do they go from here? Stay? SEC? Big Ten (11, wait 12, wait......)
and call it "Texas and the Little 9", since they've been promised $20-25 million a year plus the right to start their own TV network.
Can't believe A&M is leaning towards staying in this conference instead of bolting to the SEC or Big10
I'm kind of surprised, but at the same time, the Aggie War Hymn would be pointless if Texas was in a different conference. How do you dedicate half your fight song to a team that's not even in your conference rival?
They'd play each other in OOC games across all sports (regardless of the posturing by UT). There's just too much money involved for either party to walk away from playing each other
There's just too much money involved for either party to walk away from playing each other
I think that's the bigger point. If they aren't conference rivals, they lose a bit of that edge. Nothing is guaranteed that they'd play every year in all the sports. Yes, it's very likely, but it's not a lock. Plus the games really will mean less by definition. That could lead to less money from the rivalry. That's probably my bigger point despite not explicitly stating it in the previous post.
Ask the MAC Aggies (until about 1950) "...fight right through that line of blue, Michigan is weak'ning"
How do you dedicate half of your fight song to a team that's not your own...period?
This is why Michigan was smart. "Beeaaat Chicago, RAH RAH RAH!"
You and me both, buddy. You and me both.
This will end well. (For the current Big12[10] that is)
Never saw this coming. With Nebraska and Colorado gone, I never thought they're decided to keep it glues together. I wonder what this means for A&M though. DO they go SEC or do they stay?
Huge blow for the MWC as well. They were all set for taking a BCS bid, and if the Pac-10 settles for 12 by sniping Utah, their hopes just went up in smoke regardless of what happens with expansion after all is said and done. Hopefully we settle for Nebraska and call it a day, although I know that if ND is in, we'll probably end up picking up someone else for 14. Hopefully that'll be a basketball school to make up for Nebraska.
I think you are completely right, losing Utah if it happens, will be a big blow to the MWC, and keeping the Longhorn Conference around IMO means no automatic bid is coming to the MWC. The best thing that could have happened for the MWC was the breakup of the B12. Now they have Boise, which is nice, but doesn't really do a thing for their chances of an auto-bid.
It'll be interesting to see what happens with the MWC's chances for an auto-bid. Losing Utah would definitely be a huge blow, but adding Boise State is a nice gain for the conference. Before all this conference expansion craziness, it looked like the MWC was on the verge of getting an auto-bid with Utah, TCU, and BYU as its big three schools. If they can keep the rest of the conference intact and replace Utah with Boise State, I think the MWC will still have a realistic shot at getting an auto-bid. I doubt they'll actually get one after the changes, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did.
Isn't their board of regents meeting tomorrow? Hard to believe they would have such a monumental decision prior to this occurring.
We will see if money really does talk or if bevo shit walks. If they really cough that $20-25mil up to UT and make everyone else get crumbs that would be nuts.
there's still a possibility in my mind that this was all a way for UT to shed the "Tech problem" and that UT might still come to the b-10, but without A&M or Tech in tow. Is there a link?
Apparently ABC/ESPN wanted a Big 12 with Texas as a showcase rather than a Pac 10 west coast games and sweetened the pot on money...Good to be Texas right now. .
Seriously...as if there was any question that they ran the show in the Big 12 anyway. Now with the future of the North in the hands of the likes of Missouri and Iowa State, whoever wins the South has an even clearer path to BCS. It'd be interesting if/when/who they choose to replace the 2 who left. BYU? Utah? New Mexico? I'd lean towards Air Force and BYU, but that's just me. They already have a presence in Colorado, so USAFA is not that far of a reach....
I'm pretty positive that the Big Twelve will stay put and play a nine-game round-robin like the PAC-10 does now.
Yeah, it's possible. It'll be interesting if there's pressure in a few months/years/whathaveyou for a championship game. If the NCAA lets the 10 team exemption go, then they're happy. The fact is that game brought some cash to the conference. Perhaps a TV network can fill that in, who knows....
All signs point to Utah joining the Pac 10. The rumor on Utah's major sports blog (http://www.blocku.com) is that Utah has already been invited to join the Pac 10 and has informed the MWC of its intentions to leave. It says that an official announcement should come either tonight or tomorrow. It is just a rumor and we've heard a lot different expansion rumors in the last few weeks that didn't happen, but I'm leaning towards this one being true.
It'll be interesting to see if BYU gets an offer. One of the biggest issues with BYU is that they won't participate in any sporting events on Sunday because of the school's affiliation with the LDS church. That cause headaches for conferences from a scheduling standpoint, and it was one of the many reasons that the Pac 10 didn't consider BYU. I just looked at last year's Big XII conference championship schedule, and the championships in soccer, women's basketball, men's & women's golf, men's & women's tennis, men's & women's track, softball, and baseball were all played on Sundays. I don't think the Big XII will want to adjust it's schedule's for BYU, but you never know.
My guess is that the Big XII just sticks with 10 teams for now. If they're really desperate to expand, they could consider teams like TCU, Houston, UTEP, Air Force or Colorado State, but I don't think any of those teams really benefits the conference.
... this whole conference russian roulette back and forth has exposed ESPN and their sources as nothing more than a glorified blog. What the hell ever happened to reporting standards?
Glorified blog is a great way to characterise them...
Now that they lost 2 teams...who are the 2 teams they are going to invite? You would think that they would want to keep a Conference Championship right?
TCU? Boise St.? BYU? Utah? or even smaller schools? UTEP? Houston?
Schools keep saying that they don't like the championship game and would be fine without it.
is that they're staying put with 10 teams and forgoing a conference championship. Also likely switching to a 9 conference game schedule where all teams play each other, like the Pac-10.
They will certainly stay within the Big 12. Cam down people.
WHO'S NOT CAM? WE ARE ALL CAM. OK? ALRIGHT?
I meant "calm"! Wow this is a HUGE embarrassment for me.
Just cam down and relax. It's ok....just cam down.
I hope he doesn't blow a gasket.
throttle the OP.
In video chat rooms, don't you? Your Freudian slip is showing ....
A&M, UT and OU have all committed to stay in Big 12.
Take that for what it is worth per usual.
From "Dan Beebe's" twitter:
"OK, I'm actually a little worried now. UT, A&M and OU all have announced they are staying. KSU, BU and ISU are oddly silent."
Haha.
Joe Scha(m)d from ESPN reports that the Big 12 move to Pac10 is 'Imminent.' ESPN/ABC intervene with Big 12 sweeten the pot Big12 remains a conference. Doesn't Joe Scham work for ESPN and its family of networks??? Puzzling. If a tree falls in the ESPN's forest apparently it falls on Joe Scham.
He has ties to the Pac 10 and the Pac 10 thought they had those schools. So, he reports it as "imminent". Not a big deal. Also, he reports it on Twitter. It's half news.
It's not a big deal. But 'imminent 'to me sounds like its going to happen at some point. Also, 'Half News' is gossip.
I find this decision quite stunning. Why would you foolishly let two of your bigger teams go only to seemingly increase the disparity. Soon, Oklahoma will growl about Texas and you'll probably see expansion with some Texas teams to try to increase the revenue. One thing is for sure, the Big 12 North teams are still isolated and it's only going to get worse for them if there's expansion (TCU, SMU, Houston).
TCU and Houston?
One thing is for sure, the Big 12 North teams are still isolated and it's only going to get worse for them if there's expansion (TCU, SMU, Houston).While they are at it, they should invite Rice and Arkansas too. Nothing could go wrong with that.
Maybe they'll move Oklahoma to the B12 North so it'll be more fair.
And Syracuse, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, and UConn are still stuck in purgatory.
Shit.
So if the B12 is still intact, are super conferences not going to happen? The B10 is fine for now, the Pac10 will probably take at least 1 more, but I don't know if they can get 6. The SEC doesn't appear to be making any moves.