Some day I want to have a beer with you. I bet you have some fun stories. Not sure if Deloss ever explored leaving the Big 12 for a new conference, but to me I think the current conferences are full of teams that shouldn't be there and draging them down, like KSU and ISU. Don't care about these schools and never will and it's because they are second tier in a flyover state. But you can't get rid of them because they are family. However, you can move out and build your own. Some here want the PAC, but you have to deal with a conference in 3 time zones. Some here want the B1G but you have to deal with the fact Texas would be on an island and all conference politics would be Michigan and Ohio State. A lot can go wrong when you deal with a conference like this. Some want the SEC but then you have to deal with all the BS Cheating and traveling to states that are the suck of this country. No offense to Georgia, Florida or Tennessee. You could go ACC but again you have a conference controlled by the North Carolina schools and you are on an Island. A change has to happen, I just think there are enough unhappy good schools out there that forming a whole new conference would be better than joining another bad one.
Good news! Finally a great College football with a true playoff This new alignment will bring back all the local rivals and will also have great regional interest. 96 total teams in division A 16 -6 team conferences (think old big 12 south as example of a division or SEC west). Each of these 6 team conferences will be matched for 2 years against another 6 team conference. (think old big 12 south against Pac-12 north division) There will be a championship game at the end of season between the 2 conferences Winner will advance to playoffs against the other 8 championship teams. Great local rivalry as well as regional rivalry
Do we still think the Big 12 is sustainable? It has the smallest population base of any Power 5 league And 77% of that population is in one state. Seems unlikely given the modern media landscape
It's like the PAC 12, where you've got California at 30-40 million, then a bunch of smaller states. Texas is growing massively, so the conference that claims the Texas market stands to benefit as time goes on. We may be up to 30 million in Texas (or pretty close) with the census later this year. It's not like the Texas t.v. market at the time the SWC broke up. Meanwhile, the Big 10 market will shrink, at least relatively. Considering t.v. only, Iowa St. and the Kansas schools bring little to the table. The problem is geography. It's a long way to California or the Great Lakes, both of which have major t.v. markets. Joining up with the SEC would bring a whole new set of issues. In this patch of the country, you've got Texas, surrounded by 2 layers of smaller, much less-consequential states.
With proper leadership, YES! That population concentration is in a state which is home or 8 D-1 schools five of which are P5. That state produces more D-1 talent than any other state, and it ain't even close. Swofford recognized that the ACC was the least sustainable when Clemson, FSU, and GT wanted to bolt for the Big XII. The ACC covers a lot of land mass, huge population & TV numbers, BUT only TWO schools that are considered "Football Schools", and one of those is the little brother of the state university. (Sorry, the convicts have become an afterthought.) Just a reminder that UNC takes in more money on basketball than any school in the nation, but that amount is less than $20 million, while the football powers rake in $12-14 million per home game. Basketball will not support an athletic department, and Swofford sought to make the ACC a basketball dominate conference; instead he split the thin pie even more ways. When Nike says go, a bunch of those schools will bolt for a new home. Any conference with Texas & OU is viable as long as those schools have competent leadership, which I question at this time.
I dont see any realistic option of any compelling program who would leave their current conference for ours.
If you do that (which I agree with), you really need to add another in order to revert back to divisions (no one wants to play 10 Conference games). BYU, as the other "major independent" could work, but there are issues with all of their sports except football (i.e. no playing on Sunday). The pig people would be a good choice except in order to let go of the pig people the $EC might insist on Missouri also going which again screws up the math.
If our best argument is that everyone is moving here anyway, then let's just go back to the SWC. That conference was way more fun for fans than the current stuff we have (even if they did cheat like mudders)
ND is a deal killer. They have their deal with the ACC. Chasing the Catholics cost us Clemson, FSU, and GT. As long as Bowelsby is in Las Colinas, NOBODY worth having will consider coming over. As for BYU, ain't happening unless you jettison Baylor and TCU. The Christian schools aren't going to consider BYU.
Agree and I see no reason or motivation for Notre Damn football to leave for the Big XII, Big X or any other conference.
I see Stanford and USC, for sure who would like to be in a B12 type conference and out of the Pac12 train wreck.
That used to always be my preferred arrangement, in some form or fashion But that was before the Astros moved to the AL West And now I have to tell you I really hate late West Coast games And I seem to hate them more as each new season comes and goes
Why the AZ schools need to come with them and TTU and TCU and Baylor need to go West. All the rest of the B12 in the East.
Have you been to road games to those sites? I have not But I did travel to every road game site in the old SWC, even including both Fayetteville and Little Rock. Plus a bunch of OOC road games over the years.
Is the LHN really just a 'twig in the road' now as this article writer suggests? I'm all for the B1G, with or without ou. I've always liked the style of football they play. And the schools seem to have pride in their conference without the secsecsec mindset. You just don't see Illinois or Northwestern going full aggy and claiming superiority when OSU or PSU win something...
It is a little funny/ironic about Nebraska. They ran away from us to, in part at least, get their football program competitive again. But had they stayed, they might have won some conference titles during these last 10 years when we fell into the suck.
