Tex and OU reportedly all but Official
According to an Austin reporter (Kirk Bohls), he has a "prominent" course that says the deal is all but done. Could be announced in as little as a week. Deal has been on the way for 6+ months and TAMU had no idea and no input. Only the Tex Governor can stop it at this point (and it's logical he's been in the know for a while).
https://twitter.com/kbohls/status/1418553992691466245?s=20
HT: Angelique Chengelis - she's a good follow
Hilariously, this was posted on ESPN a day before the news broke.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/31845340/how-texas-sec…
LOL @ "A perfect fit"...while all the other schools conspired to Brutus the fuck out of you.
(Slightly less serious, total speculation) Conspiracy theory time: ESPN isn’t a neutral party in this, having a major deal with the SEC. ESPN just so happens to release an article with glowing quotes about the SEC from A&M’s AD and other major figures a day before a major bombshell drops about how the conference is stabbing them in the back in inviting their major, hated rival into the group?
It’s hard for me to believe, with every other SEC conference team being involved in this, and ESPN being so involved with all of them, didn’t catch wind of this before anyone else. Did they know this was happening, sit on the story, and write this soft-ass “A&M hearts SEC” story in hopes of countering the obviously huge blow back this was going to garner in the next few weeks? Inquiring minds want to know! (Again, total speculation, but it smells funny to me).
I personally don't care at this point. College Football today is not what I remember it as a child and that is ok. But Mark Emmert bitching about how NIL would not be in the best interest of the kids while knowing that this was happening makes me want my 3-year-old daughter to take one of her smelliest dumps right in the middle of the the NCAA headquarters.
pretty disgusting move by Texas and Oklahoma quite frankly...Ditching their conference for a cash grab? And doing under the 'cover of night?
Pretty dirty...they could have simply tried to expand the conference by adding Houstan and Cincinnati and maybe UCF
This will now force the B1G to do something...Seth idea of linking up with the PAC12 was an interesting one
IMO, this move essentially locks down about 60-75% of the football talent in the country to the SEC. Elite players will want to play at the highest level and the SEC will no doubt be that. They already locked in about half of the playoff participants each year and this move will do the same when they move to 12 teams in the playoff. I think the ACC (for football) is effectively dead and only FSU and Clemson can compete with the SEC effectively monopolizing southern talent.
B10 should pick off ACC teams like UNC and UVa, GT, ND to expand the recuriting footprint. Make 2 divisions: MidWest and MidEast. No one in the B12 and will fit with the B10 since they don't bring anything to the table. ACC academic schools with quality sports and/or footprint should be targeted by the B10 ASAP.
Agreed. Its all but assured that the other conferences are now scrambling to add people or jump to other conferences.
its a shame as the old conference had a lot of tradition...to see them dumped simply to secure more TV dollars is pretty sad to see.
Create a 20 team super conference with 10 team sub conferences (BIG10.1 and BIG10.2) that play a round robin schedule and the two champs play each other.
Michigan; MSU; OSU; Minn; NW; Wisconsin; Indiana; Iowa; Purdue and Illinois can be in BIG10.1
Everyone else in BIG10.2
I love the autocorrect here. It should be Houstan, Texas, for all M fans.
If it was autocorrect, it would be Houston.
No argument on your UT and OU slam, but the idea of adding inferior (by a few measures) schools to your conference is not a reasonable response. It would be like the Big Ten taking Cinci / WV.
well, we took on Maryland and Rutgers so...
I mean Houston has a very good BBall program, and their football program was actually not bad...Cincy has a very good football program and has had, in the past, a great BBall program. Same with UCF
Now geography probably played a role in not finding the right partners, but Texas and Oklahoma bolting for the SEC blows the geography/cultural fit metric out the window.
Anyways, I digress...I will be sad to see it happen though as I know the B1G will be forced to do something as well
At this point the Big 12 and Pac 12 need to merge just to survive and become the first Super Conference.
How about Big 12 Big 10 and Pac 12? Fuck the SEC
Not sure how you look at this new SEC and not call them a “Super Conference.” But maybe the PAC-12 and B1G merger could kick out OSU and be called the Justice League.
Knowing ND is seemingly the last obvious big diamond still not solidified in a conference, I worry the ACC and PAC-12 will form a 32-team costal alliance that would be alluring enough for ND to join up with the ACC permanently.
If you’re only looking at the money and not the terrible traveling required, such an alliance with an anchor in the eastern market, might jump start interest in watching PAC-12 teams (since they are playing ACC teams and ND). That would surely put them, together, as the number two conference, leaving the B1G behind them and the SEC.
I mentioned above - the Big 10 and ACC should really start talking about an alliance.
Which Notre Dame would not want anything to do with.
I think you are viewing this ND situation through a lens of 10-20 years ago. Things have drastically changed.
ND's AD has already publicly made a comment regarding the impact a 12 team playoff would have on ND needing to join a conference.
ND is a member of the Big Ten in hockey.
ND is a member of the ACC in many other sports.
ND will be joining a conference. The question is which one. Ultimately the Big Ten makes more sense because the football situation isn't much different in either the Big Ten or ACC, basketball isn't much different, but hockey is a huge difference.
When the dust settles and ND decides where it wants to go, it will most likely be the Big Ten and if it does end up being the ACC, I hope the Big Ten gives them the boot in hockey.
And things have drastically changed since ND made that comment. That comment was made with the understanding they wouldn’t join a conference, and even you agree they’ll join a conference now. Are you sure the ND alumni are over their feelings about joining the B1G expressed 20 years ago? You’re acting like them soft-joining the ACC and ending their B1G rivalries is proof of their eventual joining the B1G. What am I missing?
Edit:
”More likely, according to multiple sources around the ACC and Pac-12, would be an even bigger "alliance" that could result in something as simple as the Pac-12 and ACC teaming up to work toward a new TV deal and help balance the power commanded by the new 16-team SEC or perhaps a merger that could lead to a 32-team super conference. Those same sources said the moves by Texas and Oklahoma might signal the first steps in a breakaway from the NCAA.”
I’d think ND, a team that has always desired to play coast-to-coast, would rather play in this alliance with USC and Stanford than in a Midwest conference.
Alumni hurt feelings won't play one iota in what conference ND ends up in. This is about access to the playoff and money. The alumni will give no matter what as long as ND has equal path to the playoff and can be a solvent AD.
If significantly new conference developments arise, then the landscape changes again. For now, ND has to chose between the Big Ten and ACC.
Alumni hurt feelings won't play one iota in what conference ND ends up in. This is about access to the playoff and money. The alumni will give no matter what as long as ND has equal path to the playoff and can be a solvent AD.
Sure it will. Notre Dame is driven by a lot more than money, and they aren’t desperate. Aside from their bad blood with Michigan, their fans don’t want to be locked into a region or with the B1G in general. Notre Dame is the last pretty girl at the ball, and they will make a ton of money with whatever conference they join. The SEC would take them still if ND were interested. Even if the B1G provided them the most money, which might not be the case after the dust settles, locking themselves into a conference they don’t want to be a part of isn’t going to be worth it to them. Despite their location, they do not consider themselves a Midwestern team. Joining the B1G would make them just that.
Perhaps the B1G is becoming desperate enough to the point it would allow it, but ND isn’t going to give up its NBC deal, which has been a sticking point with other B1G members, not so much for the ACC. Should the the ACC join forces with the PAC-12, Notre Dame could probably broker a deal where they play, say, five from the ACC and four from the PAC-12, giving them a ton of independence in scheduling, plus an already loaded national schedule, something the B1G won’t provide. Such an alliance will provide them independence as an associate member or the semblance of it as a full-member with special privileges.
The only way Notre Dame joins the B1G is out of desperation, and last time I checked, they weren’t in talks to align with Kansas, and it was the ACC, the league ND is already half a part of, rumored to be aligning with the PAC-12. Believe whatever you will, but ND isn’t joining the B1G.
Have there been any studies done to attempt to project the impact of NIL upon the revenue generating sports at Universities? More and more, it just conceptually feels like there is a fundamental difference in purpose between college athletics and what schools are going to be doing. At what point does the NFL just create or enter into a partnership with a minor league sports outfit similar to the G League or, more likely, the academy system you see in European soccer.
With the NCAA unable to pull the strings to keep all the schools in line (at least on paper) and under the same set of rules, and with players of revenue generating sports at schools having the ability to generate serious money, at what point does someone just create that for-profit venture elsewhere? Is a school's tax-exempt status the only thing protecting it from collapse?
I keep getting negged for saying this, but I think we are all in denial when we don’t admit that calling this anything other than professional minor league football is a misnomer. Maybe not at schools like Michigan (e.g. Stanford, Northwestern, ND, UVA, GT, Vandy, Duke, Cal, UCLA, Washington, Wiscy, BYU), but virtually everywhere else in FBS there appears to be very little commitment to anything resembling amateurism. Even these schools don’t exactly fit the bill.
Not sure who keeps negging you but I've been saying the same thing too. We keep trying to fit a square peg into a round hole - a professional sports league (which is what we're dealing with) should not be managed by universities whose ostensible goal is to educate. It just can't work like this anymore.
Amen brother. It is destroying the soul of college football and corrupting the raison d'etre for college sports which is also supposed to be about the student-side of the equation. Maybe that is too utopian but it is what I feel separates the college game from the NFL---the shared passion from fans, players, and coaches all fighting for something that means more than money. That's why I have also previously stated that I don't think we should be giving out sham NCAA awards intended for true amateurs to quasi-professionals.
What I am curious to see is how they can join the conference yet still manage to rarely play each other and schedule outside cupcakes.
Great way to start a relationship....in secrecy. What a joke .....
If this is true, then some MAJOR conference realignment is about to happen
B10 and Pac10 should just make a super-conference. Own the Midwest and the West.
Rumor is TAMU leaked this once they caught wind of it all. Would explain how it went from nothing to 'this is happening' in about 72 hours. The Aggies have got to be pissed about this as they were clearly left out to avoid their objections
Not a fan of this all. This is one more stupid realignment move that damages the sport for a few more bucks.
Money and greed are ruining college football now!
“Now”?
I really don't get how this benefits OU. I get Texas thinking it's a big dog and will be able to push around the SEC (they won't, but UT has always seemed like a place that thinks it's better than it is), but OU just have up a really clear path every year to the playoffs for a really rough path that they'll likely struggle to meet.
I do wonder if this means Cincy gets a look by the Big 12 and how much of a hissy fit OSU will throw because of it.
Houston should get a look as well
Absolutely. I assume they'll get a call.
Texas was likely one foot out the door of the Big 12 either way which would finally implode the conference. If OU didn’t go, they’d be an orphan without a big hook like Texas had with the Longhorn network. OU gets to partake in that sweet SEC money and are already near the top of CFB, so although the path gets harder, what other option did they have
That's true, but they could have also considered going to the Pac-12 and then being a marquee name there. It just looks now like OU is following Texas's lead again.
OU really does benefit from the Big 12 being pretty bad on the football field; I looked at end-of-the-year conference rankings last year and the Big 12 produces something like 3 ranked teams a year by the end, with OU almost always the top one. The SEC and Big 10, by comparison, place like 5-6 teams most years in the top 25. They are just much tougher conferences to slog thru every season, and I think OU will be lost in the wash a bit more. Texas is (relatively) mediocre but they're such a national brand I don't think they care that much.
Surprised Oklahoma did not reach out to the Big 10. Restore rivalry with Nebraska. Immediately the top team in the Big 10 West. Don't look dependent on Texas.
From at least one angle, not surprised here. Bless all the normies in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Norman, etc., but Oklahoma is a culturally backward state that's closer to Alabama and Mississippi than it is Wisconsin or Minnesota. I think they're a great fit for the SEC.
It looks like Nebraska's decision to join the Big10. Money. They have never been the same from a national reputation standpoint. They used to be able to run roughshod over iffy competition most of the year and remain well placed in the polls. The outcome of 1 or 2 competitive games each year determined their season and national reputation.
I absolutely got it from Nebraska's viewpoint but I never understood it from the Big 10's perspective. This place rags on Rutgers and Maryland but those two schools either reside in talent-rich areas, have some semi-recent success, and/or have decent-to-good academic rankings and resources. I know it was for the money to an extent, but if I told you two top-60 Universities were joining your conference and were bringing tons of research opportunities/resources as well as decent athletics you'd be sort of onboard with that move. Nebraska's big selling point seemed to be they were a great football team in the 90s and then were pretty good for a bit more. But on any other relevant metric they were lacking, and all they've done since then is give people buyer's remorse.
always seemed like a place that thinks it's better than it is
There seems to be a bit of that going around right now.
EDIT: Just realized you mentioned Cincy being considered by the Big 12. My response pertained to Cincy getting a look by the Big Ten, and therefore irrelevant.
Cincinnati deserves to be in either Big 12 or B1G. They have improved very well in football. Basketball? Not as successful
Honest question, Does this make OSU unstoppable? They will have by far the easiest path to the playoffs outside of Clemson. Their recruiting pitch will only have to be, Want to go to the playoffs, come here.
This wouldn't really affect Ohio State. They already have an easy path (not THE easiest though, that's still Clemson until Florida State or UNC or Miami get their shit together). This move just puts a lid on Texas being back and nerfs Oklahoma who's seemingly trading a reliable path to the CFP for more money (which I guess, okay sure).
Ohio State is still top dog around here, and there's really nowhere to go when you're up there. I do see Ohio State's AD pushing the B1G to keep the conference relevant by adding a team or two to keep up or else Ohio State may start itching to join a super conference too if the B1G starts to fall behind.
B1G I would imagine will snatch up Kansas (biggest no-brainer out there). Notre Dame would be help but they're never joining the B1G due to pettiness. Next likely is a Duke/UNC/Virginia/Boston College type team who provides a strong research school with a new market (Pitt and Cincinnati would be blocked by Penn State and Ohio State I would imagine). West Virginia's credentials likely not impressive enough academically. Iowa State is very likely a fall back plan if they can't grab anyone else. Oklahoma State could maybe happen if the B1G sets their academic criteria aside (which might be necessary at this point). But if they do that, then Virginia Tech and a few other schools could be potential targets as well.
I agree with you on Kansas…good academics and a basketball school, but when I say “take Kansas”, the underlying assumption is the B1G isn’t looking to compete with the SEC for football supremacy, that that battle is already won. The B1G has to consider taking schools that allow them to compete with the SEC in other ways. If we could land those big ACC basketball schools (like the ones you mentioned), would be a victory in my book.
edit: …and, it looks like we are taking Kansas. Life comes at you fast.
First time I’ve ever heard “Kansas” and “good academics” in the same sentence.
Lol same. Kansas sucks.
Let it happen and let OSU go as well if they want in. Whoever wants to be minor league football can join the SEC. When the dust settles, the rest of the schools can play "college sports" with NIL and an updated rulebook. Divide them up by regions/conferences again and there you go.