I would have preferred a move to the Big 10. I feel like we're a much better fit culturally with Penn St, UM, Iowa, etc (except tOSU, what a ********) What I would have really preferred was for the Big 12 to have decent leadership and keep together. Maybe shore it up with a good team or two. 12 years ago this conference was tough, competitive. 4 or 5 teams in the top 20 etc. Playing the most innovative football in the country and competing in MNC games. Total mismanagement.
Agree. A strong merging with some of the "Mid West" like ASU/AZ/BYU/Utah would have been my preference.
Ask BYU and Army what Independent life in today's football is like. Ask ND how hard it is to play at a high level and win in the CFP by not playing in a conference.
I think y'all may have missed my point to the poster who may or may not be honest in his allegiance...
I've been in favor of move to the SEC for a while. But yes, it was criminal mismanagement that killed the B12. Weak leadership, with zero foresight, and no vision beyond their noses. When Nebraska left, even in their diminished state, it signaled the beginning of the end. The Huskers' brand value couldn't be replaced, and the conference's perception was permanently relegated to "less than" status. I sincerely wish the best for all the B12 teams. And I hope they find a new home soon.
Which may explain why Bob Bowlsby seem to be taking this thing so personally and is constantly throwing isolated hissy fits about it. It reflects pretty poorly on him that all this happened and he didn't do anything to strengthen the league.
Well, there is both a short and a long answer to the proposal. The short answer is, "no". The long answer is "NOOOOOOOOOO!!"
OP. Yes, it is the right move. Dukesteer has it correct, NIL changes the game and now we can legally pay players to compete, er… I mean sponsors can legally pay players to compete. We might as well go to the best professional league. We have the money to compete as soon as we enter the SEC, especially utilizing the transfer portal. I imagine we can pick up some very good linemen from the portal at $50,000 a year.
. they should have pistol whipped aggy and Nebraska, and reminded them UT is their daddy and never to forget it again
"College" football will soon be minor league football, with in-season free agency, which even the pros don't have. Will be a different game soon. Sad part about the B12 is that while the focus is always on OU and Texas for football, both Baylor and OSU were the best teams in the league this year, and were good teams. Will be interesting to see if Baylor can field a healthy QB and win in the Sugar Bowl against Ole Miss. A few years ago, before they went to the Pac, you'd have thought Utah would have joined the B12 if asked. Them plus BYU, would have made for a solid conference. But the lure of the SEC, with it's money and success still would have been a siren's call for OU, Texas, or for that matter, any other team that could get an invite.
It seems like the biggest error on the part of the Big12 circa 2009/2010 was its failure to recognize how its members viewed other conferences' TV deals. If the league office had been more aggressive in pursuing TV money, perhaps the league wouldn't have splintered. Granted, the $$ ceiling for the Big12 was always going to be problematic in the long run.
Well, this isn't going to any fun at all if you don't gomer it up and continue to respond with reasonable responses, G&P.
I'm your huckleberry. I do think the Longhorn Network has served to fracture the Big 12. Nebraska did not like that the league became so Texas (Dallas) focused. So, one could argue that the LN led to all of this.
The departure of NU and CU came well before the LHN was announced. CU left because they thought the other 5 Big12 teams would be following suit and they didn't want to lose their spot to Baylor. NU left because they thought 6 schools were joining the PAC, which would have ended the Big12 as a conference. NU wanted to pick its own landing spot and were able to do so. Certainly their perception that UT was running the conference made the decision much easier. Had they known the PAC exodus was going to flame out, I'm not sure they would have bailed.
Yep! Won't be long until guys coming out of high school will be allowed to hire an agent to get them offers to college programs of their choice and the amount of the school will pay, uh I mean their NIL deals. That would be a real mess! We already have "the portal" in place so we may eventually see players being traded to other school programs. It's a long shot, but anything is possible, even if it isn't probable currently.
So tell me this: how in the hell did Mizzou manage to wrangle an SEC spot? Was it just they needed a 2nd to come along with aggy? Seems the SEC could have had better pickins than the Tigers.
That was pretty much it - although to be fair, Mizzou had the look of a decent program at the time and showed signs of being competitive. But I remember the idea of bringing in just one team didn't fly because it unbalanced the divisions.
The SEC had developed several scheduling options for a 13-team league and they all left a lot to be desired. The Big10 had been able to make an odd number of members work because they didn't have a championship game. Slive wanted to get either NC State or UNC but it wasn't to be. Meanwhile, Missouri had poisoned the well in the Big12 by actively lobbying to get a B1G invite. Mizzou found out B1G didn't want them and they no longer wanted the Big12. The SEC needed a team to add to get to an even number. There are enough TVs in STL and KC to make adding Mizzou a net positive so, out of expedience, the SEC added UM. It was a marriage of convenience. Mizzou is in a strange spot. It borders the Big12, B1G, and the SEC. It doesn't seem to fit any of them tho.
I would have chosen UM over Nebraska were I in the B1G's shoes. Nebraska was an iconic program but it is barrelling into obscurity. UM is already obscure but at least brings a couple decent media markets with it. Academically speaking, both are comparable.
And academically speaking, Nebraska is not compatible with most of the rest of the Big10, which is what I was getting at a couple of posts above.