I'm only blaming A&M for not wanting to go in on the network. The LHN has something to do with this battle, and it could have been a joint network. Now how cool would that have been?
I actually agree. I would only have been for a Big XII network. Like I said before, I am 100% convinced the money ESPN gave to Texas was essentially a bribe to try and stop the super-conference realignment last summer, which will cost ESPN significantly more money than the LHN. ESPN is smart enough to realize they are not going to fully get their ROI on a network that shows 2 football games a year along with Women's volleyball. Regardless of why they got the deal or how they got it, I don't blame Texas for taking it, and they shouldn't blame A&M for taking the best option presented to it. If there is anyone to blame here, it is Dan Beebe and the Big XII for creating the atmosphere that allowed Texas to run Nebraska off and to take a deal with ESPN preventing them from being a part of a bigger Big XII network. There is a reason no other conference would allow that, and that is why the other conferences are so much more stable. Dan Beebe isn't qualified to run a McDonalds, let alone the Big XII.
If it was on tier 3 rights, I pretty much couldn't care less and it wouldn't be worth anything anyway unless ESPN was going to bribe A&M too. If it prevented them from being a part of a larger conference network like all conferences are going to, I would have definitely been against it because at that point the conference is doomed. And when the conference falls apart, you have that albatross of a network on your neck and it would be tough to find a landing spot.
It blows my mind that the Big 12 -- which was clearly the #2 conference at the time, and arguably the most exciting conference to watch (for casual fans that love spread offenses, ballerina defenses and inflated QB stats) -- couldn't get a freaking TV deal together until AFTER Nebraska and Colorado leave? Beebe was just sitting on his hands? By the time he gets his **** together UT has him by the balls. Without UT, Beebe has no job. Thus, UT runs the conference. What a joke. Meanwhile, the Pac 10 is aiming to revolutionize college football.
For example ... Check out what Larry Scott (PAC XII commish) had to say about Texas a month ago. I don't think ESPN is just going to let Texas off the hook, and this means if OU goes PAC, Texas is stuck going Indy as there will be no conference to go to with the LHN. http://espn.go.com/college-football...tt-longhorn-network-keep-texas-joining-pac-12
So after SEC takes Texas A&M and Virginia Tech (which seems more and more likely): what would you say to the following. ACC takes either Syracuse or Pittsburgh from The Big East, giving the Big East Football Conference 8 teams with TCU joining them next year. This results with the Big 12 and Big East easily becoming the two "weakest" BCS qualifying conferences in stability and stature in Div 1 FBS. So why not have the Big 12 and Big East join forces in football ONLY? Yes, no need to come to any agreement for the other sports. Both conferences can more than hold their own in men's basketball which is really the only other money producing sport, and the other sports then do not have to use up funds to travel to far away sites. So for the Football Only Big 12 + Big East you initially have 2 divisions of the Big 12 teams (9 teams) and the Big East teams (8 teams). If desired, for Football only TCU should be placed in the BIG 12 and Missouri can be moved over to the Big East just for distance purposes. Then another team would just have to be added to the Big East, or the Giga-conference could drop a team. Say Missouri was the SEC's 14th team and not Virginia Tech. It still works only the Big 12 division would add the team instead of the Big East. Either way that would give 8 games versus your division plus 1 or 2 rotating games against teams from the other division. Even divisions which some people have been talking about with super conferences should work with this Giga-conference if done right (likely 3 divisions and 1 wild card). Why do this? Because if there is a movement towards 4 Super-conferences, the 2 conferences to be hacked to bits are most likely the Big 12 and Big East. So if those conferences really want to "ensure their existence," it would make sense for them to join forces. The new Giga-Conference again being ONLY for football would allow both conferences to essentially create the first Giga-conference with a huge market area to generate a much larger TV contract for the sport that matters most, Football. It also allows both conferences to now have a Championship game to increase revenue as well. You could have the site rotate or place it in a centralized location. The football contract would likely be divided individually per team, and rights to other sporting events can be sought ought by the Big 12 or Big East individually or by separate teams, a la the LHN. The only issue may be dilution of conference product for the Big 12, but that issue would be faced no matter as reports are that BYU and ND do not want to join which would require the Big 12 to "promote" a lower tiered school anyways.
Not sure if a strictly football only gig'm-conference is even possible, and if it was, neither conference would want to step out of the spotlight and there's no such thing as 50/50 in that scenario.
Currently, there are numerous schools with teams that do not play all their sports in a single conference. Typically in football it is due to the football program being an independent (BYU & ND) or football being FCS and not FBS. Though, as conferences are entirely created and designed by universities, I see no reason that the schools cannot do this if they wished. What spotlight? The Big East is has also-ran status since Louisville and WVU lost their stud coaches. Cinci went undefeated and was no where near the BCS Title game conversation. For the Big 12, Texas has national pull but will not play very strong schedule most likely in the future. Yes, the Big 12 has numerous pre-season ranked teams, but lets see after the season how they all turn out. Plus can you consistently count on OSU & Missouri being highly ranked? If the Big 12 lasts, you will see them get handled like Big East/non-AQ schools needing to win out and win a "prove me game" to get to the title game. Plus they cannot join the Pac-12 with the LHN if the Big 12 dissolves, leaving them as an Independent with no AQ status. OU is in a similar situation as Texas, but I really think with "needing" to stick with Texas to get Texas recruits and most likely also being handled like a Big East/non-AQ school, this would be beneficial. I just don't see the Pac-12 taking them without Texas in order to have their West division like previously proposed. Essentially, this is not a power play in the sense of being a "better" conference than the SEC or B1G. It is power play to attempt to ensure that these conferences will last longer and withstand the super conference shuffle.
1. it's definitely possilbe, it's as possible as Texas A&M moving to the SEC. 2. A "conference" is not a collection of gravy train riding admins in an office park somewhere - Dan Beebe and Larry Scott and Mike Slive are ultimately the hired help; It's the member schools that drive the bus. A football only-Big East-Big 12-ACC-remnants-whatever conference has the potential to be very lucrative and offer lots of other advantages. The thing that nobody's talking about yet is if the ACC ends up getting cannibalized by a voracious SEC. An alliance between the upper crust of the Big 12 and the high end of the ACC would be formidable in all aspects.
i agree with this. if the sec poaches vatech to go to 14, the big 12 should try to get fsu, unc, uva to go with pitt, lu, byu and air force. maybe then, nd might change their tune just a little bit.
The ACC can easily poach from the BigEast to replace any members taken by the SEC. They have a solid core and are actually pretty healthy / stable, despite their lack of success in football. The Big12 is not poaching from the ACC; if anything, it would be the other way around.
Why would FSU, UNC, and UVA leave the ACC? They get more say there, have all sorts of regional rivalries (UNC vs Duke?), have a geographical logic to them, etc. It would be much simpler for them to invite a few Big East schools to join them than to implode that conference to join another conference that is a total mess. And why would ND join this weird conference? They could simply join the Big 10 and get to continue all their rivalries and make more money. As FtT says: I’ll reiterate what I’ve stated several times on this blog before: independence is a school identity issue for Notre Dame, NOT a TV money issue. It continues to amaze me how many people think the money that ND is getting from NBC is somehow special when Northwestern and Washington State are absolutely murdering the Irish on that metric in their respective conferences’ equal revenue sharing arrangements. The point is that ND isn’t independent in order to maintain an NBC contract. Instead, it’s the other way around: ND has an NBC contract as a means to maintain independence. In other words, the endgame for ND is independence in and of itself (not the money that is made from being independent, as the school has plenty of money from its alumni base). Notre Dame can make much more money in the Big10 than they do now, but they don't care. They aren't going to join a makeshift conference with a bunch of schools they have no history with (besides Texas) when they have that option available to them.
because the last thing i want is for ut to go to the pac 12, so i'm hoping for any other outcome honestly. weak football (usc is it...oregon is johnny come lately and now has the ncaa breathing down their necks), weak basketball, weak everything except for the scenery outside the opposing team's stadium, which viewers only see during the intros/outros. if the big 12 is done, then i want ut to hitch their wagon to the big xii (old big x) or the remains of the big east/acc. and by the time this is all said and done, none of the conferences are going to look the same anyway. it's clear that unless ut wants to go independent, they'll have to rethink their tv strategies, if espn will let them. any of my hypotheticals are under the impression that the lhn is going away and that ut's future conference home isn't tainted by that.
I really think UT got into bed ESPN (the devil) and has no out. Its a 20 year contract isn't it? I really don't think UT is in charge of its own destiny anymore. I've heard nothing that would lead me to believe otherwise. Very scary if true... but you'd think Texas legislature would have gotten their hands in it if that were the case no?
The biggest issue for any Big 12 team joining the Pac 12 is honestly the time zone difference. There is an obvious bias in the media against the Pac 12 simply because most of the media, already so tired of having seen a days worth of football, does not regularly stay up that late. Even if there is an east division, CU, UA, ASU games are essentialy MST or PST, skewing who will actually watch the game. Perfect example is the amount of coverage the ACC gets when it has just as many or fewer major media markets as the Pac 12 and Big 12. Both Texas and Oklahoma would suffer the bias faced by Oregon and USC requiring them to demolish every team they face because the media ends up using box scores and highlights to judge their ranking.
Really? I thought the media (ESPN, lets face it, they run everything) had a firm position atop USC's (until they died), Andrew Luck's and Phil Knight's Oregon teams dicks. I swear ESPN gave a mediocre OJ Mayo more pub than the entire UT basketball team (that'll never happen again).
This from is the blog that got the Dec 2010 version of the contract. http://themidnightyell.blogspot.com/2011/08/documents-reveal-intention-behind.html If Texas were to join a new conference: As an independent, Texas is almost required to continue their contract with ESPN: Furthermore, no Longhorn games or content can be broadcast on any competing conference/school network. Also here are the ways the contract can be dissolved: He has also posted the entirety of the contract if you want to see it.
Yeah, I think if you don't want the Pac10, the best outcome might be joining the old Big10 or being independent. I think the Big12 may have a few more years left at best - but as soon as the Pac12/Big10/SEC start their race for the superconferences, the B12 is dead. Agreed - at the end of the day, LHN is either going to fail and be killed, or succeed and be integrated into some other conference after both sides find a way to save face (for example, becoming the "regional Texas network" in a Pac16 or whatever).
