Realignment talk not going away

[Hagbard Celine 10859]

8 minutes ago, Bodhi said:

Spurrier seems to enjoy talking shit when he knows it will get a reaction.  Based on a few comments on this board he may have picked the right target.  UT has a ton of money, great academic reputation, HAD hot women, and is joining the best CFB conference.  Perhaps disregard the intentional troll attempts. 

fify

west campus is not what it once was

cheer is down

pom is recovering somewhat from a real low a couple years back

the average kappa or 3d used to be 9's across the board..... no longer

[washparkhorn 9939]

1 minute ago, Hagbard Celine said:

fify

west campus is not what it once was

cheer is down

pom is recovering somewhat from a real low a couple years back

the average kappa or 3d used to be 9's across the board..... no longer

So . . . SEC 10's?  

[BachelorTrek 2968]

2 minutes ago, Cairn Horn88 said:

Spurrier and Switzer would have made good roommates.

You mean, better than Burt Reynolds and Lee Corso?

 

Lee had the muscle car, Burt had the looks, so he let Burt drive and pickup the girls for both of them, or that's how Lee said it went.  Lulz.

[gmr548 16576]

The PAC's big concern is exposure for its good football programs.  They can probably achieve that with a media rights deal, in lieu of CTZ expansion.  It's easy to forget now, but back about a decade ago, the PAC's national perception in college football was favorable.  The slide away from that started with their current TV deal.  They didn't have any great Tier 1 exposure on a major platform anymore and a ton of their inventory was buried on their PACN platform and on FS1. 
Under the prior deal, Disney was giving the PAC (SC specifically) a ton of media exposure.  You couldn't turn on SportsCenter during college football season without seeing a story about Pete Carroll, Will Ferrell, and some prank the Trojans played during practice.    

If they grabbed the mid-afternoon kickoff slot from CBS, or got something like that from NBC, SC and Oregon are going to be nationally visible again.  That probably helps them stop the bleed of CA's high school talent to other conferences, too.  

This. College football is cyclical. A playoff type year out of USC or Oregon and they’re plastered all over national media. The PAC is fine as long as they do better with their media real. They’ll never be the SEC but I think they can live with that.

[gmr548 16576]

fify
west campus is not what it once was
cheer is down
pom is recovering somewhat from a real low a couple years back
the average kappa or 3d used to be 9's across the board..... no longer

For multiple reasons, few, if any, things on this site are more cringey than middle aged men posting stuff like this

[thunderlounge 7823]

10 hours ago, washparkhorn said:

So . . . SEC 10's?  

Yes, but only if they are related to you. Else a 6 at best under their ruling. 

[Vic Mackey 47029]

[kopp0e 1135]

On 8/3/2021 at 9:52 AM, Vertigo said:

You think Arizona State, Oregon State, and Wazzu would leave the PAC for this? I am not sure you have been paying attention. 

No... No... I think those would be the schools that get left out of a (not likely soon) B1G raid of 5 or 6 PAC brands...

---

Hotline mailbag: Pac-12 expansion strategy, scenarios for a breakup, vulnerable schools and the potential for alliances

By JON WILNER | jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group

PUBLISHED: August 6, 2021 at 11:08 a.m.

If the Pac-12 dissolved, the California schools, Oregon and Washington would be desirable in a post-modern configuration of major college football; everyone else would need a lifeline. Oregon State and Arizona would seem particularly vulnerable, in our opinion, based on the metrics that drive media value.

But the Pac-12 is a long way from that point.

We cannot offer any guarantees, but there is zero indication of an imminent breakup.

If anything, the level of solidarity seems stronger now than it has in years, largely because the schools (i.e., the presidents and chancellors) are all-in with new commissioner George Kliavkoff and view this as a reset opportunity for the collective — a chance to rethink, and reshape, major college sports on the West Coast.

(Had Larry Scott remained in charge, the level of solidarity would have been lower and the potential for breakup higher.)

From this corner of the galaxy, there are seemingly two paths to Pac-12 dissolution — to the Cougars, Beavers and Wildcats fighting for their football existence:

1. The Pac-12 dissolves.

The most immediate existential threat to the conference would be an aggressive Big Ten desperate to grow following the SEC’s move.

But we’re deeply skeptical for a slew of reasons — none greater than this: The conferences have a shared history on the field (via the Rose Bowl) and deep alignment at the university level, both professionally and personally.

Ohio State president Kristina Johnson is a Stanford alum.

Michigan president Mark Schissel is a former Cal dean.

Northwestern president Morton Schapiro is a former USC dean.

Would the Big Ten presidents approve any expansion plan that kills off the Pac-12? In our view, that outcome seems unlikely.

Even if the Big Ten turned predatory and offered membership to the California schools en masse, Cal and Stanford are more likely to stop playing major college football than lunge for cash in a conference 2,000 miles away.

The prospect of the California schools splintering off from the Pac-12, much less from each other, is a leap currently based solely on illogic.

We could get deep into the machinations, but that seems unnecessary given the current state of affairs.

The Big Ten and Pac-12 presidents do not, in our opinion, have the justification, support or stomachs to initiate the series of radical moves needed to drive a stake into the Pac-12.

2. The Power Five dissolves.

If you’re sketching scenarios for Pac-12 destruction, this is the more reasonable scenario — and yet it seems unlikely to materialize anytime soon.

What’s the structure? Simple: The most successful, most valuable, most committed football schools form a 30- or 35-team super-league that’s essentially a mini-NFL — and would, thanks to overjoyed media companies, mint money.

The remaining 30-35 schools in the Power Five, combined with the other 60-odd schools in the FBS, would continue playing football, albeit with a cost structure resembling what we now see in the FCS. (Revenue would plunge, so expenses would have to drop, as well.)

Would the likes of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington be willing to join the equivalent of a college football Premiership?

Perhaps, because every Power Five league would break apart, too.

The ACC’s Wake Forest, Duke and Virginia (and many others) wouldn’t be involved in the super-league.

Nor would the Big Ten’s Purdue, Northwestern, Indiana, Minnesota and Illinois.

Heck, even the SEC would split up, to some degree.

In this end-game, the top West Coast football schools aren’t leaving the Pac-12 for membership in another conference.

They’re leaving for an exclusive, football-only entity while keeping the conference intact in all other — albeit lesser — respects.

Many of the Hotline’s most trusted industry sources believe the mini-NFL model is inevitable, although not imminent.

---

As a matter of fact, as beat writer on all things PAC related speaks on how the league would look to move ahead...
 

And here is a clip of ballcoach Bob Stoops, how OU wanted to keep OSU in a move, but couldn't get SEC to blink...

[closetohumping 17440]

1 hour ago, kopp0e said:

No... No... I think those would be the schools that get left out of a (not likely soon) B1G raid of 5 or 6 PAC brands...

---

Hotline mailbag: Pac-12 expansion strategy, scenarios for a breakup, vulnerable schools and the potential for alliances

By JON WILNER | jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group

PUBLISHED: August 6, 2021 at 11:08 a.m.

If the Pac-12 dissolved, the California schools, Oregon and Washington would be desirable in a post-modern configuration of major college football; everyone else would need a lifeline. Oregon State and Arizona would seem particularly vulnerable, in our opinion, based on the metrics that drive media value.

But the Pac-12 is a long way from that point.

We cannot offer any guarantees, but there is zero indication of an imminent breakup.

If anything, the level of solidarity seems stronger now than it has in years, largely because the schools (i.e., the presidents and chancellors) are all-in with new commissioner George Kliavkoff and view this as a reset opportunity for the collective — a chance to rethink, and reshape, major college sports on the West Coast.

(Had Larry Scott remained in charge, the level of solidarity would have been lower and the potential for breakup higher.)

From this corner of the galaxy, there are seemingly two paths to Pac-12 dissolution — to the Cougars, Beavers and Wildcats fighting for their football existence:

1. The Pac-12 dissolves.

The most immediate existential threat to the conference would be an aggressive Big Ten desperate to grow following the SEC’s move.

But we’re deeply skeptical for a slew of reasons — none greater than this: The conferences have a shared history on the field (via the Rose Bowl) and deep alignment at the university level, both professionally and personally.

Ohio State president Kristina Johnson is a Stanford alum.

Michigan president Mark Schissel is a former Cal dean.

Northwestern president Morton Schapiro is a former USC dean.

Would the Big Ten presidents approve any expansion plan that kills off the Pac-12? In our view, that outcome seems unlikely.

Even if the Big Ten turned predatory and offered membership to the California schools en masse, Cal and Stanford are more likely to stop playing major college football than lunge for cash in a conference 2,000 miles away.

The prospect of the California schools splintering off from the Pac-12, much less from each other, is a leap currently based solely on illogic.

We could get deep into the machinations, but that seems unnecessary given the current state of affairs.

The Big Ten and Pac-12 presidents do not, in our opinion, have the justification, support or stomachs to initiate the series of radical moves needed to drive a stake into the Pac-12.

2. The Power Five dissolves.

If you’re sketching scenarios for Pac-12 destruction, this is the more reasonable scenario — and yet it seems unlikely to materialize anytime soon.

What’s the structure? Simple: The most successful, most valuable, most committed football schools form a 30- or 35-team super-league that’s essentially a mini-NFL — and would, thanks to overjoyed media companies, mint money.

The remaining 30-35 schools in the Power Five, combined with the other 60-odd schools in the FBS, would continue playing football, albeit with a cost structure resembling what we now see in the FCS. (Revenue would plunge, so expenses would have to drop, as well.)

Would the likes of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington be willing to join the equivalent of a college football Premiership?

Perhaps, because every Power Five league would break apart, too.

The ACC’s Wake Forest, Duke and Virginia (and many others) wouldn’t be involved in the super-league.

Nor would the Big Ten’s Purdue, Northwestern, Indiana, Minnesota and Illinois.

Heck, even the SEC would split up, to some degree.

In this end-game, the top West Coast football schools aren’t leaving the Pac-12 for membership in another conference.

They’re leaving for an exclusive, football-only entity while keeping the conference intact in all other — albeit lesser — respects.

Many of the Hotline’s most trusted industry sources believe the mini-NFL model is inevitable, although not imminent.

---

As a matter of fact, as beat writer on all things PAC related speaks on how the league would look to move ahead...
 

And here is a clip of ballcoach Bob Stoops, how OU wanted to keep OSU in a move, but couldn't get SEC to blink...

I just took less than a one second glance, as anything longer would qualify as staring longingly, but does Stoops shave his legs?  Nasty fuck

 

 

Good article.

[LTtxfan 49184]

Nm

Edited August 8, 2021 by LTtxfan

[Dewey 3286]

Can't disagree with Stoops on much of it. Save for his "we haven't been far off in the these playoff games", you've been getting smoked in those games. Need to bring the big xii refs with you. 

[bullet 1596]

12 hours ago, gmr548 said:

For multiple reasons, few, if any, things on this site are more cringey than middle aged men posting stuff like this

Because the daughters aren't as good looking as their moms?!

[rage-a-holic 4386]

11 hours ago, Vic Mackey said:

Terrible fucking meme. Anyone who ever watched that show will remember that the skipper had about 10 more IQ points than Gilligan.

[berlinerbaer 678]

6 hours ago, kopp0e said:

Even if the Big Ten turned predatory and offered membership to the California schools en masse, Cal and Stanford are more likely to stop playing major college football than lunge for cash in a conference 2,000 miles away.

Agree on Stanford. Cal has massive debt to pay off from their stadium renovation (a few $100 million) so that they will jump through whatever hoops necessary for cash. If it wasn't for that, they'd also settle for relegation without putting up a fight.

 

[Cap33 384]

On 8/6/2021 at 9:47 PM, washparkhorn said:

It sucks we have to play in Missouri, but hell, these will be sweaty games. That's a bonus. Fuck the cold weather football. 

I thought Missouri brought the monsoons to Austin?

[Ridingtosunset 129]

2 hours ago, Dewey said:

Can't disagree with Stoops on much of it. Save for his "we haven't been far off in the these playoff games", you've been getting smoked in those games. Need to bring the big xii refs with you. 

In fairness, they've been smoked in two (USC and LSU 19), were outclassed by Bama in 2018 but not smoked, and were in tight games with LSU 03, UF, and Georgia. 

[wood 11225]

On 8/6/2021 at 3:57 PM, ErnieMcCracken said:

SIAP but who stuck a quarter in this blowu loving cock gobbler?  What did Texas do to this guy?

 

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sports/steve-spurrier-once-again-trolls-texas-ahead-of-sec-move/

Meh, go prove him wrong. 

Just win.

[HornsOverIthaca 2333]

All the conference needs to succeed is Ed Orgeron and automatic closed captioning:

 

[J.R. Juniors Junior Jr. 1084]

11 hours ago, HornsOverIthaca said:

All the conference needs to succeed is Ed Orgeron and automatic closed captioning:

 

His dye job may be funnier than the captioning.

[SwAss 105]

Realignment talk going away?  What's next, pussy defeated?

Edited August 9, 2021 by SwAss

[Tex-19 2872]

Anyone got access to this? https://theathletic.com/2759867/2021/08/09/what-were-hearing-inside-the-big-12-pac-12-patience-a-texas-alliance-and-the-real-hurt-feelings-of-realignment/

[PandaPipe 67]

52 minutes ago, Tex-19 said:

Anyone got access to this? https://theathletic.com/2759867/2021/08/09/what-were-hearing-inside-the-big-12-pac-12-patience-a-texas-alliance-and-the-real-hurt-feelings-of-realignment/

Quote

After another eventful week of fallout, what comes next for the Big 12?

Texas and Oklahoma are joining the SEC, either in 2025 or perhaps much sooner. The Big 12’s commissioner is exploring whether aligning with the Pac-12 could help save the conference. The remaining Texas schools and their politicians are banding together.

Here’s what we know and what we’re hearing.

Bowlsby meets Kliavkoff

Bob Bowlsby and George Kliavkoff don’t really know each other well, or at least didn’t before last week. That’s probably an important place to start in sizing up their meeting last Tuesday to discuss whether the Big 12 and Pac-12 might benefit from a strategic partnership.

There was no expectation going into their summit that, at a time when trust is at a premium, they would jump right ahead to negotiating a deal of some kind. Among Power 5 commissioners, there will surely be many more meetings like this one in the months ahead.

But on the Big 12 side, sources say Bowlsby came back with a sense of cautious optimism and assured the meeting went well. The two commissioners did talk about the concepts of a scheduling alliance, merger and other potentially creative solutions for working together as expected, though neither side offered specifics to The Athletic. Their discussion was characterized as more introductory and exploratory in nature and less about sorting through the details of each potential plan.

Pac-12 sources were quick to frame the Bowlsby meeting as a very preliminary, get-to-know-you type of visit. But for their conference, it made sense to take the meeting. Sources believe they’re in a good position, no moves are imminent and they need not rush to make any. Like Bowlsby, Kliavkoff is serious about putting all his options on the table and seeing what fits best for his membership and the future of the Pac-12.

Closing the revenue gap relative to the SEC and the Big Ten is important in the long run, no question. But the Pac-12 also needs to make sure USC stays satisfied, sources said, so that the conference doesn’t become at risk of losing its anchor the way the Big 12 just did.

There’s at least some thinking among decision-makers in the Pac-12 that they don’t need to expand and could even be better served trying to form a strategic alliance with the Big Ten and ACC. It’s unclear what form that sort of arrangement would take, but this is the kind of big-picture thinking that is suddenly required in light of the SEC’s big move.

Kliavkoff has received plenty of praise early in his tenure for being exactly the kind of aggressive, dynamic, forward-thinking leader the Pac-12 needs in these unpredictable times. It’ll be fascinating to see what path he prefers for this league to solve its problems, how he galvanizes support and how he makes use of his considerable leverage.

Ultimately, the financial implications of each choice are going to drive the outcome, and those are largely unknown right now. If aligning with the Big 12 does end up gaining traction, does the Pac-12 really want to share revenue with that many schools? Does growing the conference beyond its current footprint generate meaningful value? The Pac-12 is certainly not alone in pondering those questions as well as what choices their TV partners would make worthwhile.

“I think this fall, the other leagues are going to be having many more in-depth conversations,” one Big 12 AD said. “The fall meetings will start shedding some light on what different conferences want to do.”

As many sources have stressed, it would be naïve to believe Texas, Oklahoma and the SEC only spent a couple of months putting their plan together. The Big 12 and Pac-12 have an opportunity to make massively important decisions that potentially redefine their conferences. These deals don’t happen quickly. Patience is required, as hard as that will be in the Big 12.

“I do think a lot of this information is going to get a little quiet, which will put a lot of people in a very anxious spot, especially our boards and fan bases,” the Big 12 AD said. “Once football starts, I just don’t think this is like the other realignments where it’s going to move fast. And that’s going to get people very, very anxious.

“That’s probably what Oklahoma and Texas want. They want people to get anxious and start doing some crazy things, because that’s more advantageous to them. I don’t think they want to stay in this marriage until 2025. If that’s what it’s going to take, I think it’s up to the eight remaining to play that long game. We’re in a marathon right now, not a sprint.”

The Texas trio

One unsurprising dynamic has emerged from Texas’ defection: The leaders at Baylor, TCU and Texas Tech are talking on a daily basis and working closely together to figure out what’s next.

That unity was easy to see last Monday in Austin at the Texas Senate committee meeting when the presidents/chancellors and athletic directors of the three schools appeared to explain their current predicament and why they’ll take all the help they can get to protect their future. The Longhorns’ betrayal has clearly brought them together.

“I do know this: the other two institutions in this room — TCU and Texas Tech — are very, very important to Baylor,” Baylor AD Mack Rhoades told the committee. “We need to make sure, for the state of Texas, that this is not a demotion for those three schools. Because that’s what it feels like right now.”

These schools are looking out for each other and trying to be good partners to their fellow remaining conference members. But they’re also communicating frequently with Oklahoma State, a source said, which is not surprising but does lead to an interesting question.

What if the Pac-12 decides it’s better off pursuing a deal with these Big 12 schools?

Despite Kliavkoff’s willingness to meet with Bowlsby, the possibility of the Pac-12 preferring to add two or four of these Big 12 members can’t totally be ruled out. There’s a sense of optimism among these schools, sources say, that a spot in the Pac-12 could eventually be on the table.

If its new commissioner is indeed determined to explore all possible options, it would make sense for the Pac-12 to look into what tangible value it could gain by planting its flag in the state of Texas with some combination of TCU, Texas Tech and Baylor. Oklahoma State would still be a logical fit in that bundle, given its 90-38 record in football over the past decade, 12th-best in the FBS.

No one school besides Texas can give the Pac-12 a meaningful presence in that market. But three would help.

Although that idea might still be a tough sell for Pac-12 presidents, there’s a case to be made that they need to take this opportunity seriously and have a healthy fear of the eat-or-be-eaten nature of realignment.

The Pac-12’s intended timetable, if it does decide to be proactive and add members, would be a key issue. So would the state of the Big 12 and its grant-of-rights if defections occur.

If the Pac-12 goes in this direction but ultimately only wishes to invite two schools, the collaboration between these Texas schools might quickly fall apart. They don’t have the kind of leverage to say, for example, that they would refuse to leave Baylor behind if the Bears’ relevance in football and basketball is outweighed by a hesitancy about inviting the private Baptist university.

As one source put it, “We’re gonna do everything we can to help each other until we can’t.”

Hurt feelings

It’s still hard to imagine how Texas and Oklahoma are going to keep living in the Big 12 for four more years. Their remaining stay in this conference, however long it lasts, is going to be remarkably uncomfortable.

The tensions haven’t dissipated much. There’s still anger within the conference about how this all went down. Those two schools have done irreparable damage to so many long-standing and previously close relationships.

“It’s difficult to be betrayed by people that you call friends,” Bowlsby said last month. “There’s a right way and a wrong way to do this, and OU and Texas did it as deceptively as they possibly could.”

Bowlsby long considered Texas AD Chris Del Conte and Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione to be two of his closest friends in the business. Their decision to bolt for the SEC without warning or explanation stung a lot of their peers within the conference. Full transparency can’t be expected given what they were planning, but leaders in the Big 12 felt they were owed a lot more than what they got: a no-show for the key July 22 meeting (citing “conflicts”) and a pointless July 25 videoconference with Bowlsby and the Big 12’s executive committee one day before Texas and Oklahoma sent their exit letter.

Bowlsby says he didn’t know anything was amiss until the Houston Chronicle report emerged. He has pointed out it’s hard to ignore the added deception that, if not for their SEC plan leaking out, Texas and Oklahoma might still be participating in conference meetings to this day and collecting more proprietary information before announcing their departure plans.

“There’s going to be some major damage to friendships, which is sad,” one source said.

The Longhorns are used to being portrayed as the villain in this conference and have been for a long time. They’re not going to wince at any of this, as Texas president Jay Hartzell demonstrated last Monday. This is much more unfamiliar territory for Oklahoma, especially for their venerated longtime AD. Castiglione is as respected as it gets in his profession. One of his conference peers called the Sooners’ actions “really un-Joe-like.”

“It’s the fact he didn’t even give a heads up to some of his closest friends in the conference,” the source said. “On that day, when they got a sense it was gonna break, at least call your friends that you’ve known forever and say so.”

Whatever efforts Texas and Oklahoma make going forward to speed up their divorce from the Big 12 will take time. Bowlsby and his eight schools are, at the moment, definitely not inclined to settle and let them off the hook for less than what’s owed. The longer that process drags on, the weirder it’s going to get during this football season and beyond.

“This isn’t gonna happen tomorrow,” one source said. “They’re gonna be in our league this year. They’re gonna go to meetings. And it’s gonna be uncomfortable.”

They’ll have to find some way to work around this in the short term. When asked how that collaboration is going to work, with two members eyeing the exit, Bowlsby said that’ll depend on the topic in front of them.

“There will be some meetings when we’ll have 10 members in the room,” he said, “and there will be some meetings where we’ll have eight in the room.”

West Virginia’s point of view

One obvious question mark in the concept of the Big 12 and Pac-12 possibly collaborating: What about West Virginia?

For now, it’s quite simple: West Virginia isn’t in a position to say no. President Gordon Gee and athletic director Shane Lyons have been supportive of Bowlsby’s efforts to explore all possible options, sources say, because their top priority is maintaining Power 5 status and financial stability.

While membership in the ACC would make a lot of sense, there are no guarantees the conference will finally extend the offer they’ve sought in past rounds of realignment. So they can’t say they’re not interested in whatever the Big 12 can put together, nor are they telling Bowlsby to leave them out of any potential plans.

A merger with the Pac-12 wouldn’t be in West Virginia’s best interest. That goes without saying. But if these leagues did merge and maintained a clear east-west split, maybe West Virginia can benefit from that while having a relatively minimal role in crossover travel.

A trip to Boulder (1,332 miles) or Salt Lake City (1,677) isn’t much farther away than the ones the Mountaineers have made to Waco (1,111), Austin (1,193) and Lubbock (1,280). Their football and basketball programs are inconvenienced least, too, since they charter flights. The Big 12 has done a good job in the past of trying to be fair and make travel less burdensome for West Virginia with its approach to scheduling.

Being tied to the Pac-12 would come with challenges, no question. But they’d take those inconveniences over the massive financial hit of ending up in a league like the AAC. The same can be said if the Big 12 ends up pursuing expansion. While more geographically friendly members would be nice, the stance at West Virginia is they can make it work.

West Virginia athletics was working on a $93 million budget for 2020-21 before the pandemic hit and ended up at nearly a $25 million deficit for the fiscal year. Lyons has said they’re maintaining 10 percent budget cuts across all sports going forward. They’re working hard to climb out of this like everyone else in their league. The financial challenges of the past year make clear what’s at stake if the Mountaineers aren’t in a Power 5 league whenever this phase of realignment wraps up.

The recruiting problem 

While there hasn’t been a slew of decommitments for the eight Big 12 members since this news hit, coaches and staffers say an uncertain future is immediately impacting their recruiting efforts. It’s way too easy right now for programs they’re competing with to sow doubt in recruits: Why go there? They’ll end up in a Group of 5 league.

“It’s killing us right now,” one Big 12 coach said. “It’s absolutely, no doubt hurting us.”

One would think this is more detrimental for the next recruiting class, since the grant of rights through the summer of 2025 is supposed to ensure recruits in the current 2022 cycle get to play at least three seasons in the Big 12. But it’s hard to have good answers for these prospects and their parents right now about what the future holds.

This is hitting at an especially brutal time, too, with four of these eight programs recruiting quite well this summer. West Virginia has the No. 19 class on 247Sports, Iowa State is ranked No. 25, Baylor is No. 26 and Oklahoma State is currently No. 29 as of Sunday night.

These programs already have a tough enough time building classes that consistently rank at a top-25 level. If you take the last five years of 247Sports class rankings and look at average finish over that span, Oklahoma’s recruiting ranks No. 6 nationally and Texas ranks No. 8. No other member of the Big 12 makes the top 30.

Five-year average class ranking

TEAM	RANK	BEST	WORST
TCU	31	24 (2020)	53 (2021)
Oklahoma State	34	30 (2021)	40 (2020)
Baylor	39	29 (2018)	50 (2020)
West Virginia	43	35 (2018)	57 (2017)
Iowa State	51	46 (2019)	60 (2021)
Kansas State	59	52 (2020)	66 (2018)
Texas Tech	62	48 (2020)	74 (2021)
Kansas	68	56 (2020)	71 (2017)

How might that change once the two defecting members are gone? Recruiting at Oklahoma and Texas certainly won’t suffer from moving to the SEC. And recent history suggests we may end up living in a world where two-thirds of the blue-chip recruits in Texas are signing with SEC schools. The unknowable question is just how much the Big 12 is diminished in the eyes of recruits. Are these developmental programs going to have an even harder time convincing four- and five-star prospects to play in their league?

Another inevitable knock that will come from rival recruiters: Look at the NFL Draft output. Oklahoma and Texas accounted for 41 of the Big 12’s 103 draft picks since 2017, even with Texas struggling to actually do a good job on the development front. The eight remaining Big 12 schools have combined to produce an average of 12 NFL Draft picks per year since 2017. That’s going to be tough to spin to recruits.

NFL Draft picks by conference, 2017-2021

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	TOTAL	PER SCHOOL
SEC	53	53	64	63	65	298	21.3
ACC	43	45	28	27	42	185	13.2
Big Ten	35	33	40	48	22	178	12.7
Pac-12	36	30	33	32	28	159	13.3
Big 12	14	20	26	21	22	103	10.3
Big 12 (no OU/UT)	9	12	16	13	12	62	7.8

It’s easier said than done to preach patience. While football coaches don’t have much of a say in these matters, they’re already dealing with the consequences of all the short- and long-term uncertainty surrounding this league.

“I’m not torn up about them leaving,” the coach said. “But it affects recruiting. That’s the biggest pain for me.”

 

[Chopper 17230]

Fuck Max Olson. That bitch laps it up every time Bowlsby whines about something. I'm relatively certain the SEC gives zero shits about whatever the B12 has planned or discussed among themselves over the previous 6 months. Acquired confidential league business information?? What a joke.

[IDIOTsavant 8483]

5 minutes ago, Chopper said:

Fuck Max Olson. That bitch laps it up every time Bowlsby whines about something. I'm relatively certain the SEC gives zero shits about whatever the B12 has planned or discussed among themselves over the previous 6 months. Acquired confidential league business information?? What a joke.

[Huckleberry 32859]

The SEC produces a shit ton more draftees than the remaining 8, but the continued stupidity of putting totals up instead of rates per school is so ridiculous. 

No shit the 14 schools in the ACC have more total players drafted than the 8 schools he's writing about. 

[Chuckie Finster 22694]

10 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

The SEC produces a shit ton more draftees than the remaining 8, but the continued stupidity of putting totals up instead of rates per school is so ridiculous. 

No shit the 14 schools in the ACC have more total players drafted than the 8 schools he's writing about. 

No joke, no longer having to get irrationally upset about this exact thing every draft season was one of the first positives I thought about when the news was announced.

Edited August 9, 2021 by Chuckie Finster

[TrashMaster G 17554]

Wtf is this bullshit?

The tensions haven’t dissipated much. There’s still anger within the conference about how this all went down. Those two schools have done irreparable damage to so many long-standing and previously close relationships.

“It’s difficult to be betrayed by people that you call friends,” Bowlsby said last month. “There’s a right way and a wrong way to do this, and OU and Texas did it as deceptively as they possibly could.”

Bowlsby long considered Texas AD Chris Del Conte and Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione to be two of his closest friends in the business. Their decision to bolt for the SEC without warning or explanation stung a lot of their peers within the conference. Full transparency can’t be expected given what they were planning, but leaders in the Big 12 felt they were owed a lot more than what they got: a no-show for the key July 22 meeting (citing “conflicts”) and a pointless July 25 videoconference with Bowlsby and the Big 12’s executive committee one day before Texas and Oklahoma sent their exit letter.

Why in the hell would we tell anyone any earlier?  So they can try to find a way to stop it or otherwise fuck it up?  We've been down that road before.  The conference is getting four years' notice (until we find a legal solution to do it sooner).  We don't owe anyone anything more.

Any one of the Irate Eight who says they would have done this differently in our position is lying.  The whining about the lack of transparency is just playing to the masses who are happy to demonize UT for pretty much anything.

[BigHornedLurker 1936]

35 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

The SEC produces a shit ton more draftees than the remaining 8, but the continued stupidity of putting totals up instead of rates per school is so ridiculous. 

No shit the 14 schools in the ACC have more total players drafted than the 8 schools he's writing about. 

This is definitely intentional , easier to sell to dumb football players however dishonest it really is. 

Glad there will soon be one less piece of FUD working against us soon. 

[bullet 1596]

33 minutes ago, TrashMaster G said:

Wtf is this bullshit?

The tensions haven’t dissipated much. There’s still anger within the conference about how this all went down. Those two schools have done irreparable damage to so many long-standing and previously close relationships.

“It’s difficult to be betrayed by people that you call friends,” Bowlsby said last month. “There’s a right way and a wrong way to do this, and OU and Texas did it as deceptively as they possibly could.”

Bowlsby long considered Texas AD Chris Del Conte and Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione to be two of his closest friends in the business. Their decision to bolt for the SEC without warning or explanation stung a lot of their peers within the conference. Full transparency can’t be expected given what they were planning, but leaders in the Big 12 felt they were owed a lot more than what they got: a no-show for the key July 22 meeting (citing “conflicts”) and a pointless July 25 videoconference with Bowlsby and the Big 12’s executive committee one day before Texas and Oklahoma sent their exit letter.

Why in the hell would we tell anyone any earlier?  So they can try to find a way to stop it or otherwise fuck it up?  We've been down that road before.  The conference is getting four years' notice (until we find a legal solution to do it sooner).  We don't owe anyone anything more.

Any one of the Irate Eight who says they would have done this differently in our position is lying.  The whining about the lack of transparency is just playing to the masses who are happy to demonize UT for pretty much anything.

Really.  The reaction is so immature.

[bullet 1596]

You'd think a bunch of these places are run by aggys.

[mdmost 43001]

Yeah, Texas and OU weren't going to tell the rest of the Big 12 of their plans exactly because of how 1995 went with Baylor. The reaction to Texas leaving was exactly what would've happened early with Big 12 schools trying to get their legislators to block a move. Was it underhanded by Texas and OU, hell yeah. Was it completely necessary based on the schools would've reacted, hell yeah. 

[TexArcher 37774]

2 hours ago, TrashMaster G said:

Bowlsby long considered Texas AD Chris Del Conte and Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione to be two of his closest friends in the business. Their decision to bolt for the SEC without warning or explanation stung a lot of their peers within the conference.

Yeah, and if Kate Upton invites me to bed, my girlfriend's gonna wish I'd been more transparent about the fact that I was definitely going to do that if offered.  It doesn't mean I didn't appreciate our time together, blah, blah...

[Hagbard Celine 10859]

1 hour ago, bullet said:

You'd think a bunch of these places are run by aggys.

psa: aggys rhymes with haggis

[Hagbard Celine 10859]

32 minutes ago, mdmost said:

Yeah, Texas and OU weren't going to tell the rest of the Big 12 of their plans exactly because of how 1995 went with Baylor. The reaction to Texas leaving was exactly what would've happened early with Big 12 schools trying to get their legislators to block a move. Was it underhanded by Texas and OU, hell yeah. Was it completely necessary based on the schools would've reacted, hell yeah. 

did they deserve no warning whatsoever because for once we did what was in OUR OWN BEST INTEREST?

hell yeah.

FUCK 'EM ALL!!!!

and i love laughing in their faces

if we were their "friends" then 2008 and 2015 would have been decried and remonstrated against

instead..... crickets

[Ghost of LL 15531]

1 hour ago, Hagbard Celine said:

did they deserve no warning whatsoever because for once we did what was in OUR OWN BEST INTEREST?

hell yeah.

FUCK 'EM ALL!!!!

and i love laughing in their faces

if we were their "friends" then 2008 and 2015 would have been decried and remonstrated against

instead..... crickets

We are "friends" in the same way that hangers-on are always friends with the rich guy who always picks up the bar tab.  When the rich guy wants to ditch those hangers-on and just hang out with other rich guys, then they're not so friendly.

[immamac 42845]

4 minutes ago, Ghost of LL said:

We are "friends" in the same way that hangers-on are always friends with the rich guy who always picks up the bar tab.  When the rich guy wants to ditch those hangers-on and just hang out with other rich guys, then they're not so friendly.

[Samson's Wig 3192]

"One unsurprising dynamic has emerged from Texas’ defection: The leaders at Baylor, TCU and Texas Tech are talking on a daily basis and working closely together to figure out what’s next."

 

What in the ever-loving fuck is Texas Tech thinking?   Let the tiny private schools die on their own vine.  Holy shit that's stupid.

[Pimphand 5740]

9 hours ago, SwAss said:

Realignment talk going away?  What's next, pussy defeated?

Discussing the fate of peons is far less entertaining. Pussy is still undefeated.

[The Dude 1244]

Bowls-be-passing-him-by got his feeling hurt? Lol. In a multi million dollar business?

how will we ever handle the uncomfortable b12 meetings?  Lol. Wtf. Like a god damned professional I would hope. Titty baby bob should maybe sit them out to avoid any further hurt feelings

[dcar00 14182]

5 hours ago, bullet said:

Really.  The reaction is so immature.

these dumbasses need to direct their anger at aggy but its hard to explain logical shit to idiots.

[Deej 76766]

1 hour ago, The Dude said:

how will we ever handle the uncomfortable b12 meetings?

 

[Dewey 3286]

Blowsby never did shit except for sit at his desk, watching the landscape of his business change drastically and his only thought was that he had friends at ou and Texas? They want to be angry, be angry at that old timer, not at Texas or ou for seeing what they needed to do. That dude should have been working deals, looking towards the future,  being the change. Instead he sat there, they all did, except for Texas and ou. Baylor deserves this, feel bad for Tech and Okie State,  ISU as well.  

[TrashMaster G 17554]

4 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

"One unsurprising dynamic has emerged from Texas’ defection: The leaders at Baylor, TCU and Texas Tech are talking on a daily basis and working closely together to figure out what’s next."

 

What in the ever-loving fuck is Texas Tech thinking?   Let the tiny private schools die on their own vine.  Holy shit that's stupid.

I hope Tech is smart enough to keep a second line of communication open with the other conferences that DOESN'T include TCU and Baylor.

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

5 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

"One unsurprising dynamic has emerged from Texas’ defection: The leaders at Baylor, TCU and Texas Tech are talking on a daily basis and working closely together to figure out what’s next."

 

What in the ever-loving fuck is Texas Tech thinking?   Let the tiny private schools die on their own vine.  Holy shit that's stupid.

You gotta know Tech is trying to work out something for themselves without TCU and BU, likely in cahoots with OSU. 

[Azbadlands 109]

1 hour ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

You gotta know Tech is trying to work out something for themselves without TCU and BU, likely in cahoots with OSU. 

If this PAC alliance doesn't  work out, Tech and Okie State got slim options for the time being.  I hope they can raid the AAC before the AAC and other Group of 5 conferences raids the leftovers of the Big 12.

Hopefully they are talking with Fox right now on a backup plan like that...They need to make the Big 12 the best of the  G5 conferences to stay relevant, and they may have better or more options in the future..

Edited August 10, 2021 by Azbadlands

[Longboard Horn 40318]

Basically 

[Bevo14 8310]

15 hours ago, TrashMaster G said:

Wtf is this bullshit?

The tensions haven’t dissipated much. There’s still anger within the conference about how this all went down. Those two schools have done irreparable damage to so many long-standing and previously close relationships.

“It’s difficult to be betrayed by people that you call friends,” Bowlsby said last month. “There’s a right way and a wrong way to do this, and OU and Texas did it as deceptively as they possibly could.”

Bowlsby long considered Texas AD Chris Del Conte and Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione to be two of his closest friends in the business. Their decision to bolt for the SEC without warning or explanation stung a lot of their peers within the conference. Full transparency can’t be expected given what they were planning, but leaders in the Big 12 felt they were owed a lot more than what they got: a no-show for the key July 22 meeting (citing “conflicts”) and a pointless July 25 videoconference with Bowlsby and the Big 12’s executive committee one day before Texas and Oklahoma sent their exit letter.

Why in the hell would we tell anyone any earlier?  So they can try to find a way to stop it or otherwise fuck it up?  We've been down that road before.  The conference is getting four years' notice (until we find a legal solution to do it sooner).  We don't owe anyone anything more.

Any one of the Irate Eight who says they would have done this differently in our position is lying.  The whining about the lack of transparency is just playing to the masses who are happy to demonize UT for pretty much anything.

Lulz Bowlsby is such an amateur. This conference was always going down the shitter with that moron in charge. 

[BurntOrange&White 39931]

1 minute ago, Bevo14 said:

Bowlsby long considered Texas AD Chris Del Conte and Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione to be two of his closest friends in the business.

[Chopper 17230]

9 hours ago, Dewey said:

Blowsby never did shit except for sit at his desk, watching the landscape of his business change drastically...

If you look at Blowsby's linked in, "studied meaning of horns down and took decisive action" is the first bullet point on his cv.

[Longboard Horn 40318]

https://www.si.com/college/westvirginia/wvu-football/examining-future-options-for-the-big-12-wvu