Big Ten and other Conference Expansion

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

And it would also leave Texas stuck in a nine-team conference....

Maybe the Big Ten has been really cagey all along ... (1) fill your 12th slot by snagging the Big XII team farthest from the conference's power base in Texas ... (2) give a nod and a wink to the Pac 10 to go after Colorado, the other school that didn't really fit in the Big XII ... (3) see how the dominos fall .... (4) if Texas remains stubborn, snag a second Big XII school like Missouri ... (5) watch aTm and Oklahoma sell their souls to the SEC, watch Big XII commish try to convince everyone that BYU and Tulsa are viable options ... (6) if Texas still remains stubborn, raid the Big East to fill two more slots ... (7) watch Texas and Notre Dame squirm as their respective conferences dissolve and their TV$ dry up....

This could get fun.

 

[CleveBucks]

UT just created a turd of a conference. When you consider they never get to play Oklahoma in Austin, their home schedule is going to be horrible. Instead of having a chance to play Nebraska once every couple years, you're guaranteed to play ISU/KSU/KU/Baylor every year. If you ever get lucky and expand back to 12, it's going to be teams like BYU or Utah (if the Pac-11 doesn't snag the Utes first). When you throw in the lack of a Big 12 CCG, Texas fans are the real losers in that deal.

This longhorn network they've been fantasizing over is going to go through a lot of growing pains. Even after a few years the Big Ten Network has a lot of dead time and repeats, and that's with 11 schools providing content. At best Texas will get to air a few football games (only of the ISU/KSU variety, nothing great). All they did was guarantee that nobody outside of the state will get to see 75% of their football season. For as much as the Big Ten Network was shat on by the national media, they were available nationwide on DirecTV from the start. How many bars outside the Big 12 area will even get a longhorn network?

And how pathetic do the other 9 teams look? aTm comes crawling back from the brink of the SEC to be aTm's little brother once again. Oklahoma is being led around on a burnt orange leash. And the other schools are so happy to have a friend from the cool group at recess that they'll give up their Twinkies and HoHo's in exchange for a cup of applesauce, and they'll be happy doing so.

The only thing I've learned from watching this soap opera is that UT is definitely NOT a good match for the Big Ten. They're a cancer.

 

[Gatorubet]

 

[jlb1705]

UT just created a turd of a conference.

WHO DOES #2 WORK FOR?!?!?!

 

[Oh8ch]

It is interesting to think of the plight of some organizations if things do stop where they are.

Missouri, who tried to jump start the process, is locked into a conference they have publicly tried to escape.

Colorado, who moved to the PAC only to be with UT and OU and who jumped the gun to block Baylor, now finds themselves 800 miles from their nearest opponent and will play virtually all of their conference games in a different time zone.

The PAC, instead of having a Super Conference now has one more weak sister and is left trying to woo Utah to join a conference that they also thought would include UT and OU by leaving a conference that is arguably now stronger than the PAC.

The SEC, although unchanged, has been rebuffed by a takeover target.

The only clear winners right now are Nebraska/Big Ten and Boise St./Mountain West.


I love this shit.

 

[jlb1705]

Colorado, who moved to the PAC only to be with UT and OU and who jumped the gun to block Baylor, now finds themselves 800 miles from their nearest opponent and will play virtually all of their conference games in a different time zone.

I think that's where they wanted to be all along - regardless of whether any of the other assholes came along for the ride.

The SEC, although unchanged, has been rebuffed by a takeover target

Water off a duck's back.

 

[Colvinnl]

seems like Texas will always be doomed to failure until they bite the bullet and treat the conference they are in as equals, the more times they fail doing it their way the better

Not sure how Texas is doomed for failure. They are going to make a lot more money and whenever the conference falls apart they can land wherever they want. They have great leverage and, to their credit, they are using it. Short term and long term they are just fine.

 

[Oh8ch]

Not sure how Texas is doomed for failure. They are going to make a lot more money and whenever the conference falls apart they can land wherever they want. They have great leverage and, to their credit, they are using it. Short term and long term they are just fine.

I have to agree. My initial thought on a "UT Network" was "How will they leverage this into something akin to the BTN?"

They can't. And don't need to, because they don't have an 11 way split.

Perhaps not having an OSU Network was the mistake.

 

[jwinslow]

Posts like that last line, given your penchant for sarcasm, are why I never know whether you are bring serious.

The big ten members aren't needy, starry eyed buffoons like the victims of Texas now and before.

Kudos to Texas for getting theirs, but I'm glad they aren't part of ours.

 

[Diego-Bucks]

I have to agree. My initial thought on a "UT Network" was "How will they leverage this into something akin to the BTN?"

They can't. And don't need to, because they don't have an 11 way split.

Perhaps not having an OSU Network was the mistake.

Apparently FOX is the bidder for this new network deal... which is great news! Now, I won't have to watch their crappy games and FOX can understand that none of the remaining Big-12 match-ups are all that attractive. Their millions of revenue will be wasted over the short-term and in a few more years, the Big 12 will crumble... again.

But the Longhorns get their $3-5mil from their own network... which they won't see a profit on for 3 years or more! Its delicious in their arrogance.

 

[BrowardBuck]

Can you imagine the call the new PacX commissioner had to make last night, realizing that his dream fell flat on its face? The PacX and its fool of a commissioner were made into dupes!

As much as I now dislike UT for the the way they handled this process, I am laughing my a$$ off at the fact that the PacX is may now be even less than what they were, especially with USC gone for a couple of years.

All I can say is Karma!

BB

 

[jlb1705]

Reading comments on Frank the Tank's blog is getting rather depressing now. All of the mega-conference or bust people are coming out of the woodwork and bitching that things appear to have stopped for now. Some are even saying that Rutgers would have been a better addition than Nebraska

 

[Florida Buckeye]

...The only thing I've learned from watching this soap opera is that UT is definitely NOT a good match for the Big Ten. They're a cancer.

Agree 100%. I had a lot of respect for the Texas program up until the last week. Texas will have a great short term run, especially when Nebraska is no longer in their way and no CCG to worry about. The next go round figures to see Texas bargaining from a much weaker position, but someone will take them. Hopefully, not the B10.

 

[cincibuck]

Interesting that the long-standing "Delaney=fail" tag has disappeared from this thread.

Incidentally, it's spelled D-e-l-a-n-y.

I want to be on record as never saying Delan(e)y = fail. What I have said, and will continue to say, is that it amazes me that something that involves as much as these kinds of maneuverings seems to have been done without a good deal of ground work prior to allowing intentions to be leaked. You don't plan a major realignment of your portion of college football and then let the negotiations be carried out in twits, blogs and fan boards. That's bush league. It's not Delan(e)y's fault that Texas has to pay child support, but he should have known that before he had to leak Gee e-mails. It's not his fault that texas wants to stay home and play in its own sandbox, but he should have known that five minutes after intimating an offer.

 

[WaitingforKickoff]

jmo, but keeping teams like Ohio State, Texas, SC, and Florida in different conferences is a good thing for college football. When these teams play each other, they become marquee intersectional matchups that get a lot of hype and keep cfb fans psyched about the season and about future schedules. Besides, creating a super-conference by adding the likes of UT and ND would only speed up the process to a playoff system because the Super B10 and the SEC would inevitably crowd out the other conferences for the title hunt and rile up discontent among the other four major BCS conferences. And having that playoff system negates the advantage of playing in a superior conference anyway.

What this does is that it forces ND to join a conference sooner or later. No matter how many B10 or PAC10 teams ND beats during the season, as long as those two conferences have title games, ND can never be more legit than the conference champion. And that pretty much knocks them out of the title picture from the start. Once the doomers get a taste of success under the new coach, they'll be clamoring for that competitive advantage soon enough.