Big East looking at TCU

[Hoop Fan]

Big East Football has to make a move or two to shore up its competitiveness and Villanova ain't it alone. TCU makes alot of sense. So does Navy in some respects because they are competitive now, have fans, and no basketball to accomodate. behind that, i would guess Memphis, and behind that Houston (they have a history with the Ville and Cincy too).

[leopold]

But, why would BYU give up their ESPN contract to share tih the littel members of the Big12? They will make more money as IND than a KSU/ISU

I've looked for a solid amount for the BYU-ESPN contract, I can't find one - ESPN and BYU aren't saying publically. But realistically, there is no way BYU is going to make more on their own with ESPN than they would with the Big XII. Notre Dame's is even starting to fall behind major conferences in the amount of money they make for TV (Northwestern and Vanderbilt are both making more money through TV than ND - look it up) so I can't believe BYU is gonna make more.
Only reason they left MWC is because they were making nothing, and I mean nothing.

Slightly off topic, by why in the hell is the Big 12 just sitting on its hands waiting for the next landscape shift to be started by another conference? Basically, they are just playing the waiting game, content to be UT's pawn. If Beebe has any brains in his head, he should be making moves to strengthen his conference, and other schools in Texas (esp. TCU and UH) should be his first targets given their recent football success.

Good question.

With the exception of TAMU and OU, the rest are UT's pawns, and it's because they have no other options. KU, KSU, ISU, TTU, BU, MU, and OSU aren't going to anther conference. They may hate it, but yes, they need those 3 schools to make the conference work.

And, yes, I said three schools. If the aggies and sooners jump ship, UT is now in a lame duck conference by themselves and would most likely have to jump ship themselves (many UT fans believe that the SEC asked OU and TAMU to join just to force UT to). Understand, UT doesn't necessarily need the other two, they just need them if they have any interest in making the Big XII work.

But Beebe and the other conference members aren't interested in TCU or UH because the Big XII is fine on the field and on the court. No issues there. Their problem is number of TV markets; i.e. the REAL source of revenue nowadays - the reason NU jumped ship so fast is b/c the Big 10, based primarily on it's TV revenue, was able to lay 10 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR MORE on the Cornhuskers than the Big XII can - no funny buisiness. And that's all due to the fact that there are SO many more TV sets in the Big 10 than the Big XII. And as we know, TCU, SMU, UH, all of us add absolutely nothing to the TV markets, and I mean nothing. So these schools, I believe, aren't going to the Big XII without a school from Texas leaving first.

So the Big XII is sitting back with a wait-and-see attitude because Beebe saved his job and his conference by convincing ABC/ESPN (again-the main source of revenue) to keep the same TV contract on the table for 10 schools as 12. That means same amount of bread with two less mouths to feed. Even the weak sisters of the Big XII are getting more money. That, and the fact that the Big 3 are taking all the penalty money from CU and NU. They get even more - so much more that over the next couple of years they are making even more than some SEC schools, a BIG jump for them.

Simply put, right now everybody is being bought off, and all are cleaning up, some are just cleaning up more than others. So everybody stays put for the time being.

The big questions come in where my last post picked up - the new TV contract, the championship game issue, and when the CU and NU money run out. They won't look to expand if they can keep the same amount of money they are getting now, and Red and Blue has a point - who knows how many TV sets BYU, or anybody else for that matter, bring to the table. The schools that would go to the Big XII are the left-overs, I'm sorry to say. It's not enough to have 12 schools; you have to have the right 12 schools.

[EastStang]

Let's look at this in a positive light. Whatever conference TCU joins will blow up in a couple of years. Happened to the WAC. Happened to CUSA. Happened to the MWC. If they join the BE, it will blow up, too. Don't know how, but it will. Its that Frog Kharma.

[Hoop Fan]

makes alot of sense Leopold. I said at the time and still believe that UT had no intention whatsoever of going Pac. They knew the weak sisters would cough up the penalty money if they threatened a move.

[Corp]

Make no mistake about it the vast majority of the Texas A&M student body

and alumni are collectively in favor of accepting the invitation from the SEC.

We're only marking time until that becomes a reality. GIG 'EM!!

[CalallenStang]

Make no mistake about it the vast majority of the Texas A&M student body

and alumni are collectively in favor of accepting the invitation from the SEC.

We're only marking time until that becomes a reality. GIG 'EM!!

Aggie grammar is bad.

Why didn't Byrne accept the invitation in June?

[SMU 86]

Big 12 Commish said that he did not want anymore Texas teams.

[leopold]

Why didn't Byrne accept the invitation in June?

Most likely because they are making that much more money from the sources I mentioned above. Here is the A&M president explaining the decision:

http://president.tamu.edu/2010/06/16/qa ... onference/

The combined money from CU and NU leaving is around $16M - at one point people believed it was going to be around $30M. But as it is, the Big 3 are making over $5M each.

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/09/21/22 ... aloes.html

The KC Star explains the deal. But it appears I was wrong on one front: The weak sisters are getting NONE of the redistributed money; they aren't making anything. But it doesn't matter; they have nowhere else to go, so they will take it and smile.

But the TAMU AD has stated publically they want their money, or they will pursue other options. So the million dollar question facing TAMU and the Big XII is this:

IS THAT A STANDING OFFER FROM THE SEC?

Can Bill Byrne pick up the phone and say "Hey, we've changed our minds?" If so, and I mean this, all Hell breaks loose.

[NavyCrimson]

Longtime - I think you summed it up pretty-darn accurately.