Texas A&M to SEC

To be accurate, it was more the governor of the state than actual school officials. Small distinction I know, but as much as the Ags try and distance themselves from Perry in this, it's worth noting...

 

Major, I think UT still gets a bigger share than OU...

Hearing that the only person at OU wanting to jump to Pac12 is Boren...that everybody (seriously, everybody of note) otherwise wants to stay. Top money guys and AD want to stay.

OU makes a tremendous amount of $$$ off the Red River Rivalry; it literally sets their giving levels for their Sooner Foundation (whatever it's called there). Nobody wants to put that at risk at all.

Hearing decision to stay from them may be coming this weekend...stay tuned, I guess.

 

Hooray! Now hopefully there will be some invites going out from the Big 12 and Big East. I'm feelin' lucky!

 

i'd love it. i'd love for them to get back to 12 with UH at the table..along with BYU and TCU.

would love to be able to go see Big 12 games right here in Houston.

 

OU makes 2nd most in Big 12.
Big 12 signed a huge deal with Fox
OU makes millions on each BCS appearance
They've won the Big 12 more than half the time in the last 10 years
They might have the most appearances in the BCS title game
Numerous #1 rankings.

And people really believe they want to leave? I think it was just the president trying to sound like they are big shots that have the ability to go where they want to go. It was an ego thing. It doesn't make sense they want to leave the big 12.

 

Doesn't mean it would be more than in the Pac 14/16.

IIRC, BCS bowl money is split evenly among the teams in each conference. And, seeing as how no matter where OU goes they'll be in an AQ league, that money is never in jeopardy for them. If anything, the Pac 14/16 would give them more BCS money because there would likely be 2 representatives from the Pac in the BCS every year, vs. the Big 12. Which would typically only have 1.

So? I don't think OU cares about making it easy for themselves. They like competition and know it serves them well.

There are better reasons to argue for OU wanting to stay put than this.

 

Novel concept. coughtexascough

 

Taken from "ndawg" over at Shaggybevo after reading Billy Liucci's latest idiotic rant. Felt it sums it up nicely:

http://www.shaggybevo.com/board/showthread.php/96267-SEC-meeting-over.../page50

"Aggy is in an interesting logical conundrum. At this time, one of two claims is true: either the SEC believes that Baylor's lawsuit has merit, or they do not.

1. If they feel the suit has merit, then Aggy is screwed because the SEC would rather avoid a legal mess by staying at 12 -- something they are fine with doing.
2. If they do not, then Aggy is screwed because the SEC is revealing that they're not interested in expansion right now. The mighty SEC... backing down because of an empty threat made by one of college football's least powerful brands?

Liucci's claim that the lawsuit has no merit is more damning. In the first case, the SEC is avoiding an actual legal mess. That's kind of understandable. In this case, the SEC is avoiding an imaginary one."

 

None of those people know.

 

this would be the most ideal solution and would give the conference a nice shot in the arm

briles v sumlin would be something to look forward to along with great match-ups every week

 

I'd rep you 3x for this if I could and still buy you a beer.

Sports reporters making definitive statements on the merits or outcome of complicated commercial litigation claims is ridiculous.

 

If by "those people" you mean John Lopez & Billy Liucci then you are correct.

What passes for sports journalism these days is insane.

 

no merit don't mean it wudn't pass summary judgment in Waco.

yup, look forward to see what color u guyz tarp is

 

WTF???

 

I nearly stopped reading here...

... but gave it to here. Please let "ndawg" (in the hizzle, yo!) know that THERE IS NO LAWSUIT! There isn't even a threat of a lawsuit, really. Just the *right* to possibly sue at some unknown future time. That's it. Everyone - Baylor, A&M and SEC - is doing right by themselves: across-the-board CYA'ing. That's all this is. As long as Baylor doesn't waste that ace up their hole, they can delay this and buy themselves time. The legitimacy of their possible lawsuit is irrelevant. A lawsuit of any kind, merit or no merit, is something the SEC wants to avoid.

(Did you like that, MadMax? Those night law classes are paying off, I tells ya!!)

 

Would A&M be able to leave the Little 12 for the SEC in 2013 (avoiding legal issues and $20 million ransom) since it would be two years notice? That would be the ultimate slap-back.

 

of themselves.

 

not entirely, ric...but it's a nice start. i agree you want to avoid being sued, whether frivilous or not....but in a business deal like this, you're doing cost-benefit analysis.

the cost of litigation alone wouldn't preclude the SEC from adding A&M if they believe A&M brings in the kind of revenues you would expect they would. so if they truly believe the suit is without merit, i have a difficult time believing they'd maintain the condition that the invitation be contingent on complete releases from everyone and their dog.

if they feel that there's enough risk that they won't be able to get a court to dismiss it as a matter of law, then that's a different story. then you still hold on to the contingency, because the price of poker is too high, given potential damages of the schools left holding the bag if the Big XII falls apart.

 

AggIE. There ya go!

And brilliant legal analysis, by the way. Loftin really should have consulted with you!

 

I just meant the part about there not being a lawsuit...

I disagree because you're discounting what I think they'd find far more distressing than spending money and resources prepping for a known-frivilous lawsuit: If Baylor slaps a suit, merit or nor merit, on them, it puts expansion on hold and thus eats into their ability to renegotiate their TV deal.

*That*, above all else, is THE sticking point here, IMO. Expansion = increased TV revenue; especially favorable expansion into a market like Texas. Delay that, with the entire landscape of college football teetering on the edge of anarchy, and it could severely cost them 10s, if not 100s of millions of dollars. They don't want to arrive to the grocery store the day of a hurricane and pick through scraps.