Left Behind: A Quick Dose Of Post Big 12 Reality

[Uncle Nate 2,097]

1 hour ago, oSuJeff97 said:

Yeah I loved the Big 8, too, but an 8-team league just isn't realistic. 

All I want is the original Big 12 back. There was absolutely, positively nothing wrong with that league. It had great regional rivalries, had a good mix of "blue bloods" and quality next-tier down programs and had nice markets. Fuck all of the stupid assholes with their greed and egos that blew up that version of the league.

AMEN!

[Al_4_ISU 12,483]

The "old" Big XII had 'nice markets'?  Da Fuh?  
I guess, yeah---I kinda miss the Denver/Rocky Mountain market...but otherwise.......DA FUH?  It's largely comprised of one pocket of shit next to another pocket of shit. 

The prevailing mindset that the Plains states are shit holes is a huge reason that the original Big 12 broke up.

The reality is that the Southern states are much shittier, but their regional pride which probably goes back to post Civil War butthurt is a big part of what bred their “all for one and one for all” mentality.

The Big 12 was full of “I can’t wait to blow this popsicle stand and go somewhere fancy” mentality from Day 1.

[Guest Lobo]

I get it.  I agree.  I am no more excited to get into geographical bed with Mississippi than I was with Oklahoma.  But the fact remains, much of this nation will tune in to see Ole Miss v. Tennessee than they will to watch West Virginia v. Kansas State.  Just the way TV eyeballs work.  I fucking hate going to the SEC.  But I hate being in the fucking Big XII.  We were so fucking close to the Pac-10...but it's gone forever.  So I guess this is the next best thing.  

It's like in "Goodfellas" when Henry was voicing over about Morrie's pending death, "Even if I told him how close it was, he'd never believe me."  We were that close to the Pac-10.  But nobody'd ever believe it.  We coulda joined the Pac-10 by a clean and quick hit on Morrie by Henry, out in the woods or some shit.  But now, Tommy's gotta stick an ice pick through the back of his neck, with his wife expecting him and Danish, whilst getting blood all over  Frankie's Cadillac leather.  

Edited January 20, 2022 by Lobo

[oSuJeff97 3,435]

1 hour ago, Lobo said:

The "old" Big XII had 'nice markets'?  Da Fuh?  

I guess, yeah---I kinda miss the Denver/Rocky Mountain market...but otherwise.......DA FUH?  It's largely comprised of one pocket of shit next to another pocket of shit. 

So the entire state of Texas is a “pocket of shit?” Bold take.

The markets the old Big 12 could claim: D/FW, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Omaha, among others.

Yeah, by today’s conference standards, the old Big 12 would just fine from a “market” perspective. 

[Al_4_ISU 12,483]

I get it.  I agree.  I am no more excited to get into geographical bed with Mississippi than I was with Oklahoma.  But the fact remains, much of this nation will tune in to see Ole Miss v. Tennessee than they will to watch West Virginia v. Kansas State.  Just the way TV eyeballs work.  I fucking hate going to the SEC.  But I hate being in the fucking Big XII.  We were so fucking close to the Pac-10...but it's gone forever.  So I guess this is the next best thing.  
It's like in "Goodfellas" when Henry was voicing over about Morrie's pending death, "Even if I told him how close it was, he'd never believe me."  We were that close to the Pac-10.  But nobody'd ever believe it.  We coulda joined the Pac-10 by a clean and quick hit on Morrie by Henry, out in the woods or some shit.  But now, Tommy's gotta stick an ice pick through the back of his neck, with his wife expecting him and Danish, whilst getting blood all over  Frankie's Cadillac leather.  

The Pac is pure dogshit on the field.

This the exact mentality I’m talking about. Big 12 power brokers have been looking at a conference as a place to vacation instead of a collection of athletically like minded institutions and that’s what doomed it. And a mentality that exists in no other league.

The Pac is unmitigated trash on the field, their own fans don’t give a flying fuck about sports, but hey - Palo Alto is a better vacation destination than Ames.

[Huckleberry 33,090]

The original Big 12 but without Baylor and one of Missouri (because they always wanted to leave anyway, just for the Big 10) or Colorado would be what I would set up if I were king. But TV rules so that wouldn't fly. 10 team conferences are the best. Give me a 9 game round robin in football, 18 game double round robin in basketball, and 27 game baseball conference schedule (yes, Iowa State, you get your baseball program back when I'm king) and I'm happy. Fuck championship games and fuck superconferences. Rant over.

Edited January 20, 2022 by Huckleberry

[B00M 6,463]

While we're fucking things, let's go ahead and fuck Iowa State too. Mother fuckers have like 2 decent seasons and now they're all uppity in this bitch

[Al_4_ISU 12,483]

I mean, Christ, I strongly prefer the new Big 12 to the fucking Pac. I’ve been to games in cosmopolitan locations where people don’t care about college football and I’d take a game in Manhattan, Kansas 10 times out of 10.

[Liquor and Poker 3,659]

19 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

The original Big 12 but without Baylor and one of Missouri (because they always wanted to leave anyway, just for the Big 10) or Colorado would be what I would set up if I were king. But TV rules so that wouldn't fly. 10 team conferences are the best. Give me a 9 game round robin in football, 18 game double round robin in basketball, and 27 game baseball conference schedule (yes, Iowa State, you get your baseball program back when I'm king) and I'm happy. Fuck championship games and fuck superconferences. Rant over.

Gotta keep Colorado and snow games in September.

[Sandman 3,412]

1 hour ago, Lobo said:

But the fact remains, much of this nation will tune in to see Ole Miss v. Tennessee than they will to watch West Virginia v. Kansas State. 

Mostly because a certain 4-letter network suggested they should. 

[Al_4_ISU 12,483]

Mostly because a certain 4-letter network suggested they should. 

Exactly. Random sports fan only cares more about Ole Miss/Tennessee because they’ve been force fed that idea

[Doc Reeves 6,434]

2 hours ago, Al_4_ISU said:

I mean, Christ, I strongly prefer the new Big 12 to the fucking Pac. I’ve been to games in cosmopolitan locations where people don’t care about college football and I’d take a game in Manhattan, Kansas 10 times out of 10.

 

I mean, i get what you’re saying but Manhattan?

 

[Kennythetiger 9,456]

Watch it, Motherfucker. 

[oSuJeff97 3,435]

1 hour ago, Doc Reeves said:

 

I mean, i get what you’re saying but Manhattan?

 

From a game day atmosphere / in-stadium game experience, perspective? 

Yes, Manhattan, KS, beats the shit out of just about every "nice" location in the PAC, without question.

 

[Godzillatron 292]

It’s funny to see a guy from the school that matriculated Hart Lee Dykes and Dez Bryant throw shade at the academic mission of places like Texas, Michigan, USC, Georgia, etc. 

I can guess your age because you didn't mention Dexter Manley.

[RoyalBevo21 785]

The problem our resident Iowa State fan fails to realize is there were far too many programs that did nothing for too long. Iowa St, Baylor, Oklahoma State were essentially cannon fodder from the beginning of the conference that continued for years on end. The conference only draws eyeballs when its tradition powers are involved (ou & TX)

 

Not too long ago (I don't remember the year) Texas was stumbling to a 5-7 finish and on the verge of firing Charlie Strong. A friend of mine from Baylor was arguing that Baylor was the more important program in Texas now blah blah blah. I showed him the ticket prices for the game, that was being played in Waco. Cheapest listing was $108. The very next weekend Baylor was hosting ranked West Virginia you could get a ticket for $14 bucks. He shut the fuck up rather quickly. 

[Nivek 16,983]

I mean, Christ, I strongly prefer the new Big 12 to the fucking Pac. I’ve been to games in cosmopolitan locations where people don’t care about college football and I’d take a game in Manhattan, Kansas 10 times out of 10.

B12 without TX/OU has no major draws. pac still has USC. PAC is a better affiliation going forward from a certain point of view.

[oSuJeff97 3,435]

1 hour ago, RoyalBevo21 said:

The problem our resident Iowa State fan fails to realize is there were far too many programs that did nothing for too long. Iowa St, Baylor, Oklahoma State were essentially cannon fodder from the beginning of the conference that continued for years on end. The conference only draws eyeballs when its tradition powers are involved (ou & TX)

 

Baylor and Iowa State I'll give you, but Oklahoma State hasn't been "canon fodder" in any way, shape or form in this conference except for maybe 2-3 random years TOPS at the very beginning when Bob Simmons started to struggle.

We are top 10 in wins among P5 programs going back to 2010. That's more than a decade.  We've had one losing season (2005) in the past 20 years. Texas has had losing seasons in 4 of the last 8, for perspective.

[RoyalBevo21 785]

4 minutes ago, oSuJeff97 said:

Baylor and Iowa State I'll give you, but Oklahoma State hasn't been "canon fodder" in any way, shape or form in this conference except for maybe 2-3 random years TOPS at the very beginning when Bob Simmons started to struggle.

We are top 10 in wins among P5 programs going back to 2010. That's more than a decade.  We've had one losing season (2005) in the past 20 years. Texas has had losing seasons in 4 of the last 8, for perspective.

My exact words were "from the beginning of the conference for years on end."

 

For perspective, Oklahoma State from 1996-2007 was 72-70 with six losing seasons.. Maybe cannon fodder wasn't correct. But pretty shitty would be. 

[oSuJeff97 3,435]

9 minutes ago, RoyalBevo21 said:

My exact words were "from the beginning of the conference for years on end."

 

For perspective, Oklahoma State from 1996-2007 was 72-70 with six losing seasons.. Maybe cannon fodder wasn't correct. But pretty shitty would be. 

For further perspective, five of those six losing seasons were 1996-2001.  So, like I said - a handful of years at the start of the conference. So hardly "years on end."

[Vertigo 20,331]

1 hour ago, Nivek said:

B12 without TX/OU has no major draws. pac still has USC. PAC is a better affiliation going forward from a certain point of view.

They won't have major draws, but they will have a bunch of quality games as a whole. Not counting Oklahoma there were 5 top 25 teams at the end of the season and 1 CFP entry. The B12 will be deeper than most conferences with exception of the B10 and SEC. 

[statsman 5,478]

Oh, absolutely, quality of play and game excitement is more important than size of fanbase. That’s why the WAC is an important conference. 

[SimonBolivar 10,959]

21 hours ago, Al_4_ISU said:

The prevailing mindset that the Plains states are shit holes is a huge reason that the original Big 12 broke up.

The reality is that the Southern states are much shittier, but their regional pride which probably goes back to post Civil War butthurt is a big part of what bred their “all for one and one for all” mentality.

The Big 12 was full of “I can’t wait to blow this popsicle stand and go somewhere fancy” mentality from Day 1.

It goes all the way back to before there was a U S of A. Southerners have never trusted Northerners. 

[Chuckie Finster 22,728]

18 minutes ago, Vertigo said:

They won't have major draws, but they will have a bunch of quality games as a whole. Not counting Oklahoma there were 5 top 25 teams at the end of the season and 1 CFP entry. The B12 will be deeper than most conferences with exception of the B10 and SEC. 

Major draws are what matter though.  Nobody cares about the PAC when USC is down.  Nobody cares about the ACC when Clemson has an off year.  The Big 12 is about to enter an era full of thrilling matchups between the 18th and 21st ranked teams in the country.

[SimonBolivar 10,959]

20 hours ago, B00M said:

While we're fucking things, let's go ahead and fuck Iowa State too. Mother fuckers have like 2 decent seasons and now they're all uppity in this bitch

ISU is an important team to the New Big 12 as they travel well and have a fan base that'll be there win or lose. The only one that'll be better will be newcomers BYU. However, I don't think they've had any decent seasons outside of 2020. That's the only season since 2000 where they've won 9 games and they've never in their history won 10 games or a conference title in the 100ish years of the Big 8/12. That's a lot of pressure for a school who has literally never done it to now be one of the top 2 or 3 schools in a conference. 

[RoyalBevo21 785]

24 minutes ago, Vertigo said:

They won't have major draws, but they will have a bunch of quality games as a whole. Not counting Oklahoma there were 5 top 25 teams at the end of the season and 1 CFP entry. The B12 will be deeper than most conferences with exception of the B10 and SEC. 

Who was the CFP entry from the Big 12 in 2021?

[SimonBolivar 10,959]

13 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:

Major draws are what matter though.  Nobody cares about the PAC when USC is down.  Nobody cares about the ACC when Clemson has an off year.  The Big 12 is about to enter an era full of thrilling matchups between the 18th and 21st ranked teams in the country.

See that's the thing. We aren't going to beat the SEC or the B1G and we don't really need to in order to be relevant as long as we're competitive with the ACC and the Pac12. This year the Big 12 did just fine without UT and OU in the title game with the help of a good timeslot.

 

SEC: 15.2 million viewers (Alabama vs Georgia)
Big Ten: 11.7 million (Michigan vs Iowa)
Big 12: 8.0 million (Baylor vs oSu)
Pac-12: 4.2 million (Utah vs Oregon)
AAC: 3.4 million (Cincinnati vs Houston)
ACC: 2.6 million (Pittsburgh vs Wake Forest)

 

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by SimonBolivar

[Gaffords 757]

20 hours ago, Liquor and Poker said:

Gotta keep Colorado and snow games in September.

We didn't get snow here (Denver) this year until right before Xmas, and then it was like 1/2 an inch.  We were like 2 days short of breaking a 150 year old record.  We've had a couple of dusting and like one 4 incher since, so there wouldn't have been a snow game this year.  But the second half of October is the better bet for snow games around here. It's about the same in Boulder.

[RoyalBevo21 785]

47 minutes ago, oSuJeff97 said:

For further perspective, five of those six losing seasons were 1996-2001.  So, like I said - a handful of years at the start of the conference. So hardly "years on end."

2002-2007 was 42-33 I mean what exactly are you trying to argue? In my world 12 years is "years on end" basically 4 graduating classes from early elementary school through graduation never saw Oklahoma St do anything better than a 9-4 season (2003) in which they were both blasted by Texas and Oklahoma finished by a bowl loss to Ole Miss.

 

The biggest problem with the Big 12 were there were no in-between Blueblood and middle of the pack schools. Think of the LSU, Auburn, Clemson, Miami, Wisconsin, Michigan St, Oregon, etc.

 

Pretty big falloff after Oklahoma, Texas and at the time, Nebraska. Colorado, Missouri, A&M were prime to step up to that and just never did. 

[Hurtlocker 2,213]

On 1/18/2022 at 6:50 PM, 'stache said:

The more I think about it, the dumber this is, and it cannot be serious. Geography is already an issue. Why the ever living fuck would you put Cinci in the same division as BYU? They are 1667 miles apart. Meanwhile, this would separate Cinci from WVU (308 miles apart) and UCF (900 miles apart). Then remove OSU from the Texas schools knowing that OSU has its strongest media markets in Texas and closest geographically. Whatever dumbass put this out there is fucking around. If it was Bowlsby, then ok, this makes sense, because he is a supreme idiot.

I think it was CBS who did it for their article, and I agree.   Why the hell do you add Cinci to give a bridge to WVU and NOT have them with WVU?

[Hurtlocker 2,213]

23 hours ago, 'stache said:

Isn't that pretty much the same in most of the SEC? It matters more how much people actually care. California and the Northeast are the largest markets but nobody gives a shit so their markets are large but unimportant to college football.

This, what matters is what turns on tvs regionally.   Birmingham is one of the largest CFB markets in the US, getting like half the households to turn into games.  All the other top markets by percent of homes turned in are:

1. Birmingham
2. New Orleans
3. Richmond
4. Louisville
5. Greenville SC/Asheville NC
6. Greensboro NC
7. Knoxville TN
8. Charlotte
9. Memphis
10. Columbus OH

Big markets have a lot more total people, but the share of the market is also far more fragmented.

[Hurtlocker 2,213]

4 hours ago, Nivek said:

B12 without TX/OU has no major draws. pac still has USC. PAC is a better affiliation going forward from a certain point of view.

[oSuJeff97 3,435]

2 hours ago, RoyalBevo21 said:

2002-2007 was 42-33 I mean what exactly are you trying to argue? In my world 12 years is "years on end" basically 4 graduating classes from early elementary school through graduation never saw Oklahoma St do anything better than a 9-4 season (2003) in which they were both blasted by Texas and Oklahoma finished by a bowl loss to Ole Miss.

 

The biggest problem with the Big 12 were there were no in-between Blueblood and middle of the pack schools. Think of the LSU, Auburn, Clemson, Miami, Wisconsin, Michigan St, Oregon, etc.

Well maybe it's semantics, but I don't consider 42-33 (.560) as "cannon fodder." Baylor and Iowa State were mostly certainly "cannon fodder" until the 2010s.  OSU was competitive, ranked in the top 25 off-and-on and going to bowl games pretty consistently starting in 2002.  The only losing season we've had since then was the 2005 transition year when Gundy took over for Les Miles.

It sure seems to me that Colorado, Kansas State, Texas A&M and (to a lesser extent) Texas Tech are the textbook definition of what you're talking about in those early years.

 

 

[Texzilla58 4,744]

B12 without TX/OU has no major draws. pac still has USC. PAC is a better affiliation going forward from a certain point of view.

Texas to the PAC was crazy talk perpetrated but anti sports profs and administrators. Thinking rubbing shoulders with Stanford gives some academic cred. I’ve lived on the west coast and PAC sports hot less ink than Mexican soccer. Lived in SoCal, the Bay Area, and Portland. Oregon has bucks but a 40000 crowd is big. Nowadays these schools are run by folks that are philosophically opposed to everything football stands for. And you’d love those roadgames starting at 10pm and tennis players would love going to fucking Eugene. The SEC is the bigtime future and where Texas and OU belong. The b12 is doomed to peanuts.

[Liquor and Poker 3,659]

5 hours ago, Gaffords said:

We didn't get snow here (Denver) this year until right before Xmas, and then it was like 1/2 an inch.  We were like 2 days short of breaking a 150 year old record.  We've had a couple of dusting and like one 4 incher since, so there wouldn't have been a snow game this year.  But the second half of October is the better bet for snow games around here. It's about the same in Boulder.

Didn't it snow something like September 8 year before last, though?

[Nivek 16,983]

3 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:

Texas to the PAC was crazy talk perpetrated but anti sports profs and administrators. Thinking rubbing shoulders with Stanford gives some academic cred. I’ve lived on the west coast and PAC sports hot less ink than Mexican soccer. Lived in SoCal, the Bay Area, and Portland. Oregon has bucks but a 40000 crowd is big. Nowadays these schools are run by folks that are philosophically opposed to everything football stands for. And you’d love those roadgames starting at 10pm and tennis players would love going to fucking Eugene. The SEC is the bigtime future and where Texas and OU belong. The b12 is doomed to peanuts.

Once USC is in the hunt for championships and building a multi-year success, the fans will flock back along with the celebrities and the media will be there too.  While it is struggling with coaches and player evaluations (hell we both had Bru McCoy), it will fade out of the spotlight.  Just like us.   

[Nivek 16,983]

9 hours ago, Vertigo said:

They won't have major draws, but they will have a bunch of quality games as a whole. Not counting Oklahoma there were 5 top 25 teams at the end of the season and 1 CFP entry. The B12 will be deeper than most conferences with exception of the B10 and SEC. 

And without TX/OU they lose the legitimacy of beating quality opponents.  Let us not kid ourselves, rankings are a pageant show as subjective as figure skating. 

[LTbear 4,171]

On 1/18/2022 at 4:26 PM, 'stache said:

The old Big 8 was before my time, but I can assure you that OSU will fight like hell to remain aligned with the Texas schools. 

Texas schools + OSU + BYU would be a pretty fun division after UT and OU leave.

[Gaffords 757]

7 hours ago, Liquor and Poker said:

Didn't it snow something like September 8 year before last, though?

Last year it did.  It came earlier than usual

[statsman 5,478]

I’ve posted before about the rest of the Big XII free riding on Texas and OU’s media value. Here is an example. Phil Steele has schedules going back to 2016, along with team rankings when the game was played. Here are the top 10 non conference games, based on ranking of non Big XII team. 
2017: OU@ #2 tOSU

2016: #3tOSU@ OU

2016: UT@ #4USC

2018: TCU-#4 tOSU

2019: #6LSU@ UT

2016: #10 ND@ UT

2016: ISU@ #16 Iowa

2018: ISU@ #18 Iowa

2018: #22 USC @ UT

2018: #24 BSU @ OSU

So, four of the ten marquee non conference games (in this four year period) involve UT, two involve OU, two are that great Iowa-ISU rivalry, one is a neutral site game in Arlington and one is Boise at OSU. 
I get it. Bill Snyder mastered the art of building teams by warming up with patsies, also ensuring you get to that six win threshold. I have to think, though, that if the Big XII wants the network to pay them like a major conference, they may have to start scheduling like one. There won’t be anybody to free ride in after this. 

[deter 314]

How old is the Steele article?  Somehow forgot #19 BYU at Baylor 2021.

[Al_4_ISU 12,483]

I mean recently pretty much everyone has been scheduling more P5 non-cons.  I would expect (and honestly hope for - I'm fucking tired of playing down to my wife's alma mater every god damn season opener) that in the future the networks make the Big 12 drop FCS games.

[TKthunder2 4,997]

39 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

I mean recently pretty much everyone has been scheduling more P5 non-cons.  I would expect (and honestly hope for - I'm fucking tired of playing down to my wife's alma mater every god damn season opener) that in the future the networks make the Big 12 drop FCS games.

Back in 2016 the team committed to start playing at least one P5 opponent each year in hopes that it would drive up the TV contract next go around.

The problem is that most already had 5+ years of FCS cupcakes schedule so it didn’t really help.  In addition, when they did get P5 opponents very few of the Big 12 were scheduling any “must see” games, they were looking for winnable games which doesn’t help TV numbers since nationally no one cares about Texas Tech v Arizona State or K State v Vandy.

[LTtxfan 49,348]

$30mill Each for UH, Cincy, UCF.    $90mill Each for UT & blOU

 

Monday Notebook: Conference Buyouts

By Marc DanielsFeb 28, 2022

Quote

February 28, 2022 8:30 a.m.

UCF football fans are planning for a 2023 season in the Big XII. Will the Knights, Cincinnati and Houston be playing in their new league next fall? That is the $30M question. At least that's the rumors about the buyout number for the trio leaving the AAC early. That number may be north of $30M. That's a lot of money for those schools juggling dollars and trying to build their budgets to be competitive with their new rivals. Meanwhile, the figure for Oklahoma and Texas to leave the Big XII is said to more than $90M per school,

Count me among those who think there is a good chance the Big XII has 14 members for the 2023 season. While the Longhorns and Sooners have lots of money, the amount to leave for the SEC now is a steep one. But is it in everyone's best interest to find a way to make things happen sooner than later.

I admit, spending someone else's money is a dangerous thing. If I was AAC commissioner Mike Aresco and the BIg XII's Bob Bowlsby, I would want every penny I can get. But does it benefit the SEC and the Big XII to get to its future sooner than later? The Big XII has a new media deal on the horizon. The SEC has a new media deal but they'd love to start planning schedules and deliver their newest members to the content package.

What if the SEC and the Big XII assisted in getting their new schools in sooner (no pun meant here) than later? What if the both conferences advanced half the money their schools needed to assist with the buyout and take it from future media earnings? If you are an AAC school needing $30M+ to leave the league, does paying $15+ up front and taking $5M+ less each year over three years from your future media money make sense? Same for the scenario in the SEC, who would be fronting a lot more. 

Any such plans would require membership approval and there may be little to no interest for such a plan. But is it not in the best interest of all parties to get all this done now? All of these schools are already getting the cold shoulder from their current leagues and the discomfort will only continue.

Oklahoma and Texas do not need to increase their budgets to be on par with others in the SEC. All three AAC schools are trying to increase their budgets, some to the tune of $20-25M, to be financially competitive with their new partners.

That all adds up to a lot of new money needed. But the ever changing media landscape and scheduling now more challenging than ever, the path to making all these moves happen sooner seems like something in the best interest of all. But then again, money in college sports is never an easy topic for all parties. But fans of all programs should know, these are real dollars needed to make these changes happen on a schedule you want. It's why the next nine months will be so interesting to see how this plays out...

 

Edited March 2, 2022 by LTtxfan

[Paul Wesley 3,289]

On 1/20/2022 at 1:47 PM, Al_4_ISU said:

The Big 12 was full of “I can’t wait to blow this popsicle stand and go somewhere fancy” mentality from Day 1.

You are a voice of reason here, but this is just not true.

At the announcement of the merger, the Big 8 was intact *and* suddenly in a much better position for TV contracts and the fertile recruiting grounds of Houston and Dallas (Texas was also suddenly in a better position to keep its in-state recruits at home).  The four SWC schools had a sense of "Finally!  We're in a conference that can compete on a national stage."  

The only Big 12 school that seemed to be looking around from the get-go was Mizzou.  That's it.  

[ImissWallyPryor 9,046]

50 minutes ago, Paul Wesley said:

You are a voice of reason here, but this is just not true.

At the announcement of the merger, the Big 8 was intact *and* suddenly in a much better position for TV contracts and the fertile recruiting grounds of Houston and Dallas (Texas was also suddenly in a better position to keep its in-state recruits at home).  The four SWC schools had a sense of "Finally!  We're in a conference that can compete on a national stage."  

The only Big 12 school that seemed to be looking around from the get-go was Mizzou.  That's it.  

There was a lot of hand wringing from Texas fans about not getting to go to the PAC because of the skirt tail huggers. The B12 seemed like settling because “At least its not a dying SWC.”  I agree that most schools were not looking to leave from day 1, but Texas fans had mixed feelings about the B12. Nebraska fans were less than thrilled (for their own reasons), but weren’t looking to leave until 1-9 happened. From what I’ve always heard, Colorado had been California dreaming for years. Mizzou has been discussed.  

Edited March 2, 2022 by ImissWallyPryor

[Longboard Horn 40,501]

The new Big 12 will be a fantastic basketball conference, but I don't see many big tv contracts lining up for football. 

[Al_4_ISU 12,483]

You are a voice of reason here, but this is just not true.
At the announcement of the merger, the Big 8 was intact *and* suddenly in a much better position for TV contracts and the fertile recruiting grounds of Houston and Dallas (Texas was also suddenly in a better position to keep its in-state recruits at home).  The four SWC schools had a sense of "Finally!  We're in a conference that can compete on a national stage."  
The only Big 12 school that seemed to be looking around from the get-go was Mizzou.  That's it.  

I’ve read a million takes about CU and Aggy wanting out or not wanting to join.

During the 2010 missile crisis this rhetoric was EVERYWHERE

[LTtxfan 49,348]

2 hours ago, Longboard Horn said:

The new Big 12 will be a fantastic basketball conference, but I don't see many big tv contracts lining up for football. 

Yeah, B12 becomes just a glorified G5 conference once blOU & Texas are gone

[statsman 5,478]

Is $90M for real?

The Ags, Buffs, Huskers and Tigers got out for $20M each, but we need to pay $90M?

I guess the way to swallow that pill is to say that’s the price of never, ever going to Waco, Lubbock or Stillwater ever again. (FW is ok, but we’re going to need to see some 2 home, 1 away contracts to start clawing back on the $90M).