into Psycho Billy Freak Out mode.

I mean seriously Texas A&M, is moving to the SEC really what you want?

First and foremost the SEC signed their deal in 2009, it is still fresh and by just importing you into the league you're looking at cutting their revenue from the $17 million a school they're seeing now to $15.7 if you come alone. Less, if you bring someone else with you to get to 14 or 16 teams.

Although perhaps there is a renegotiation, maybe ESPN or CBS or NBC or Fox or some combination of the networks squeezes more cash out of their machine. They add money needed to get to $20 million a team per year; or in real terms the addition of some $65 million to the deal per year for 13 teams, $84 million to the deal per year for 14 teams and $128 million to the deal per year for 16 teams.

Excellent. Fantastic.

Still not more money than Texas.

We've only talked revenue to this point but what about on the field. Right now Texas A&M has two teams that the are consistently behind in harvesting talent; Oklahoma and Texas. LSU and Arkansas routinely dip into the Lonestar State to grab a handful of kids each year but the SEC does not have a foothold on Texas recruiting. That's Big XII country baby.

I understand completely that it stinks to sit quagmired behind Texas and Oklahoma in recruiting on a yearly basis. I absolutely do Aggies. But, this move to the SEC isn't going to change that. Basically this is taking your two daddies and multiplying them. Leaving the Big XII isn't going to stop Oklahoma and Texas from out recruiting Texas A&M. That is not going to change, what is going to change is the access the SEC has to Texas. Instead of potshots into the Houston area and Texarkana you're opening up the entire Eastern portion of the state to the SEC, West Division especially.

All you're doing is giving Gene Chizik, Bobby Petrino, Les Miles and Nick Saban the ability to promise kids they will play games in his homestate two, maybe even three times during his four or five year career at their school. Their school that has had a lot more success than Texas A&M recently. Your taking the SEC West; their 3 different teams with BCS Championships (LSU with 2 Crystal Balls), myriad of BCS Bowl Bids and truckloads of first round draft picks, and inviting them into your backyard for a yearly affair.

Is that really what A&M wants?

Texas A&M is a great school, a tremendously prideful football tradition and they are on their way up in recent years. Mike Sherman has the ship sailing in the right direction and it would appear the Aggies are poised to have a great year. There's not much need to dwell on the 0-5 in the last 5 games against the SEC or the being outscored 194 to 87.

That doesn't matter nearly as bad as the fact that the with a move like this the ground the Aggies are gaining is all that they stand to lose and then some.

 

In related news,

No suprise, this would have caused quite a ****storm if the LHN was allowed to do this.

 

This topic was gone over last year. Pac-10/12 doesn't want BYU. Not liberal enough.

 

I think people who look at things like recruiting or facing good SEC schools are thinking like fans instead of administrators. These decisions are being made on 20+ year time horizons. The fact that Nick Saban is a good coach is irrelevant. Besides which, while the SEC is a great league, lots of different teams are good there - I think they've had 4 different national champions in the last several years? LSU or Auburn have no inherent advantages over A&M, so if they can compete there, A&M can as well.

The whole purpose of the move is to move away from being 2nd fiddle to Texas. If they are in a separate conference, they can establish themselves on their own terms, instead of as the baby brother of Texas. Look at OU/OSU or KU/KSU - the schools are always looked at in relation to each other with one being "less" than the other, just as Texas and A&M are. But then look at Florida/FSU - those schools are looked at more independently of each other.

This is far more about establishing an independent identity than it is about recruiting advantages or winning football games next year.

 

Right on, couldn't have said it better my self.

I love how all the A&M people are coming out and defending themselves saying its a great move, then claiming everyones hating against them for saying its a bad move. As shown in this thread, several sports columnists are saying its a bad move all over, who have unbiased opinions about A&M. Staying in the big XII is the best shot A&M has at returning to being relevant any time in the near future. UT/OU/OSU/TT/ BU(maybe) is the only competition that A&M really has, and the SEC throws far better teams on the field than that. Last decade, A&M has done squat in football, besides last year. Props on last year, but let's look at the big picture. No bowl win in over 10 years. I don't get how a normal undelusional aggie can think this is good. No, your not going to recruit kids to go to the SEC, instead, teams like Florida, Auburn, Alabama, LSU are going to get more ties to TX than they already do, and out recruit you. A&M hasn't even recruited decently in years, besides this upcoming 2012 class. And even then, they have already dropped from #4 to #8, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them keep dropping further after some decommits. Not saying ESPN is the most credible source for rankings/opinions, but some of A&M's recruits just lack quality offers and decommit once some more offers roll in. Take out the 2012 class, and A&M hasn't really been able to beat OU/UT, and sometimes even TT in recruiting. Good luck beating the SEC in recruiting.

On top of that, you guys haven't even beat Arkansas the past two years, but somehow think you can compete in the SEC. We all saw what happened when A&M fans thought they were gonna "BTHO" LSU at the cotton bowl after their magical season last year. Yeah it sucks being behind UT and OU constantly, but you guys put this on yourselves. Going to the SEC is just going to add to the problems. A&M has a decent chance to turn the corner of football failure with a good year this year, and strong recruiting classes after. If you dont want to be UT's annoying little brother, then dont call them "TU" even when your grown up and past 30 years old thinking its such a great insult. Don't think you're superior than them when they have consistently been owning TAMU in sports..Have a good year, consistently recruit, and there's a real shot to be a contender in the BIG XII on a yearly basis. Move to the SEC and have another painful decade of failure in football.

 

kbohls kbohls
Aggie source tells me if A&M leaves for SEC, it will be "for fan appeal and recruiting advantages."

 

That's only a short term thing. The Aggies contribute more than they take.

 

Of course they don't "want" them, same reason the Pac 10 didn't want a lot of the baggage that came along with UT in the Pac-16 scenario, it would be more of a "need" them situation if super conferences come about.

 

not sure i understand you.

there's a pot of money under the TV deal...9 shares instead of 10 means more money for each.

 

Pot shrinks with A&M eyes gone.

 

lol, not that they know anything, but everybody on Around the Horn just said A&M to the SEC was a great move for both of them.