With A&M off to greener pastures, equitable principles are off the table, free enterprise is in, and UT can pursue the best all worlds. They can create a conference they can dominate, with divisions where they can win a lot of games, and get their way in regards to their network while being able to schedule major non-conference opponents which will result in a lot of publicity and money for the program and school. The new Big 16 should end up looking something like this: Texas Division: Texas Texas Tech Baylor TCU SMU UH Rice One from among UTEP, UTSA, or Texas State Plains Division: Oklahoma Oklahoma State Kansas Kansas State Missouri Iowa State Two from among BYU, New Mexico, Wyoming, New Mexico State There will never be a consideration of all schools getting equal shares of all the pies, but rather the schools will all get more than they’re getting now but it will be measured based on what they generate in a formula. There will be seven division games and two with the opposite division, including the preservation of one certain traditional game - UT-OU at the Cotton Bowl. The smaller schools can play home games in their current stadiums unless a significantly bigger one is within 100 miles, is available, and a visiting school elects one year in advance to move the game and guarantee the home schools more money than they could expect at home. There will be a conference playoff game, and UT will offer to continue the Thanksgiving Game with A&M as a non-conference game if A&M wants to. LHN can show what they want and any other school is free to operate their own network. There will be other provisions based on free enterprise principles and the generation of more and more money.
Any plan that includes SMU, New Mexico, New Mexico St., Wyoming, or two current FCS teams is boneheaded to the core. And that's saying nothing of the likes of UH and Rice. Seriously? Just because aggy is stirring the pot again doesn't give everyone license to rehash their half-baked realignment ideas like what was prevalent last fall or early this year.
Is that supposed to ADD credibility to this already weak conference. Now that we added Texas State to the mix, we can finally take advantage of the recruiting options remaining in San Marcos.
Bye ags, and no non-conference game with that bunch (why give them any exposure or the opportunity to earn any money off playing Texas?). The contest will be which former SWC school (aggy or the pig people) will become the most irrelevant in intercollegiate athletics?
victorious one - It in there. Look harder. South Austin - That's a good picture of me spouting my authentic western gibberish.
Dub, re your scenario of a Big 16: I'd rather see a full B12, w/ your "Plains" div consisting of the 6 above teams (no additions) and the "Texas" div of UT, TT, BU, TCU, probably Rice, either SMU or UTEP (no to new UTSA, TSU, and never to UH). Same scheds as the previous B12: 5 div, 3 out-of-div alternating every other year, and the oc's. caveat = no a&m. not in any sport. f**k them and the sheep they rode in on tumor - what would you consider to be OU's options if they also want to bolt the B12? won't happen, but what is your preference?
Well I personally don't won't ag to go.....we need them as the rivalry they are......but adding some of these other teams really diminishes the Big ______ even further. Think how we used to look down on some of the conferences and their weak team / schedules....we would be reaching that depth by accepting and adding these teams to even some we have now! You want the conference to be looked upon favorably you better rebuild with strengths. If this pace continues, we will be the laughing stock of the NCAA (may already be there). One team can only carry a league by it's self for a limited time. They leave, others will follow! Do we really want to be an independent ala ND was for years.
Per Chip Brown (OB): The latest on Texas A&M, including comments from DeLoss Dodds Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds said today if Texas A&M leaves the Big 12 to join the SEC, his hope will be that the Big 12 stays together. Dodds' statement came in response to a question during a luncheon speech at the Young Men's Business League of Austin. Dodds also said if it meant peace in the Big 12, the Longhorn Network would never air a high school football game. Dodds asked how many Aggies were in the crowd. When one of the Aggies asked if airing high school games on the Longhorn Network would be an unfair advantage for Texas, Dodds asked the Aggie about the state 7-on-7 tournament featuring high school players on the College Station campus every summer. Dodds smiled and asked, "Do you know how we feel about that tournament being in College Station?" Then he smiled and said, "You probably don't because we never talk about it." If Texas A&M was to leave, Dodds said the Big 12 might seek to bring in another school. Dodds also said if there was not sentiment to hold the Big 12 together by the remaining members that Texas and possibly Notre Dame could join forces to create a new conference. Dodds gave no indication that Texas would pursue the possibility of becoming an independent. A top administrator at another Big 12 school said the possibility of some Big 12 schools talking to the Pac-12 could become a reality again if Texas A&M was to bolt for the SEC. In short, everyone in the Big 12 is back in scramble mode until Texas A&M makes clear what its intentions are. Texas Gov. Rick Perry told The Dallas Morning News Wednesday, "I'll be real honest with you. I just read about it the same time as y'all did. ... As far as I know, conversations are being had. That's frankly all I know. I just refer you to the university and the decision makers over there." A Texas A&M source with direct knowledge of the Aggies' situation told Orangebloods.com the TAMU regents will be meeting later this month - possibly as early as Aug. 22 - to introduce a new chancellor and deliberate a potential move to the SEC. A&M president Bowen Loftin has told reporters there is "uncertainty" about the Aggies' future in the Big 12. The SEC has been largely silent on Texas A&M. And according to one SEC source, the Aggies will have to basically submit an application for acceptance into the SEC (that is expected to be rubber stamped in no time). That process allows members of the SEC to have plausible deniability about any move until A&M's application is submitted. Two sources in the Big 12 said they've heard the SEC is also interested in adding Florida State to the SEC East. Sources in the Big 12 say the same political forces that tried to slow down the breakup of the conference last summer are already trying to get answers from A&M about its intentions. The Texas Legislature is no longer in session. But I was told Wednesday, "the legislators will have something to say about this." For those wondering how Gov. Rick Perry might factor into all of this, Perry is weighing a run for the White House in 2012. One source told me a move to the SEC by Texas A&M might help Perry, an A&M graduate and former yell leader, with voters in SEC states. That's because a move by the Aggies into that conference would help the SEC get into Texas for recruiting purposes. Couldn't quite tell if the source was half-joking. Sadly, the source is probably right. Several sources thought out loud about why Texas A&M would trade being in the more winnable Big 12, which has an easier path to a national title without a league title game, for a place in the SEC West with the likes of Alabama, LSU, Arkansas and Auburn. "Texas A&M should be in the top three of the Big 12 in football every year," one Big 12 source said. "In the SEC, they'll fight to be in the top half of the conference every year." But sources close to Texas A&M say the Aggies are losing faith in the Big 12 as it is currently constructed and have serious issues with Texas and the Longhorn Network.
Maybe the paradigm of being in a strong conference is outdated. Rather than brag about the strength of the big xii, schedule some serious ooc conference games. Don't join the BIG, PAC or SEC, but play them every year. If ag left it would provide 4 non-conf slots. Sign ND for annual game. If you worry about the chants of SEC SEC SEC you can always respond LHN LHN LHN.
If A&M decides to bail on the Big12-2, I'd favor replacing the Ags with TCU straight up, and leaving the conference size at 10. Yes, TCU joined the Big East (most likely to get into an automatic qualifying division), but I can't imagine that the Horned Frogs actually want to make 1,000-mile trips to the Northeast just to play opponents. I'm sure they'd be very receptive to staying/playing close to home and joining a conference (Big 12) that can also pay out more money (than the Big East). TCU has a smaller student and alumni base (than A&M), but Frog football teams have been consistently good to great under Patterson. They would help the Big 12 to remain a very competitive conference.
