Basketball would be a UH strong suit in a BCS conference. Big city schools do really well in basketball, CUSA is whats holding basketball back. But having said that Houston isn't getting in, financially they don't add anything to the conference, and money is all that matters to schools.
Good players don't wanna go to a CUSA schools, it's like the Minors. In a BCS conference Houston would recruit well.
The news today about Pitt and Syracuse could be a big win for the big 12 orphans. In order to try and preserve their BCS bid, they could absorbe the rest of the big 12. Assuming Missou gets into the Big 10 or SEC, that could leave a spot for UH. West Virginia South Florida Cincinnati Louisville Rutgers Connecticut TCU Baylor Iowa St Kansas Kansas St If the pac 16 goes down, there is no chance they do east and west divisions. The Arizona schools and Co have already spoken against it. My Guess for Pac 16 pods if it goes down: UT, TTU, OU, OSU UT, Standford, Cal, Co UCLA,USC,Ari, Ari St Wash, Wash St, Ore, Ore St
I'm old, grew up in the Midwest and remember the SWC. The idea of UT, Tech and Baylor (and maybe A&M) adding UH, Rice, TCU and SMU to their schedules just doesn't do anything for me. Zzzzzzzz. On the other hand, A&M playing an SEC schedule is very interesting.
I hear what you are saying, but I grew up and live in Texas and UH, Rice, TCU, and SMU mean a lot to me. I have friends and family members that went to some of those schools, so college football is not what it once was for many of us old SWC fans. What's interesting is that there is still a desire by some of the Big 12 Texas teams to play the old SWC teams. Texas has been playing Rice, Baylor just played TCU, Tech has played UH, Rice plays Baylor next week, so the interest to play each other is still there.
The question here is whether Texas would give up the LHN to go to the PAC 16. It has been pretty clearly stated over and over that Larry Scott will not extend an invite to the Longhorns unless they give up the LHN.
Where is this Longhorn Network everyone keeps talking about? I can't find anyone who has it. It has to be a troll job, or ESPN/Texas FAIL.
While you are correct that there are few rivalries that are truly ingrained as the Texas rivalries, NCAA football is no longer about the tradition and the rivalries. It is about the recruiting the biggest name athletes and coaches and winning championships (conference ones for school in non-AQ conferences; and national titles + conference ones for schools in AQ conferences). That mentality of winning and being ranking No. 1 is now the most important thing for these football teams, AD's, and athletic departments because it brings in the most money in the form of tickets, donations and such; which is how most fans view college sports now as well. Most "fans" of schools are t-shirt fans or general CFB fans who only want to watch the best games or the best teams. Even the rabid fans cry blood murder unless their teams are "the best." That is all that matters today. This mentality is not new, nor is it only found in how college football is now viewed and produced. It has emanated from a culture in which being the best and winning is the only thing the matters. You can hope for such a conference all you want, but there is no way it will happen. No such Texas-centric conference will be viewed positively by the rest of the nation, have AQ status, bring in enough money, nor attact the best recruits unless they already want to go to Texas, A&M, TCU, etc. due to pedigree.
Well, now we know why the rumors of UT heading to the ACC involved BU and not Tech. It is as Sam suspected; ACC wants nothing to do with Tech. Now ACC is talking about adding two more to get to 16, and looking hard at UConn and Rutgers. Apparently, ACC is content to add very mediocre football schools, and still keep BCS status. I'm not particularly enamored with Pitt, Syracuse, UConn or Rutgers, particularly from a football perspective. But the ACC seems to be the ONLY group in this entire discussion that believes regional rivalries are important. They seem clear that they intend to remain the ATLANTIC COAST Conference....all teams in Eastern Time Zone. Give Chip Brown tons of credit on this...he kept saying ACC was being most active conference behind the scenes...that's proven true. Everyone is reacting to them, now. But they've created a "superconference" (I guess) only in numbers...by name, it's hardly super (assuming 15th and 16th spot are going to UConn and Rutgers). Best option for UT at this point, if they're intent on keeping LHN, is to hold the Big 12 together. No, seriously, it is. Add TCU to the mix now that they've become disenchanted with Big East move. Give OU whatever they want to stick. I have a difficult time believing they're going to scrap the LHN experiment before giving it a chance to work. I think they're more likely to end up as an independent than they are to scrap LHN at this point - that likely leaves Tech in what remains of the Big 12, as well. As for BU..sounds like going to the Big East will mean going to a non-BCS conference, if they need a soft landing spot in the wake of a Big 12 blowup. Still a great hoops conference, though...and maybe that's what BU should be in. Could also end up with a Big East/Big 12 merger adding in BYU, as well. Sure looks this morning like TCU, USF, Cincy and Louisville are going to be looking for somewhere to play football. I suppose BU could find itself in the Mountain West in the event TCU retreats there, as well. Still amazing to think that a school like Wake Forest in the ACC may find itself with a seat in a super conference to the exclusion of schools like BU, UH, TCU, and potentially Tech. Honestly, that's just ridiculous. Their football program is tiny. By the way, don't be surprised if you start hearing discussions of legal issues regarding Pitt/Syracuse leaving soon. Big East schools recently increased exit fee and required 27 months notice to check out....my understanding is Louisville is making it very clear they plan on holding Pitt and Syracuse to that....I think they all feel stabbed in the back by Pitt, specifically, because they were very involved in Big East expansion committee. This popped up out of nowhere...they handled it a lot more secretively than A&M did with SEC. Sure seems like a whole lot of exit fees being coughed up in a cash-strapped era. http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1266526 College realignment took a dramatic turn with the developments of Pittsburgh and Syracuse applying for membership to the Atlantic Coast Conference. A Big 12 administrator told Orangebloods.com those schools will be announced as the 13th and 14th members of the ACC on Sunday. Two sources close to the situation say the ACC as an option for Texas may be decreasing. Nothing is ever final in the world of realignment until it's final. But a source close to Texas told Orangebloods.com the Pac-12 may be becoming more of a viable option for the Longhorns and that moving UT's non-football sports into the ACC and remaining independent in football would not be a leading option for Texas at this time. Another source close to Texas said UT officials were totally surprised by the developments involving Pitt, Syracuse and the ACC. That source said Texas' top priority remains trying to hold the Big 12 together. But that option may have been dealt a blow with Pitt now appearing headed to the ACC. Pitt was a target of the Big 12 after it became clear Texas A&M wanted out of the league, sources have told Orangebloods.com. Orangebloods.com caught up with Texas president Bill Powers outside the Rose Bowl Saturday, and Powers said, "We are not going to comment until all of this is over." Another Big 12 administrator told Orangebloods.com the ACC appears as if it is moving on without Texas in its plans. That Big 12 administrator said the ACC is reluctant to bring in Texas for three reasons: 1) how the Longhorn Network would be worked into its revenue sharing; 2) that the ACC sees itself as an east coast conference and wants to protect that by not reaching into the southwest (no matter how much TV money adding Texas would mean); and 3) Texas indicated to the ACC it would need to bring Texas Tech with them to the ACC, and the ACC members were not excited about that because of Texas Tech's academic standing (No. 160 in latest U.S. News and World Report). If the ACC is diminishing as an option for Texas, that could be bad news for the future of the Longhorn Network. If the Longhorns are to stay tied to Texas Tech and head to the Pac-12 with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, the LHN may have to be dramatically altered to fit into Pac-12 revenue sharing formulas. Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott talked to a group of reporters that included Orangebloods.com on Saturday at the Rose Bowl. Scott sounded surprised when told of the news the ACC could announce Pitt and Syracuse as new members as early as Sunday. He repeated that the Pac-12 is not initiating contact with any schools and added that he has no plans to talk to Texas officials while the Longhorns are in California to face UCLA. "Once we finalized things with Colorado and Utah, we've been solely focused on 12 and making 12 work," Scott said. "I certainly anticipated this day would come - that there would be further realignment - if in fact it happens. And my view has been we need to build the best, strongest conference for schools to come if there is more destabilization. "But I never would have anticipated this within 12 months of what happened last year. I'm surprised at the pace of destabilization in other conferences, and that we are having this conversation right now. "By the same token, I'm thrilled with what we've been able to do in the last year in terms of the TV agreements, our TV networks, the solidarity in our conference. We are in a good position." Scott said he would be watching the outcomes of separate regents meetings on Monday at both Texas and Oklahoma. In a meeting with Texas officials last Sunday, OU officials indicated they deemed the Big 12 dead without Texas A&M in it, and also indicated their sights were set on the Pac-12. Texas would love it if OU and Oklahoma State would recommit to the Big 12. Monday's meetings could help clarify where both schools stand. When asked about how the Pac-12 might be divided if it expands by two or four schools - whether it's four-team pods or two divisions - Scott said it was too early to speculate. "That was a hot topic going from 10 to 12," Scott said. "We had a lot of deliberation. That's why I'm hedging on giving any kind of timetable. There were really important details that took three months to work out last year. "It was after we decided to expand, then we figured it out in terms of how alignment within the conference would work. We evaluated a lot of different models. And ultimately got unanimity. So that's something we would be very cautious about, very consultative with our members." Scott said the Pac-12 looked at four-team pods as a possible structure when it attempted to go to 16 schools last summer. "We looked at models like that last year," Scott said. "I guess that's all I could say. I don't want to go down a path of a hypothetical because it's getting out in front of where we are. But we certainly looked at pod structures, and our conference is very well set up for that. "We have very distinct geographic territories with two members in each market. So we've got a lot of flexibility and creativity to bring to how to align divisions." Scott said there was interest in a four-team pod alignment when the Pac-12 was considering going to 16 schools last summer. "But we never had decided on how it would work last year when we thought about 16," Scott said. When asked about the Longhorn Network if Texas was to join the Pac-12, Scott said, "It would be an issue." "We've got contracts in place and a certain structure for our networks that if we were going to add any school, any school would have to be part of that structure in some way," Scott said. "It's hard for me to be more specific than that." Scott has set up a series of regional networks that pair two schools to share revenue from their third-tier TV rights with each other and with the Pac-12. I asked Scott if there could be some exception to the third-tier rights network structure he has put in place, and he said no. "We are really proud of the equal revenue sharing we have in the conference. It's one of the hallmarks of a stable conference," Scott said. "We've got a great spirit of one-for-all, and that's benefited us. We've certainly benefited in our TV negotiations, and one of the strengths of our conference has been the stability, the unity, the pooling of our rights and sharing the money equally, so that's not going to change." A source close to the situation said the Pac-12 projects its TV revenue to average $35 million annually per school over the 12-year life of its $3 billion agreements with Fox and ESPN. Texas was due to make roughly $35 million starting next year from its Big 12 TV revenue (roughly $20 million) and LHN (roughly $15 million). But that $35 million for Texas was expected to grow as time went on because of other TV negotiations on the horizon (the Big 12's deal with ABC/ESPN is up after the 2015-16 school year). A Big 12 administrator told Orangebloods.com the ACC's acquisition of Pitt and Syracuse would be "bad news for everyone in the Big 12 as well as TCU." Pitt was a school being courted by the Big 12 as a possible replacement for Texas A&M, and TCU is slated to join the Big East next year. That could now be in jeopardy with the Big East destabilizing. I was told by a Big 12 administrator that West Virginia is looking like the 14th member of the Southeastern Conference after Texas A&M is added as the 13th member. A Big 12 administrator said the list of candidates to help hold the Big 12 together would now include BYU, Louisville and most likely some other Big East school (maybe Cincinnati) as well as TCU. But Orangebloods.com has been told by industry sources the Big 12's TV partners (ABC/ESPN and Fox) would not be interested in committing the money they are currently spending on the Big 12 for a conference that does not include Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M. That could mean the schools left in the Big 12 and schools left in the Big East could form a conference, a Big 12 administrator said. Stay tuned.
As a Texas alum I: Want: Pac-16 Fear: ACC, Independence Contemplate: Big XII/10/14/16/?? The Pac-16 would be awesome in the three major sports. Beyond those, the other sports are attractive as well (golf, swimming, etc). Football road games in LA, Palo Alto, Berkeley, Eugene, Seattle, Tucson, etc. are a major attraction (for fans with money, obviously). Staying with OU/OSU/TTU is important to me also. It's hard to believe, as someone who grew up with the SWC that TTU is slated to be our lone in-state conference "rival." Amazing. The ACC is a bust of an idea. Selling it as anything resembling a "football conference" is ludicrous considering Miami could be destined for severe sanctions (possible Death) and VT and others will likely be courted by the SEC. Sure, it's a great basketball conference. But I'm pretty sure Texas isn't interested in playing UNC, Duke, Wake, etc. multiple times a year (in order to win conference tournaments and whatnot). (Pitt has had a few decent years recently and Syracuse is a shell of its former self. They bring very little to the Football Table, in my opinion...other than TV market-share). Independence is the ultimate F-You, in my opinion. Texas has always been regarded as the Big Headed Bully. Making a statement with football independence will bring even more haters. I'm not sure Texas has the fanbase to counter that much hate going forward (unlike ND). I'm sad aTm decided to leave. I am one of the few who find their financial logic sound. Revenue sharing in the SEC will eventually pay off for aTm. Unfortunately, I feel it will be at the expense of their football "power." I know they only won the Big XII once, but they will likely never even sniff such a feat in the SEC. If Texas holds together some form of the Big XII, I will be shocked. OU seems determined to leave and is using aTm as their excuse. The Big XII (in whatever form) with only TTU as a natural rivalry for Texas...is a joke. Anybody trying to sell it otherwise is selling snake oil.
Sorry, but no. Whatever happens, Chip Brown is going to be proved right be because he has written an article on just about everything. Taken from another board, and the sad this is that it is very accurate to the articles he has written ...
you should perform some testing on yourself of the type normally given to cranial trauma victims to ensure everything is ok - the other board where you got that from is obviously texags or something like that and can be quite hazardous to higher mental functions.
LOL! A Baylor fan called in to some Aggie radio show and pwned 4 aggies at once. This guy is awesome. Must be because he is from Houston. http://v4.texags.com/Stories/2934 Starts at 14 minutes
The only rivalries I care about are OU, Arkansas, and ATM. I miss the rivalry with Arkansas more than I will miss the rivalry with ATM for some reason. Maybe it was because I really hated them unlike ATM, who I was thought of as annoying little brother.
