Livingstone and Rhoades (Rhule and now Aranda) have tried to turn the culture around at Baylor imo. They’ve tried to be more progressive (participating in the Juneteenth parade, being vocal about the racial stuff going on, there’s a LGBT organization on campus). There’s a lot of making up to do though and theres still a long road ahead of changing the perceptions of the university
It's an incredibly long story that basically goes back to the very formation of the BCS, but thereafter the Big East football schools and basketball schools were always fighting about who would drive the bus. This made the conference unstable, as the football schools were always looking for a better deal. In 2010, the conference was in an exclusive negotiation period with ESPN for the all-important TV monies. They were offered less than the Pac-12 just got, so some members felt they were being lowballed. It was not yet quite understood that ESPN absolutely made all the decisions about college football just yet, so the league voted to shop it's rights on the open market. That was a disastrous decision. No counteroffer ever came, no grant of rights was established. Ultimately, Pitt and Syracuse left for a more football-centric conference. The Big East backfilled, but Rutgers and Louisville left amidst the musical-chairs chaos in 2012 and Notre Dame pulled their non-football sports. That was basically all she wrote. I'd love to say that it's impressive that the Irate 8 stuck together in the aftermath of OUT leaving, but the reality was that there was nowhere to go but the AAC. There were no other offers of membership coming this time. If even one school had gotten an offer from a P5, who knows who would have gone where. The conference will continue to be relatively unstable as long as somebody in it thinks there's a better, realistic option out there for them. And we know that somebody always does.
You're absolutely right. But OU and UT were always big fish in a smaller pond, conference wise. The fact that the remaining teams (and new teams) are all small-to-medium fish in an appropriately sized pond means that it's closer to a conference of equals. I could definitely see OK State or Tech jumping ship if there was an opportunity, but I don't see one coming in the near future. The real question is what value ESPN assigns to a bunch of C-level regional TV audiences when the next negotiations come.
I agree the conference will be less lopsided than both the 10-member Big XII as well as the AAC, incidentally. That's exciting from a football perspective. As a basketball conference, it's going to be fantastic. The money will be what it will be. For the new members, a HUGE step up financially no matter what.
Meh... every conference has bigger fish, surrounded by smaller fish. That is the case in the SEC as well... not all the teams in the SEC are great. Having said that, it IS the best football conference in the nation by far now that it added UT and OU. As far as OKST or TT jumping ship, I am not sure there is really a lot of interest in them. The reality is that almost any school would jump ship if it could get a better financial deal elsewhere. The only exception could possibly be some of the schools in the Big X. Hell, if UT felt going independent was smart, they would back out of the SEC deal and go at it alone. It is all a very dirty business and everyone gets their feelings hurt. All the medium schools in the Big XII had no problem with how UH was treated.... and now those same schools are butt hurt over UT/OU leaving..... and now UH is leaving an existing conference, and that conference is upset..... I just see a whole lot of greed masked in the idea of the "student athlete" ...... from the conferences, to the universities, to the administrators and the coaching staffs.... it is all a huge money grab.
Who is butt hurt over ut and ou leaving? 80% of the conference is unchanged. I haven't met one person upset.. most are indifferent that i talk to. Oklahoma leaving hurts but parity could make the product better in the long run. UT is nice for tv ratings but that's not everything... their ratings figures are questionable in the long run at current trends... The special treatment that UT demanded wasn't warranted... maybe for Oklahoma...
The SEC has checks & balances. Weak Big 12 leadership allowed UT to eventually run the entire conference and run-off good programs. Alabama doesn't and never will run the SEC. They're just focused on the sport.
These lame ass passive jabs at UT are so ****ing pathetic. Stop taking out your own inferiority on UT. This is ****ing dumb. You don't have to like UT, but this attitude of "oh who cares they don't bring anything to the table" makes you guys sound like ****ing morons. It's also a bit ironic because 10 years ago it was, "Who cares about Notre Dame leaving the big east. They aren't even a football member. They haven't been good in forever. This won't impact Big East Football " UT leaving the big 12 hurts the conference considerably, full stop. That doesn't mean you have to like UT. It doesn't mean you have to say that they've been good in the last 10 years. It just means you aren't a ****ing moron and that's what drives me insane about some of you guys and is the only reason I root against UH. No one at UT gives a **** about any of you. The obsession with belittling UT at every opportunity is just sad and not helpful when you're trying to build your program. You will NEVER get longhorns in Houston to switch sides but you could get longhorns in Houston to also root for you if you just move on from his ****ing childish complex that many of you have.
