Big 10 may force Big XII to expand

[leopold]

Oh...

So yeah, someone can go tell DELANEY to go suck it.

Yeah. So there.

SUCK IT DELANEY.

*cough*

[StallionsModelT]

P5 expansion isn't going to happen for at least another 3-4 years. Probably not even then.

The infinitely more likely scenario is the playoff is expanded to either 6 or 8 once the TV folks get everything ironed out.

[SMU1523]

I just don't see how the Big 12 will continue to operate with 10 teams (No Championship Game). Sure, it worked out for them this year, but more often than not I believe it will hurt them going forward. I could also see a scenario where they get picked apart.

[ReedFrawg]

I just don't see how the Big 12 will continue to operate with 10 teams (No Championship Game). Sure, it worked out for them this year, but more often than not I believe it will hurt them going forward. I could also see a scenario where they get picked apart.

Me too.

[skyscraper]

Lemme know what Texas wants to do, otherwise this is a waste of time.

[PerunasHoof]

Lemme know what Texas wants to do, otherwise this is a waste of time.

They just want to go back in time to when they were relevant in football!! They could barely beat a team on its 4th string QB (actually a WR).

[MustangStealth]

SMU and of course Tulane. Turner will force the Big12 to take them.

[HarvCrimYaleBlue]

Every conference needs a couple of doormat teams. XII could use a couple of those since Baylor and TCU are not anymore. They need 1-2 more Kansas's and Iowa State's...

Plus every conference needs their share of private schools that have great academics, but also fall into the category above.

SMU can fill that void (but shhhhh, don't tell them we have every intention of rivaling every one of their sports).

[Charleston Pony]

Big 10 does have an issue with it's east/west balance, with Ohio St, Mich, Mich St & Penn St all in same division...at least in terms of historical strength of those programs. Despite their commish's concerns, who would he have wanted in their championship game rather than Iowa and Mich St? Given Mich State's win AT Ohio, I think it worked out well. If they just lumped all 14 teams and played the top 2, they might want Ohio (to give them a chance to defend their NC) but I think it worked out well and it would have been tough to justify the Buckeyes over MSU. Division winners worked out well for the ACC and SEC as well. PAC 12 was too balanced this year and they just beat themselves up and eliminated themselves from the tourney. That's the bunch with the biggest gripe this year as Stanford might be capable of winning the National Championship.

The real question is: "who would the Big XII have put in against OU if they had played a championship game?" It worked out well for Big XII this year, because someone upsetting OU in a championship game would probably have knocked them out of the Final 4 and allowed Ohio State or Stanford in. I agree with those who say the Big XII has little incentive to expand...ESPECIALLY in Texas.

[malonish]

I'm not an expert on the cable TV business, but this seems right to me just on basic observations about millennial behavior. Which of course begs the question. . .if this is true, why would conferences want to expand and thereby cut a shrinking pie into even smaller pieces?

http://begthequestion.info/

"My favorite author is always right because he says so in his latest book." The proof is merely a restatement of the premise. The sentence has begged the question.

[Charleston Pony]

and the never ending saga continues...

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootbal ... -to-expand

[leopold]

I'm not an expert on the cable TV business, but this seems right to me just on basic observations about millennial behavior. Which of course begs the question. . .if this is true, why would conferences want to expand and thereby cut a shrinking pie into even smaller pieces?

The key to this, I would argue, is that for the first time in modern conference expansion it's not entirely about the money, but rather everything else: stability, identity, organization, rivalries, and more.

You have the possibility of being forced to play a championship game when you have only ten schools currently, and everybody knows that's kind of a weird fit to begin with. How to divide the conference, the fact that the teams playing in the championship game will automatically have played each other in the regular season to begin with, etc. Adding two teams - the right two teams - could make this alot easier if the conference has to do this.

West Virginia, who is on their own island, really needs someone in the conference to have a rivalry against. I wouldn't be surprised if they were promised when they joined the conference some additional schools in the future they could have a chance to build a true rivalry against.

Old Big 8 schools see it as a way to stabilize the conference and to bring in additional schools (hopefully not located in Texas) to help balance the in-conference Texas block.

It seems that Oklahoma has looked around and window-shopped and decided to try to make it work in the Big XII, and their president has advocated expansion. The Sooners probably see it as a way to start rebuilding the reputation and vision for the conference and tell every other conference to go take a hike.

Texas, and possibly the schools in Texas, seem to be the only ones really against it. UT makes a pile, runs things, and has it's conference centered around themselves. But for the first time they are being challenged, and being done so by their old buddy Oklahoma, not to mention a possible NCAA decision. So they may actually lose this round, which opens up the idea of bringing in more schools that don't share their own concerns and vision. So this opens the door to more parity and more challenges to them. Which is why I argue they would want Houston - they have similiar interests and can be bought/bullied/manipulated.

But it doesn't seem to be simply about money. Texas and OU are cleaning up and the other schools simply don't have any other options, so they will take what they can and make it work.

[Charleston Pony]

If the Big XII is forced to expand, I can't see why there would be any interest in adding another Texas school. The writer's mention of BYU and Cincy makes sense because BYU has a huge following and Cincy taps into Big 10 territory along with giving West Virginia a more natural rival

[West Coast Johnny]

Both sides seem open to compromise and I guess something will get done. No one wants conference realignment again. Big 12 would prefer to keep their current round-robin configuration and then play a conference championship between #1 & #2. SEC & Big 10 want defined conference divisions… which makes sense to a conference like the SEC to prevent LSU & Alabama from playing in the conference championship every year. Ironic that LSU versus Alabama is a much better game than Alabama vs Missou.. which is what the SEC has ended up with recently.

I am squarely on the side of the Big 12 here because ten teams is the perfect size for a conference where everyone plays everybody and one champion emerges that can be decided by head to head tie breaker if necessary. That model is perfect for the fans but the better model will lose the war.

[Charleston Pony]

The problem with that # 1 vs # 2 conference championship model is that if those 2 teams end up splitting their season series, in any given year it could knock both of them out of the playoff series. What if OU had lost to TCU in a championship game this year? My guess is that Ohio State would have been given an opportunity to defend their title.