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Left Behind: A Quick Dose Of Post Big 12 Reality


LTtxfan

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4 hours ago, Loose Stool said:

Looks like Bowlsby is out...

Story on the Spun

I have to think this has something to do with KU winning the tournament while being investigated and signing bill self to a lifetime contract regardless of infractions or suspensions or really anything. Very disrespectful to the big 12 and the ncaa and I couldn’t be happier about it. Fuck the ncaa and fuck bowlsby. 

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On 3/31/2022 at 5:44 PM, Francisco 2.0 said:

https://theathletic.com/3222097/2022/03/31/inside-the-big-12s-discussions-of-new-divisions-geography-texas-oklahoma-and-other-key-issues-loom/

 

 

 

 

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Should the Sooners and Longhorns be placed in the same division or not? There are multiple ways of looking at that. From a convenience standpoint, putting them in separate divisions makes it easier to move forward whenever they exit, avoiding a need to redo this process down the road. From a competitive standpoint, putting them in the same division — as they were in the old Big 12 South — would mean only one could reach the Big 12 title game. Can these ADs set pettiness aside in making that choice?

In The Athletic’s survey of Big 12 fans earlier this month, 54 percent of Texas and Oklahoma fans indicated they’d prefer to be in the same division, 26 percent wanted to be in different divisions and 20 percent expressed no preference. Both schools do have representation on the working group that is building the division models. If the preferred plan is putting Oklahoma and Texas in separate divisions, then the actual divisional setup becomes more important because it could end up being the plan the Big 12 sticks with for 2025 and beyond.

The conference is expected to maintain its nine-game league schedule in football, sources said, which in a 14-team league would mean six divisional games and three crossover games. This is a conference with rivalries dating back to the Southwest Conference and Big Eight era that should be protected. The alignment of the Red River rivals is important, but so is the matter of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and whether it’s best they be paired or placed in different divisions next year.

It’s fair to hit pause on this whole conversation, though, and ask: Should the Big 12 even have divisions in the future? It’s possible other Power 5 conferences move away from divisions in the years ahead, and the Big 12’s No. 1 vs. No. 2 setup of its conference title game over the past five years can certainly be defended as the best setup for improving its champ’s College Football Playoff hopes.

“We have planted a banner that we’re gonna put the two best teams from our league in the championship game and that’s going to help us with Playoff attention and opportunity,” one source said. “Why would we change that?”

NCAA bylaws currently require FBS conferences to either have two divisions or play full round-robin schedules in order to hold a conference championship game. The AAC did receive a waiver in 2019 to continue playing its conference title games when it became an 11-team league after UConn’s departure. But this should be an area where conferences pursue deregulation, because the rule itself was completely arbitrary when it was established.

Andy Staples reported on its origins in 2014 and found the requirement was adopted back in 1987. Where did it come from? Back then, the Pennsylvania State Athletics Conference wanted to put on a conference championship that was exempt from the regular-season game limits. The Division II conference submitted a proposal requiring leagues to have 14 schools split into two divisions (which it had) in order to hold conference title games. The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, which had 12 members and divisions, co-sponsored the legislation and got the PSAC to change the requirement from 14 schools to 12.

The legislation was enacted at the 1987 NCAA convention and applied to all three divisions. Nobody cared at the Division I-A level because, at the time, those conferences didn’t have more than 10 schools. The 12-school requirement was finally dropped in 2016, which allowed the Big 12 to revive its conference title game as a 10-member league. But the rest of the rule — requiring two divisions or full round-robin schedules — lives on today.

In The Athletic’s Big 12 fan survey, 63 percent of the more than 1,110 fans of 12 current/future members surveyed indicated they’d prefer divisions in the future. Some leaders consider a divisional setup useful to help address the travel issues that will come with a more spread-out conference, which raises the next issue.

The working group’s divisional models have been described by one AD as “somewhat regional” as expected, and certainly it will matter to some extent how the final alignment can be branded as North-South or East-West (or maybe Legends and Leaders?), but even those decisions are subjective and debatable. There are some natural groupings, like keeping the trio of Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State together. There are obvious bad ideas, like West Virginia and BYU as division-mates. But there doesn’t seem to be one obviously perfect way to divide up the conference’s new map.

There’s interest among ADs in ensuring every Big 12 member gets to play games in Texas and Florida, given its importance to recruiting. That aim would make a North-South setup a little less appealing. Would it mean it makes sense to, for example, put TCU and Texas Tech in one division with Baylor and Houston in the other? One AD did also note that, from a scheduling standpoint, there’s some interest in ensuring the remaining members still get home games against Oklahoma and Texas before they go.

For some, though, it’s hard to shake the feeling that all the 14-team talk still seems a little silly, even as that day is fast approaching. As one source skeptically put it: Does anyone honestly expect Oklahoma and Texas to still be in the Big 12 in 2023 and 2024?

The news this week of Conference USA resolving its separation with Old Dominion, Marshall and Southern Miss and letting them exit this summer does raise that question, which few can answer as the silent game of chicken drags on between the leadership of Oklahoma and Texas and Bowlsby, who has the ironclad grant of rights and no reason to budge.

“In the back of my mind I think, ‘We’re wasting a lot of time here. They’re not going to be here when these new schools come into our league,’” the source said. “But everybody is being so careful right now and not wanting to put their cards on the table.”

So the planning must continue. Can a divisional plan — or a decision on whether the Big 12 should even have divisions — get finalized during their May 2-4 meetings? Some sources view that as more of an optimistic aim, given the limited amount of discussion that has occurred so far and how many details need to be addressed. The Phoenix meetings will also be the first time all of the Big 12’s current and future football coaches will be in a room together, and surely they’ll have feedback to offer.

Those meetings will offer their first chance to really reckon with this unusual experience of moving forward as a hopefully tight-knit 12-member family living with two exes who still haven’t moved out. This 14-team league is happening, and it’s time to start making decisions about how this is actually going to work.

 

If this happens, please light me on fire. 

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Baylor and Kansas folks putting together candidates ??  What could go wrong...

  • The Baylor University Football sexual assault scandal - "Baylor Football Scandal Is Among the Ugliest Ever In College Sports"
  • 2003 murder of Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy
  •  921 days ago, the NCAA delivered a document to the University of Kansas that called its men's head basketball coach a cheater. 
  • Former Kansas Jayhawks football player alleged the school offered him about $50,000 in benefits to keep quiet about harassment toward him from other members of the team.
  • Kansas is also charged with two Level II violations and one Level III violation related to the football program under coach David Beaty.
  • Kansas football parts ways with Les Miles amid sexual harassment scandal at LSU
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On 4/5/2022 at 3:49 PM, Vertigo said:

Who could have seen that coming? 

Nobody saw it coming. I figured he'd hold the position from the grave. I mean he literally oversaw the complete dismantling of the conference and was still there, his fat ass in the commissioner's seat. Now that the destruction is done, he gets to retire with a nice severance package I suspect. Fuck him.

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20 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

 

Baylor and Kansas folks putting together candidates ??  What could go wrong...

  • The Baylor University Football sexual assault scandal - "Baylor Football Scandal Is Among the Ugliest Ever In College Sports"
  • 2003 murder of Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy
  •  921 days ago, the NCAA delivered a document to the University of Kansas that called its men's head basketball coach a cheater. 
  • Former Kansas Jayhawks football player alleged the school offered him about $50,000 in benefits to keep quiet about harassment toward him from other members of the team.
  • Kansas is also charged with two Level II violations and one Level III violation related to the football program under coach David Beaty.
  • Kansas football parts ways with Les Miles amid sexual harassment scandal at LSU

Livingstone is top notch and not a traditional Baylor figure.

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On 4/6/2022 at 2:54 PM, LTtxfan said:

 

I don't know this man but he believes in conspiracy theories and is grossly inappropriate with his nieces.  

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2 minutes ago, Deej said:

So she's all about untraditional rape? 

Caused a shitstorm here by supporting the LGBTQ+ student group. She raised enough money, got us to R1, and kept football and mbball going so the opposition couldn't really do anything about it besides complain.

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Bowlsby was basically fired... 😋  

Big 12 Board of Directors Agree with Commissioner Bob Bowlsby on His Exit Plan

By Robert Allen       April 5th, 2022

Quote

STILLWATER – The Big 12 Conference Board of Directors, headed by chairperson and Texas Tech University President Lawrence Schovanec, made the decision to seperate from Big 12 Conference Commissioner Bob Bowlsby. The board cited failure to perform as the primary reason for the change which will take place over a three-month (90-days) period. Pokes Report has also learned that the Board of Directors also felt the need to have somebody better versed in television contract negotiations and even more astute on dealing with the television networks and other potential multimedia partners. The move was actually made last week but the parties waited to make the announcement on April 5.

The release from the Big 12 Conference laid out a mutual decision between the parites, but this was initiated by the Board. The terms will be favorable and will accommodate Bowlsby as he has been an effective leader during most of his time as commissioner. 

"After more than 40 years of serving in leadership roles in intercollegiate athletics, including the last 10 with the Big 12, and given the major issues that college sports in general and the Big 12 specifically will address in the next several years, I have reached a natural transition point in my tenure as Commissioner, as well as in my career," Bowlsby was quoted in the release.

The release also said Bowlsby would transition into a new role in the conference as his contract is paid out. The contract runs through 2025.

“On behalf of the Big 12 Conference, I want to extend my sincere appreciation to Commissioner Bowlsby for his outstanding leadership over the last decade,” Dr. Schovanec (Texas Tech President and Big 12 Board chair) said. “Bob has consistently driven distributable revenue growth for the Conference’s member institutions, has stood strong during turbulent times in the world of collegiate sports, has led innovation within collegiate athletics, and has worked tirelessly to ensure the stability and future of the Big 12 Conference.”

Dr. Schovanec also thanked Bowlsby for staying with the conference in a future role and assisting with the transition to the new commissioner.

No replacement was immediately identified by the Big 12 Board. The 90-days gives the Big 12 Board of Directors time to identify the next leaders of the conference. The exit plan was a negotiated part of the process to make a change at the top of the conference leadership.

That perception of performance failure stems from iast summer and the abrupt departure of blue blood football schools University of Texas and University of Oklahoma to the Southeastern Conference. It looked poor as Bowlsby had worked two years plus in a small-assigned working group for the College Football Playoff on expansion with three others including SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. How could Bowlsby work with Sankey so closely for an extended period and be caught completely off guard when two of his top schools left for Sankey’s conference?

Actually, Big 12 Presidents and Chancellors that make up the Big 12 Board of Directors later learned that Bowlsby had been warned. First by former Oklahoma State University athletic director Mike Holder and then later new Oklahoma State University President Dr. Kayse Shrum had warned Bowlsby that the University of Oklahoma was contemplating a move to the SEC.

Bowlsby’s response reportedly was that he slept well at night knowing that Oklahoma and Texas loved the Big 12 and would never leave.

It would later prompt a remark made in a teleconference meeting between the Big 12 Board and Bowlsby after OU and Texas departed where the commissioner was asked, “How he was sleeping now?”

Bowlsby admitted to D Magazine last October that the ordeal was rough. It started as soon as he landed in Dallas from a trip to Kansas on the day the rumors broke of Texas and Oklahoma departing.

“As I got off the plane, the first thing I did was call the athletic directors and presidents at UT and OU, then I called [SEC commissioner] Greg Sankey to try and find out what in the world is going on,” Bowlsby told D Magazine. “It took much longer than I would’ve wanted to get ahold of them. I kept getting their voicemails.

“It was during the course of the next couple of days [that] we finally talked and got a little more understanding of whether or not this news was going to actually move forward,” Bowlsby continued. “At this point, both parties were pretty noncommittal. No decisions had been made. But I felt [in these conversations], the SEC probably already had them.”

Bowlsby would later go on a crash course visiting (in order) BYU, Cincinnati, Central Florida, and Houston and quickly urged the Big 12 members to welcome those four schools in as future members that would help make up for the loss of Texas and Oklahoma. The Big 12 membership and Bowlsby were unified on the move. The Big 12 members are still positive about the addition of the new schools, but the impending multimedia rights negotiations and what the loss of UT and OU will mean are devastating to think about.

The SEC has already negotiated its’ future contract and the addition of Texas and Oklahoma is factored in. The Big Ten is expected to have a very lucrative contract negotiation for their television and multimedia rights coming up later this year. Industry analytics have the Big 12, Pac-12, and ACC significantly behind the SEC and Big Ten. There is genuine concern about the conference revenue and annual payouts to members coming in the future. The Pac-12 hired George Kliavkoff away from the MGM Entertainment empire this past summer to take over as their commissioner. The Pac-12 is coming up after the Big Ten on their multimedia rights negotiations. Both are before the Big 12. Bob Bowlsby did negotiate that past television contract for the league with ESPN and ESPN+ for the Big 12 Now streaming network and with FOX Television.

There are also thoughts that conference realignment may not be through and there could be more. The confidence of Bowlsby fostering the Big 12 into a position of power is apparently low.  

Bowlsby has been very involved in the College Football Playoff and its’ emergence. The Big 12 has had success with Bowlsby at the helm including Monday night’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship won by Kansas. Bowlsby was sitting prominently behind the Jayhawks bench.

The league has seen 25 national championships and 160 plus individual NCAA champions.  In 2020-21, the Big 12 captured five team national championships and five runner-up finishes, including Baylor’s men’s basketball title. Twelve teams have competed in College Football Playoff New Year’s Bowls in the seven years of the structure with Oklahoma making the Conference’s first appearance in the CFP semifinals in 2015 and repeat showings in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Prior to his role at the Big 12, Bowlsby was athletics director at Stanford for six-years. He was the athletics director at Iowa for 15-years.

He has always been a leader and highly involved in collegiate and amateur sports following his own collegiate career at the University of Northern Iowa where he competed as a wrestler. He was appointed to the United States Olympic Committee Board of Directors in 2007 and completed that term at the 2014 Winter Olympiad in Sochi, Russia. In 2002, President George W. Bush chose Bowlsby to be a member of the Commission on Opportunities in Athletics, which reviewed the first 30 years of Title IX.

Bowlsby has previously served as president of the NCAA Division I-A Athletics Directors’ Association, chair of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee (2003-04, ’04-05) and chaired the NCAA Management Council.  In addition, he has also chaired the NCAA Wrestling Committee, served on NCAA committees on Financial Aid and Amateurism, the Special Committee to Review Amateurism Issues and the Special Committee to Review Financial Conditions in Athletics. 

(The Big 12 Conference and it’s staff bios contributed to this report.)

 

 

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Bowlsby going out of his way to take a shot at ESPN had to have been his final death blow as a commissioner.  ADs understand that they are depending on ESPN to throw them a bone when they begin discussing a new deal soon.

Big12 would have been better off if the AD’s picked a random guy off the street for the job instead of this guy.
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"Actually, Big 12 Presidents and Chancellors that make up the Big 12 Board of Directors later learned that Bowlsby had been warned. First by former Oklahoma State University athletic director Mike Holder and then later new Oklahoma State University President Dr. Kayse Shrum had warned Bowlsby that the University of Oklahoma was contemplating a move to the SEC.
Bowlsby’s response reportedly was that he slept well at night knowing that Oklahoma and Texas loved the Big 12 and would never leave. "



In case there was any question remaining if Bowlsby should have seen this coming.

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4 hours ago, Nivek said:


Big12 would have been better off if the AD’s picked a random guy off the street for the job instead of this guy.

I wonder if this is also a response to pushing the idea that they need to add beyond the incoming 4 to keep pace with the other conferences and the university presidents don’t want to dilute their academic brand any more…. 
 

BYU and Cinci aren’t bad academically and helped lessen the complaints for the other 2 adds some, but now the next +2 are widely rumored to be Boise and Memphis. 
 

If Bowsley poisoned  ESPN to them and the Presidents don’t want to expand with junk academics, then he had to go and the B12 needs to play nice and sweat heart UT and OU to the SEC in exchange for a better bridge deal from ESPN or at least ESPN willing to bud to help force up a deal from Fox.

 

Bowsley let ego impact his decision and thought he was in control of everything instead of being there at the behest and desires of the B12 schools. Now the B12 is trapped and the only way to save face, at least at the institutional partnership level, is flip flop in the rhetoric about Texas and OU, eat some crow and beg ESPN to play ball. 

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"Actually, Big 12 Presidents and Chancellors that make up the Big 12 Board of Directors later learned that Bowlsby had been warned. First by former Oklahoma State University athletic director Mike Holder and then later new Oklahoma State University President Dr. Kayse Shrum had warned Bowlsby that the University of Oklahoma was contemplating a move to the SEC.
Bowlsby’s response reportedly was that he slept well at night knowing that Oklahoma and Texas loved the Big 12 and would never leave. "



In case there was any question remaining if Bowlsby should have seen this coming.

God, he’s a moron
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3 hours ago, Godzillatron said:

"Actually, Big 12 Presidents and Chancellors that make up the Big 12 Board of Directors later learned that Bowlsby had been warned. First by former Oklahoma State University athletic director Mike Holder and then later new Oklahoma State University President Dr. Kayse Shrum had warned Bowlsby that the University of Oklahoma was contemplating a move to the SEC.
Bowlsby’s response reportedly was that he slept well at night knowing that Oklahoma and Texas loved the Big 12 and would never leave. "



In case there was any question remaining if Bowlsby should have seen this coming.

If he'd paid any attention to the OUsucks forums, he would've known the (majority of the) fans have been very vocal about getting out for years now.  That in itself should've been somewhat of a flag.   

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3 hours ago, Laxtonto said:

I wonder if this is also a response to pushing the idea that they need to add beyond the incoming 4 to keep pace with the other conferences and the university presidents don’t want to dilute their academic brand any more…. 
 

BYU and Cinci aren’t bad academically and helped lessen the complaints for the other 2 adds some, but now the next +2 are widely rumored to be Boise and Memphis. 
 

If Bowsley poisoned  ESPN to them and the Presidents don’t want to expand with junk academics, then he had to go and the B12 needs to play nice and sweat heart UT and OU to the SEC in exchange for a better bridge deal from ESPN or at least ESPN willing to bud to help force up a deal from Fox.

 

Bowsley let ego impact his decision and thought he was in control of everything instead of being there at the behest and desires of the B12 schools. Now the B12 is trapped and the only way to save face, at least at the institutional partnership level, is flip flop in the rhetoric about Texas and OU, eat some crow and beg ESPN to play ball. 

Boise and San Diego St as football only additions might be the best move.  Maxes net $$$ while mostly avoiding the negative academic issue of Boise. 

(SDSU academically fits in with the bottom 3rd of the conference post-UT, but yeah, Memphis and Boise are way below any in conference.  USF would help academically, but a big meh sports wise (and likely meh or worse for TV $$$.)

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8 hours ago, Godzillatron said:

"Actually, Big 12 Presidents and Chancellors that make up the Big 12 Board of Directors later learned that Bowlsby had been warned. First by former Oklahoma State University athletic director Mike Holder and then later new Oklahoma State University President Dr. Kayse Shrum had warned Bowlsby that the University of Oklahoma was contemplating a move to the SEC.
Bowlsby’s response reportedly was that he slept well at night knowing that Oklahoma and Texas loved the Big 12 and would never leave. "



In case there was any question remaining if Bowlsby should have seen this coming.

Incompetency, at a certain point, starts to smell like sabotage.  Bowlsby's inaction made it easier for Texas and OU to leave.  

Then again, his reaction mirrors a lot of what I've seen from the Iowa State fanbase online.

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5 hours ago, Laxtonto said:

I wonder if this is also a response to pushing the idea that they need to add beyond the incoming 4 to keep pace with the other conferences and the university presidents don’t want to dilute their academic brand any more…. 
 

BYU and Cinci aren’t bad academically and helped lessen the complaints for the other 2 adds some, but now the next +2 are widely rumored to be Boise and Memphis. 
 

If Bowsley poisoned  ESPN to them and the Presidents don’t want to expand with junk academics, then he had to go and the B12 needs to play nice and sweat heart UT and OU to the SEC in exchange for a better bridge deal from ESPN or at least ESPN willing to bud to help force up a deal from Fox.

 

Bowsley let ego impact his decision and thought he was in control of everything instead of being there at the behest and desires of the B12 schools. Now the B12 is trapped and the only way to save face, at least at the institutional partnership level, is flip flop in the rhetoric about Texas and OU, eat some crow and beg ESPN to play ball. 

I don't think it's just that expansion beyond what they've already invited dilutes academic branding.  It's going to dilute athletics, too.  I don't know why the Big 12 would consider expanding beyond the four they've already taken at this point.  They should give it ten years and see what shakes out in the PAC and ACC first.  The only way the big money schools in the PAC get financially competitive is to join the Big 10.  If that happens, then the Big 12 could look at Utah and the Arizona schools as expansion targets. Those would all be a lot better than Boise or Memphis.  

Fox Sports seems to be cutting expenses.  If the fallback plan in the Big 12 office was to move more inventory to FOX, that door is probably not as open as they'd like.  CBS and NBC are probably looking for Tier 1 content and the Big 12's strength is a good slate of Tier 2 inventory.  It would probably be a smart move to hire a commissioner who has a good working relationship with Disney, mend some fences, and to then try hard to work out something with the SEC to keep the existing relationship going (bowl tie ins, basketball challenge, a football scheduling pact, voting pact, etc.)  

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On 4/7/2022 at 12:39 PM, 'stache said:

Nobody saw it coming. I figured he'd hold the position from the grave. I mean he literally oversaw the complete dismantling of the conference and was still there, his fat ass in the commissioner's seat. Now that the destruction is done, he gets to retire with a nice severance package I suspect. Fuck him.

He'll be 70.  I never figured him for a 'till death do us part.'

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On 4/9/2022 at 4:24 PM, clapclapclap said:

Boise and San Diego St as football only additions might be the best move.  Maxes net $$$ while mostly avoiding the negative academic issue of Boise. 

(SDSU academically fits in with the bottom 3rd of the conference post-UT, but yeah, Memphis and Boise are way below any in conference.  USF would help academically, but a big meh sports wise (and likely meh or worse for TV $$$.)

Will Texas help the Sec shed its hick racist image?

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2 hours ago, Pancho said:

 

 

I know they're hung up on not needing to reshuffle the divisions after the SEC move but the thing that makes the most sense is to put the Longhorns and Sooners in the same division to avoid the possibility of a CCG rematch.  The two out-going schools, playing in the CCG, would be a terrible look for the new Big 12.    

Big 12 South:  OU, OSU, Tech, TCU, Baylor, Texas, Houston
Big 12 Other:  BYU, KSU, KU, ISU, Cincy, WVU, UCF

This probably works for a year or two and it's TV / fan friendly.  You can just slide BYU over and go West/East when the SEC exit occurs.  

 

Alternatively, they could do something like this:

West:  BYU, OU, Tech, TCU, Baylor, Texas, Houston
East:  KSU, OSU, KU, ISU, Cincy, WVU, UCF

They keep talking about expansion to 14.  They could plug Boise and Colorado State into the West division after we go and they wouldn't need to worry about a reshuffle.  Boise is the top TV target left on the board, I'd guess, and Colorado State is one of the few G5 schools with ready-to-go football facilities and a good academic profile.  The big hang-up here though is that I strongly suspect Oklahoma State will fight tooth and nail to stay with the Texas schools.  I also think going to 14 is just a dumb idea generally.  There's no good reason not to see how things shake out in the PAC and ACC.  There might be better options for #13/#14 available later.       

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23 hours ago, camel at sea said:

 

I know they're hung up on not needing to reshuffle the divisions after the SEC move but the thing that makes the most sense is to put the Longhorns and Sooners in the same division to avoid the possibility of a CCG rematch.  The two out-going schools, playing in the CCG, would be a terrible look for the new Big 12.    

Big 12 South:  OU, OSU, Tech, TCU, Baylor, Texas, Houston
Big 12 Other:  BYU, KSU, KU, ISU, Cincy, WVU, UCF

This probably works for a year or two and it's TV / fan friendly.  You can just slide BYU over and go West/East when the SEC exit occurs.  

 

Alternatively, they could do something like this:

West:  BYU, OU, Tech, TCU, Baylor, Texas, Houston
East:  KSU, OSU, KU, ISU, Cincy, WVU, UCF

They keep talking about expansion to 14.  They could plug Boise and Colorado State into the West division after we go and they wouldn't need to worry about a reshuffle.  Boise is the top TV target left on the board, I'd guess, and Colorado State is one of the few G5 schools with ready-to-go football facilities and a good academic profile.  The big hang-up here though is that I strongly suspect Oklahoma State will fight tooth and nail to stay with the Texas schools.  I also think going to 14 is just a dumb idea generally.  There's no good reason not to see how things shake out in the PAC and ACC.  There might be better options for #13/#14 available later.       

Eh, OU will likely make the CCG (assuming Venables isn't a huge failure), but Texas would have to get a whole lot better in a short amount of time to be the favorite to win any of those hypothetical divisions. 

Edited by The Hot Dog Buffet
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18 minutes ago, The Hot Dog Buffet said:

Eh, OU will likely make the CCG (assuming Venables isn't a huge failure), but Texas would have to get a whole lot better in a short amount of time to be the favorite to win any of those hypothetical divisions. 

Texas has either the best or second best roster in the Big 12.  I know that has been true during the entire 10+ year downturn but it's a big risk for the Big 12 to bet that it never gets turned - especially with Sark pulling an elite 5 star QB from the portal.  But it would be a very Big 12 move to let Texas and OU play in the CCG the year that they leave the league.  

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