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xX-TSK-Xx
06-14-2010, 08:21 PM
Texas decides to stay put in Big 12


AUSTIN, Texas -- The Big 12 has risen from the dead.

The University of Texas announced Monday evening that it will remain in the conference, likely meaning the exodus from the league will be limited to Colorado's move to the Pac-10 and Nebraska's switch to the Big Ten. The Longhorns turned down an invitation from the Pac-10, and they may have staved off a major restructuring in college athletics. Texas officials, including president Bill Powers, men's athletic director DeLoss Dodds and women's athletic director Chris Plonsky will hold a press conference at 11 a.m., ET on Tuesday to discuss the decision. The press conference will be streamed live at TexasSports.com.

Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M also issued statemetns saying they'll remain in the Big 12. There has been no word on the decisions of Texas Tech.

In recent days, Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe had tried to convince his member schools that in the next few years, the league could close the television revenue gap that divides it from the richer SEC and Big Ten. The plan appears to have worked.

The decision also means Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri will remain in a Bowl Championship Series automatic qualifying conference. When the Big 12 appeared ready to implode, those schools appeared on the verge of being left without a conference to call home.

The University of Texas board of regents canceled a Tuesday meeting to discuss conference alignment. Texas Tech had a board of regents meetings scheduled for Tuesday, while Oklahoma and Oklahoma State had regents meetings scheduled for Wednesday. The higher education committee of the Texas House of Representatives also has a hearing scheduled for Wednesday to discuss college athletics. Committee chair Dan Branch (R-Dallas) said that despite Monday's news, the hearing will go on as planned.

"We will still have a hearing," Branch said. "This sounds like a promising result. We're grateful for all the good work done by our schools today. We look forward to having a dialogue Wednesday, but this looks like a very promising development for the state of Texas."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/ncaa/06/14/texas.big.12/index.html?eref=sihp

Looks like the conference realignment isn't going to be as drastic as it initially apperaed. The Big Ten is probably done expanding unless they can grab Notre Dame. I wonder what Texas is getting for staying put. Some sort of t.v. deal must be on the horizon.

salamander
06-14-2010, 08:30 PM
I wonder if they'll change the names of the conferences now, you know since the Big 12 has 10 teams now and the Big Ten has 12. lol.

suitanim
06-15-2010, 07:49 AM
Texas is inking it's own exclusive TV deal in the vein of what Notre Dame has...and they really should swap names. It defies logic to not do so....

venom
06-15-2010, 07:52 AM
And dont forget that the Pac-10 has 11 teams , lol

atlsteelers
06-15-2010, 08:27 AM
it not like notre dame's tv contract. Its more like florida's tv contract. thats one of the reasons longhorns stayed in the big 12 because the PAC 10 wants to develop a big 10 like network and to do so texas would have to foriet their regional tv rights. Where as the big 12 copied the SEC in allowing each school to develop their own network or contract to broadcast in their local markets (of course these local networks do not conflict with the national broadcast of football but if you want to watch a college baseball game or football preview show featuring your college this is were you tune in). Texas and Oklahoma still get a sweet deal with the national tv contract because revenue will not be equall shared among the remaining 10 teams.

suitanim
06-15-2010, 11:05 AM
If you're talking about "Longhorns Network", that's small potatoes, only a few million a year. If that's their motivation, they'll fail. Here's a little blurb on that:

One veteran TV executive, who declined to be identified because he was involved in discussions to bring Texas to the Pac-10, said the school's sports network will have to survive on lower-profile sports and is unlikely to feature many significant basketball or football games. "The crumbs are going to trickle down to Texas' network," he said. "If they decide to launch this, it's going to be a tough putt, let's put it that way."

If the conference already has a TV deal in place (and it does), the major carrier is not going to give up the rights to any big Texas football or basketball games. That can only be achieved if they "go rogue". If that's not their plan, they're barking up the wrong tree. Better to join the Pac 10 and take the big payday from that conferences TV deal.

But rumor has it that the Big XII commish is promising to double the conferences TV revenue sharing with a few of the top-tier teams. I question that...why was that deal announced AFTER Colorado and Nebraska left? If this TV deal was real, wouldn't you employ that to save the conference BEFORE two of your teams bolted?

xX-TSK-Xx
06-15-2010, 12:49 PM
And dont forget that the Pac-10 has 11 teams , lol

They'll probably swipe some mid-major team to make an even twelve Maybe Boise State would have been better servered to join the Pac 10.

suitanim
06-15-2010, 01:12 PM
They'll probably swipe some mid-major team to make an even twelve Maybe Boise State would have been better servered to join the Pac 10.

Boise as #12 for the Pac 10 actually makes a lot of sense. Geographically it's a perfect fit. It's obvious the Pac 10 isn't scared of adding quality, since they courted Oklahoma and Texas. I wonder if Boise would be interested? They are a powerhouse mid-major, but would quickly go from perennial unbeatens to a .750 team in the Pac 10, from BCS bowls to the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese bowl played Christmas Eve in Mississippi.

I actually think the Big XII is more likely to scoop up a couple mid-majors to replace Nebraska and Colorado so they can retain their moniker...

st33lersguy
06-15-2010, 03:20 PM
Boise as #12 for the Pac 10 actually makes a lot of sense. Geographically it's a perfect fit. It's obvious the Pac 10 isn't scared of adding quality, since they courted Oklahoma and Texas. I wonder if Boise would be interested? They are a powerhouse mid-major, but would quickly go from perennial unbeatens to a .750 team in the Pac 10, from BCS bowls to the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese bowl played Christmas Eve in Mississippi.

I actually think the Big XII is more likely to scoop up a couple mid-majors to replace Nebraska and Colorado so they can retain their moniker...

Why would Boise St. join the Pac10 when they just moved to the mountain west

steeldevil
06-15-2010, 08:30 PM
Why would Boise St. join the Pac10 when they just moved to the mountain west

My bet would be that Utah becomes the 12th "Pac 10" team. Hopefully that ends this expansion bullshit for a while

kmsteelerwr15
06-15-2010, 08:37 PM
My bet would be that Utah becomes the 12th "Pac 10" team. Hopefully that ends this expansion bullshit for a while

Yeah I have been hearing a lot about Utah going over to the Pac-10

suitanim
06-16-2010, 09:11 AM
I know what Boise did...that wasn't my point. Boise was the better fit. They didn't really make that big of a vertical leap, leaving one weak conference for another one. The Pac 10 would have been a prestigious move. Since this is all about football, Boise >>> Utah, so the Pac 10 will end up with the shit end of the stick between these two teams. Utah and Colorado do NOTHING to improve the strength or prestige of the Pac 10.

BigNastyDefense
06-16-2010, 12:46 PM
The Big 12 is going to have to lose it's divisions or move teams from the south to the north to even it out if the NCAA grants them permission to have a championship game with only ten teams. I doubt the NCAA will grant that because then the Pac-10 would want the same thing with just 11 teams, and that would send every conference with 10 teams wanting a conference championship game.

oneforthetoe
06-16-2010, 12:53 PM
IMO, this was the worst case scenario for college football. So, all we are left with is a weaker Big 12- . I was hoping for one less automatic bid to the fake national championship.

suitanim
06-16-2010, 03:57 PM
That's not necessarily true. Colorado is actually a good fit for the Pac 10 since it's not a strong top-to-bottom conference. Them joining hurts FAR less than their flagship team (USC) being caught cheating. But what really happened was the Pac 10 sat out some honey to attract a queen bee (like Nebraska, Oklahoma or especially Texas) and they instead just ended up with a worker bee.

Nebraska moving to the Big Ten made sense and helped that conference a lot. A Big ten team making the NC game will NOW most likely have to play at least one more strong in-conference foe in the regular season AND play a conference championship game.

And Boise moving changed nothing...they will still play only 1-2, maybe 3 decent teams all year. So they can still sneak into a BCS game they don't deserve every year.

atlsteelers
06-18-2010, 09:04 AM
Looks Texas A&M fans are dissappointed about not leaving for the SEC...canceling season tickets and with holding donations to the 12th man foundation. Can not blame them the SEC is the best football conference. A&M and Oklahoma would have been nice additions but i happy with the current members.. appearently the University of Texas threatened to never play the aggies agian in any sport if they left for the SEC...

Decision Not Sitting Well With Texas A&M Fans



Texas A&M President, Bowen Loftin By David Sandhop
Aggie Websider Publisher
Posted Jun 17, 2010



| More

The saying goes that Texans like things bigger. So with this week’s public announcement by Texas A&M’s university president Bowen Loftin that his institution would forego a courtship by the SEC to join the biggest collegiate athletic conference in the country to remain in a smaller Big 12 minus Nebraska and Colorado, needless to say it hasn’t gone over well with the Aggie faithful.

Since the announcement was released Monday evening, a firestorm of anger and criticism over the decision to stay in the modified Big 12 erupted from Texas A&M students, former students, and fans onto Loftin’s Facebook page, Internet sports information networks like Scout.com, and social networking web sites where fans and supporters congregate. More importantly for Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne and the 12th Man Foundation which is the fund raising arm of the athletic department, a significant group of donors have vehemently condemned the move and have threatened to cancel season tickets and remove sizeable pledges to fund upcoming capital projects including the planned multi-million dollar renovation of its baseball stadium that is scheduled to begin in the next seven months.

This Aggie revolt has come with its share of controversy as well. Calls to the athletic department have flooded phone lines while e-mails are jamming university mail boxes. Some of the comments from angry fans have not been gracious to say the least and in some cases have crossed the line, especially for Byrne‘s tastes. In an episode that is gaining widespread attention on the Internet and across sports talk radio programs around the state, Byrne was so offended by one particular e-mail that he left a threatening voicemail to one former student and challenged him to a face-to-face physical confrontation at his office. That voicemail was digitized and released on the Internet which has only fueled the current mutiny.

So what has the Aggies so riled up and why has the tease of joining the SEC become such an emotional and hot button issue that former students and high level university officials are coming to blows - literally? Actually, the list is long. It starts with wanting to play in the best college football conference in the nation and ends with needing to remove themselves from the oppressive shadow of big brother 100 miles away, the University of Texas.

While the drama of potentially separating from Texas has received the most headlines in the state’s press, the primary reasons for driving rank-and-file Texas A&M fans to the thought of joining the SEC is all about the product on the field and the cultural fit with the schools in the southeast. Aside from in-state rivals Texas and Baylor, Texas A&M has actually played LSU more times in its 100+ year program history than any other school in the Big 12 including Texas Tech. Baton Rouge is less than four hours from Houston where the greatest concentration of former students are located. Arkansas was a long-time rival in the old Southwest Conference and the two teams began a long-term neutral site series last year at the Cowboys’ new stadium in Dallas.

There’s also strong ties to SEC powerhouse Alabama. Before his successful and distinguished tenure with the Crimson Tide that made him a legend, Bear Bryant resurrected a downtrodden A&M program during his brief stay in College Station in the 1950’s highlighted by the legendary training camp at Junction, Texas that was made into a high profile movie several years ago. At that camp as a young player was Gene Stallings who would later go on to coach at Texas A&M and eventually coach and win a national championship at Alabama in the early 1990’s. It just so happens that Stallings currently sits on the university’s board of regents and has been rumored to be an integral player in bringing Texas A&M and the SEC to the table last week.

Aside from natural rivalries and a cultural fit, it ultimately boils down to the product on the field and the passionate game day environment and tailgating experience that has most Aggie fans drooling at the thought of joining the SEC. While the thought of playing LSU, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama is daunting for a football program that is still trying to rebuild after the destruction left by Dennis Franchione, these weekly match-ups in the SEC had A&M fans energized when word leaked over the weekend that SEC Commissioner Michael Slive was in College Station for extensive meetings with A&M officials.

And finally, with the University of Texas showing little interest in the SEC and focused on a move westward to the Pac-10, A&M fans saw the chance of a lifetime to not only move to an elite athletic conference but to also shed itself of its in-state rival that has dominated and overwhelmed many of the state’s universities on a wide range of issues but most clearly symbolized in the world of athletics.

Many Texas A&M fans interpret those actions to be hostile and limiting at times, and those feelings were certainly justified last week when Texas threatened to never play the Aggies again in any sport if they followed through with its plan to spurn the Longhorns’ brokered deal with Pac-10 and join the SEC. A&M stood its ground and continued its due diligence with the SEC over the weekend which spurred even more excitement among the fan base.

Loftin, Byrne, and selected members of the board of regents met behind closed doors Monday afternoon for what many Aggies felt would be a meeting to put the finishing touches on a recommendation to its board of regents to accept an invitation to the SEC.

But surprisingly, President Loftin emerged from those sessions to announce on his Facebook page that his team elected to stay in a smaller Big 12 Conference after a last minute Hail Mary proposal submitted by Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe promised both A&M and Texas over $20 million in annual TV revenues.

That left Texas A&M fans and stakeholders stunned and furious. They felt betrayed that university officials were lured to stay in a watered-down Big 12 Conference because of short term TV dollars. Hundreds of angry messages immediately flooded Loftin’s Facebook page and a call-to-arms began among the rank-and-file fan base and most importantly the school’s large donors.

This revolt could culminate this weekend. In an ironic twist to this story, Texas A&M had previously scheduled its annual athletics advisory council meetings in Austin for what is typically a comfortable handshake affair where the school’s top donors are wined-and-dined and given a state-of-the-union update from A&M officials. Byrne and Loftin are still on the agenda to speak, but there’s no question that there will be few handshakes and many uncomfortable moments as a vocal segment of the donor group plans to make a last-ditch plea to resurrect the SEC plan and put pressure on officials to listen to its customers. Several recent large on-line polls favor joining the SEC by a an overwhelming 85-90% mark.

Despite the overwhelming disdain for this Big 12 proposal (that has yet to receive guarantees from TV executives on the $20 million of revenues promised by Commissioner Dan Beebe) and the threats of donors pulling the plug on valuable funding, there’s been little evidence so far that A&M officials are reconsidering this controversial decision. So all eyes are on Saturday’s meeting and whether a face-to-face meeting with angry donors will sway Monday‘s decision.

For more information and discussion regarding realignment and detailed Texas A&M team news and up-to-the-minute recruiting analysis, go to Aggie Websider on the Scout.com Network at Websider.com. The Aggie Websider is the longest

suitanim
06-18-2010, 11:37 AM
A&M really didn't bring a whole to to the table for the SEC...they'd have been the equivalent of adding another team like Kentucky. Since the mid-90's they've really been a mediocre .500 team, and haven't really been a legitimate power since the early 90's. They only have one NC and it's 70 years old. Unless the goal of the SEC is to add more mid-tier teams to make a run for one of their teams to the NCG easier (which I wouldn't put past them considering the way a few games were officiated in the last couple years), this is no bread at all off their table.

BigNastyDefense
06-18-2010, 07:53 PM
I wonder....if the TV package doesn't get reworked (and I wouldn't blame the TV people for not reworking the deal for a weaker conference), does the Big 12 then dissolve because the schools aren't getting what was promised?

suitanim
06-19-2010, 05:35 AM
I don't know...still don't understand how there's a bigger, better TV deal for a weaker conference that's only announced AFTER two teams flee, one of them being a perennial powerhouse (granted, Nebraska has been down a bit, but they seem resurgent under Pelini).

I don't think people appreciate how big of a loss the Huskers were. They have 5 nationals Championships. They are #4 on the all-time win list. Only one of 7 programs with 800 wins. They have the best winning percentage and most wins of any program in the last 50 years.

They are an elite program. And the Big 12 just let them walk.

atlsteelers
06-21-2010, 09:25 AM
I don't know...still don't understand how there's a bigger, better TV deal for a weaker conference that's only announced AFTER two teams flee, one of them being a perennial powerhouse (granted, Nebraska has been down a bit, but they seem resurgent under Pelini).

I don't think people appreciate how big of a loss the Huskers were. They have 5 nationals Championships. They are #4 on the all-time win list. Only one of 7 programs with 800 wins. They have the best winning percentage and most wins of any program in the last 50 years.

They are an elite program. And the Big 12 just let them walk.

agree with you on that one. what does the big 12 really bring to the table. so if texas or oklahoma run the table and a team from either the SEC, PAC10, or Big 10 go undefeated with a confernece title game there is now way in hell they are going to the BCS title game.

suitanim
06-22-2010, 09:18 PM
agree with you on that one. what does the big 12 really bring to the table. so if texas or oklahoma run the table and a team from either the SEC, PAC10, or Big 10 go undefeated with a confernece title game there is now way in hell they are going to the BCS title game.

That's not necessarily true (but probably will be). The onus is going to be on the top programs remaining in the Big Whatever to schedule tough OOC games. Their conference weakening is a bit of an opportunity to send out feelers to the rest of the annual BCS contenders that they are game for some home/away series. Colorado isn't a huge factor, but Nebraska is. You take the Huskers off your conference schedule, you best be scheduling a USC or Virginia Tech or Georgia to replace them, and NOT an Idaho or Iowa State.