all the ifs were there last summer too...you know, when A&M was screaming for penalty money from NU and CU while demanding a disproportionately higher share of the FOX deal as well.
Prestige-wise the SEC is fine in basketball, but TAMU will provide a much needed boost to the current state of affairs. By the time they arrive, hopefully the conference is as competitive as it should be.
How am I blaming UT? .. I've said all along, I have no problem with UT doing what it can get away with. The bigger problem is the Big XII allowing them to get away with it. UT did what it did, and now A&M will do what it is going to do in response. It is funny that UT fans are getting so up in arms about it, and that is where the response that they are the ones that intitiated this comes out. They can't do what they did and not expect a response from competitors.
Never in danger of paying a specified penalty provision, built into the contract, for a school leaving? Seems like it would have been pretty easy for the conference to demand the full bill, and A&M would have had to pay. SEC seems like they wouldn't have wanted to get involved in inviting a school that is facing litigation for leaving its last conference. Anything less is a gift, imo. What's the breakdown on TV contracts, by the way, between the SEC and the Big XII? What's A&M's share of each, on an annual basis? I thought that it was going to be a major bump, but I did the math at maybe $800k difference per season. Is that right?
A&M was part of the Big XII!!! They all allowed it last summer when they all saw green from FOX. The Big XII allowed independent networks...everyone knew that when they signed on the dotted line last summer. What will be allowed for programming deals with NCAA issues; but A&M was never in danger of having their game with UT broadcast on the Longhorn Network. And A&M was fully in its rights to pursue its own network, as well.
OU, OSU, UT & Texas Tech to create the Pac 16? OU holds all the cards? http://www.statesman.com/sports/lon...12-is-over-1809134.html?viewAsSinglePage=true One more move and Big 12 is over Kirk Bohls, Commentary Your move, Oklahoma. Go ahead, Sooners. Make the last move that sinks the Big 12. And it is quite possible, in light of Texas A&M's defection, that your move will be one that politically astute Texas quietly supports while also hoping that it happens quickly. The Longhorns would dearly love the Sooners to take the lead. And much of the heat that comes with it. Should Oklahoma act upon its earnest desires and seek an invitation to join the Pacific-12 Conference — something I'm fully expecting to happen within days, if not hours — that decision could well be the killing blow to the Big 12 while also providing Texas the political cover to follow suit and ask for admission as well. The Pac-12's not going to ask first. It's been down that road before, led along until the eleventh hour a year ago. If OU gives notice that it is leaving the Big 12 — or if any of the other remaining eight members do, for that matter — the very foundation of the league would crumble. Here's what I think will happen, probably before the calendar turns to October: Your new Pac-16 members: Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The era of the super conference begins. The Longhorn Network gets folded into the Pac-16 as a downsized regional network, joining the six regional networks that already exist within the conference. Missouri ends up in the Big Ten or ACC, and Kansas heads to the Big East. If for some inexplicable reason Texas chooses not to pursue Pac-12 membership, look for Texas Tech to be left out and expect the Pac-12 to focus on Kansas and Missouri along with OU and OSU. Don't dawdle, Texas. In the end, these Big 12 schools should have gone their separate ways last summer and avoided all this unnecessary drama and hand-wringing. Every school has its own agenda and is ready to act upon it. If A&M can uproot itself from historical ties in the Big 12 and extricate itself from centuries-old rivalries, nothing is sacred. OU wants to be more assertive and wants to blaze its own trail — separately or aligned with Texas — and will pull the trigger on the relocation it considered last June. Oklahoma State is along for the ride. Once it became obvious the Aggies were leaving for the SEC, Texas wanted to remain in a 10-team Big 12 with Notre Dame, but the Longhorns must make other plans as the Irish cling firmly to their independence. Maybe the Big 12 could survive with BYU, Pitt and, say, Louisville, and it says here the league would need to add three teams to avoid looking vulnerable to a single school holding the conference's future hostage every year. But I think Texas would prefer the Pac-Large and would do cartwheels if OU made the first dramatic move, so the Longhorns' hands would be politically clean. Texas president William Powers embraced the idea of rubbing elbows with academic elites in the Pac-10 a year ago, but he was persuaded to stay put by athletic director DeLoss Dodds. Once Notre Dame turned down the Big 12, the list of attractive replacements for A&M fell off dramatically. BYU remains a possibility, but its use of older, more mature athletes because of two-year mission trips, its refusal to play on Sundays and its lack of an impeccable academic pedigree make it a harder sell. Houston makes sense for the state and links up with legislators' desires to create another top-tier research institution, but Texas and Texas Tech would prefer to keep that rich recruiting base to themselves. Pittsburgh makes little geographic sense but would greatly expand the Big 12's footprint. But so would the University of British Columbia, and I haven't seen them on the list. Because the Big 12's options are few, its future is tenuous at best. No one seems to trust anyone any more. Everybody is jealous of Texas' clout and tired of its flaunting of the Longhorn Network. Most of the Big 12 schools are petrified they'll be left out. With good reason. Every Big 12 school will have Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott on speed-dial and will beg the Pac-12 to embrace it as a member. Scott issued a statement Wednesday, saying his league has "no plans to expand" at this time, but added that his schools will listen to and evaluate any scenario. Scott has openly predicted more realignment will occur in college athletics in the near future. OU clearly wanted to bolt to the Pac-10 a year ago and take Oklahoma State with it. That hasn't changed. The OU administration warmly embraced the idea. Bob Stoops was ready to take the field at the Rose Bowl for the league's first championship game. He openly lusted over all those California recruits. Texas and Texas Tech were this close to joining them before a political wrench and the Longhorn Network brought those plans to a halt. It was a done deal until it was undone at the last moment. Fifteen months later, OU will take the lead. "Oklahoma owns all the cards," a Big 12 source told me. Look for the Pac-12 and interested Big 12 parties to use the same script as A&M did in plotting its exit from the Big 12. Nobody wants to be the instigator in these delicate, sensitive negotiations, and no one wants to be the villain. Expect them all to paint the Aggies with that broad brush. And once OU and Texas make that clear, then it will be every man for himself. kbohls@statesman.com; 445-3772
No one signed ANYTHING last summer when they agreed to stay together and the Fox deal came much later ... There was a "gentlemen's agreement" according to Dan Beebe (genius), and the extent that a network was going to be allowed (i.e. excluding yourself from a future Big XII network) was not disclosed. Yes A&M-UT was not in danger of being on LHN, but how do you think the LHN would affect tier 1 negotiations in a few years when the Big XII has to say, "By the way, you don't have access to some of the UT games because they'll be on the LHN and oh yeah, if you start up a Big XII network like all the other conferences are doing, UT can't be a part of that". That is not going to affect the conference's $$$ at all right? You are right though. A&M was fully within its rights to pursue its own network, just like it is fully within its rights to pursue going to the SEC. We chose the latter. The only ones that are really still crying about this are the Baylor fans that realize what is going to happen to their program when the Big XII dies. If you want to argue that we wont be successful in the SEC, fine. But crying about the "loss of tradition" as if you are Ken Starr. We are doing what is best for us. Boo-hoo for you!
just do it and get it over with so we can actually talk football instead of its politics. none of this is going to matter when tx state becomes the next boise
wow, i really don't like Pac10 football. never have. hope UT doesn't go that route. they're better than that. i'd rather them be in the Big 10 than the Pac 10, if they go elsewhere. keep the then out of conference game with OU at the State Fair.
Yes, and A&M has pretty much said they felt like they made a mistake last year. They had the opportunity to rectify it, and they did. The LHN and ESPN's prioritizing UT's interests over the Big12 helped push them along.
Larry Scott has already stated that they would not take UT unless the LHN was made into a regional network and revenues split up in the conference equally. OU does hold all the cards because UT is going to have a tough tough decision if OU decides to bolt. Does UT go all-out and go independent or do they give up their power and the network as they dreamed it?
you keep making it about this, but i told you i'm fine with BU playing teams it can beat more frequently than those it played in the Big XII. i think it ended up being a curse. i'd be fine with them landing in a smaller conference or even in a basketball heavy conference. it's a private school that doesn't have near the resources that UT or A&M have. i'm not crying about A&M's loss of tradition at all...it's just the last group of people in the world i expected to tell me that tradition wasn't important. tradition and integrity are buzz words in Aggie circles. i don't care what you do with it...frankly, i'd rather you put cheerleaders i'd rather see out on the football field and stop defending the turf with swords.
that's awesome. they'll pay for it now with the exit fees...moreso than CU and NU. but no biggie in the scope of a conference affiliation. no problem with that.
Sure, if you just look at the contracts and ignore the rest of reality, that's true. But all it takes is a basic understanding of how conferences work to see that they will work to keep the peace. No one ever threatens anyone else, and everyone negotiates down exit fees. You make a huge mistake when you simply look at what people can legally do instead of looking at what they actually do. The Big12 was never, ever going to coerce A&M into staying - that doesn't do anyone any good. The Big12 didn't have to negotiate down Nebraska or CU's fees either, but they did anyway. It's laughable to think the Big12 was actually ever going to sue the SEC. And facts prove that - nothing changed from the circumstances a few weeks ago and not only has the Big12 already closed that door, but they didn't demand A&M's full fee. They want A&M out as much as A&M wants out, because it's best for all parties involved. The same as last year. That sounds about right. A&M also gets more say in how the conference is run, and will make a bunch more if/when the SEC Network comes together; due to LHN, there was no real possibility of a Big12 Network, so that door wasn't open in the Big12. As a comparative example, the Big10 Network is worth in excess of $10MM per year per school.
why should we pay more exit fees (percentage-wise) than CU and NU. They gave CU and NU a 50% deal. We are still operating under the exact same bylaws so precedent has been set and we will pay the same percentage. Now that the Big XII and A&M have agreed to mutual waivers and arbitration, I'll bet you we end up paying no more than $14MM which is half of what the Bylaws state.
Where does it stem from? Most Baylor fans wanted A&M to stay so we could continue to play them in football and hoops. Not bc we hate y'all. Some of us have friends and family that went to A&M and some that actually still live in CS My point being is that Baylor is prepared to move to the MWC if needed. It's only sports and will always remain as a fine academic institution on the rise. The fact that A&M hasn't done jack squat in quite some time without cheating exists. You're still nobody compared to UT and OU and that's not going to change. Win or play in a title game and we'll talk. We all know that's never going to happen. It never happened in the current conference and it definitely won't happen in the SEC. I can't wait for this to end so we can all move on. Rocketmanjosh channeling his inner Hank McDowell lately. LOL.
I'd love for OU to force the dissolution of this monstrosity. A&M saw the writing on the wall and took the opportunity when it was there. I hope OU will do the same to just force the issue and get it over with. But it does appear that the remaining 9 members are convinced they can make it work. Like last year, I think they are putting off the death of the Big12 for a few years. The best thing that could happen would be for BYU, ND, and Pitt to stay put and make crystal clear to the Big12 administrators how messed up their conference is, but we'll see. I suspect BYU and ND pass, and we get some combo of schools like Pitt, Louisville, UH, SMU, etc and everyone tries to claim that the Big12 is better than ever. Until a few years from now, when the Big10 or Pac12 comes calling for another school or two.
Actually, we have won the Big XII so you don't know what you are talking about. Baylor has attacked A&M throughout this process to stop the move and whether you want to admit it or not, it had NOTHING to do with tradition. It has to do with the fear of not staying on the big stage. The fear of not being able to expand that stadium because Drayton won't do it if they are not in a conference providing financial stability. I will miss the rivalry games, but we are doing what is best for us and that is that. I guess we have no integrity any more according to Baylor fan because we aren't looking out for you
Why would WE talk after we win a title game? What in god's name would we have to talk to Baylor about? I am still trying to figure out what we have to talk about right now? Are you sure OU and Texas have enough room for a Baylor piggie back ride?
