10 Things We Learned About Big 12 saga

[Water Pony]

Critical comments on Texa$, Oklahoma (their toy) and BC$:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/4062 ... nsion-saga

[ponyte]

One wonders it the Big XII-2 can survive at all. If this conference is held together by UT and UT just sweeten its TV deals, then the conference is doomed. No conference can survive with one team receiving the lion share of the goodies. Conferences are formed to benefit all members. If only one receives the benefits, the marketability of the entire conference, over time collapses.

Also, do the remaining teams, now relegated to second tier financial and athletic status, stay in this conference or start to work deals elsewhere?

Texas A$M looks to have played this the best so far and has probably established itself as the most attractive team for another conference. In a couple of years, when all this realignment stuff starts again, A$M has established its bonfires as an independent organization that is attractive to an SEC, PAC or Big X+2.

OU is nothing more than a successful stepchild. No real clout in the conference and being set up to slowly lose its mystic as a mover and shaker. THey have a limited window to upgrade to a conference where they are back on equal footing with all conference members.

The lessers schools have to know that UT will eventual demand even more or cut them loose. They too have to start looking for a more stable future.

Bottom line is the Big XII-2 survives but for a short time frame.

[EastStang]

Apparently, there is a huge penalty on any team that leaves during the pendency of this TV contract from what Mr. Brown reported last night echoed by Andy Katz on ESPN News. So, these 10 teams are joined at the hip for the next 17 years. That is not to say that if ratings are sagging, they might not add another two teams, but the only two teams with that kind of ratings juice out there would be teams like BYU and Notre Dame or perhaps the service academies.