if MIzzou leaves, I think we have two options. 1. go big 10 2. invite TCU to take Mizzou's place. If this happens, move OU up to the north and TCU takes their place in the south. If both Colorado and Mizzou get to leave the 12, I think we're limited. I guess we could stay and invite BYU? or someone like them, but I would be more inclined to go big 10 if that happened. I love the potential opponents in Austin, but it won't happen every two, it would happen every four unless you're in the same division. would love to be in the same division with either Ohiost. or Michigan. One other side benefit. By being in the same division with Michigan, we could put a dent in their diminishing lead over us in the all time win record. We might even get lucky and get to beat them to pass them all time, in 2018 or so. How about that!
The Big 12 is a fragile league. Our ties to the Big 12 North schools are not that strong. We don't really have a rivalry with ANY of them outside of Nebraska in football. The rest... meh. Hell, we established a better "rivalry" with tOSU in a single home-home series and a bowl game than we have in 15 years playing Colorado, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, or Mizzou.
Forget the PAC 10 and Big 10 - go independent and get a football schedule that looks something like this: chump chump Arkansas OU Notre Dame LSU/tOSU/OSU/etc TTech Nebraska Kansas Miami USC Aggie We can stay in whatever conference for the other sports. The real money is in the football deals.
Dodds: "We are the Joneses" But no matter how attractive the house looks, if it is in the slums, it is not a good house. The Big XII has had its run, but it has been a shotgun wedding from the start. No one else in the Big XII likes us because we are so big and important. Reasons we should move to the Big Ten: 1. Affiliation with the quality academic schools in the Big Ten. 2. That $22 million a year TV payout will become $30 million when we join. 3. Texas is seen everywhere from NYC to the Midwest. 4. Much less penis envy from the other schools because they are quality schools in their own right. 5. Stay in the same time zone as opposed to 2 zones away; this is a lot more important than most (except Shark) are giving it credit. f 6. Immediately elevates the Big Ten as THE conference which attracts national recruits. 7. Causes the Big XII to die and OU goes down a fair bit. 8. We still cherry-pick Texas recruits while being able to get recruits national who are begging to come. 9. Travel is not that big of a deal; lots of the Big XII north teams are harder (take more time) to get to than Northwestern (Chicago), tOSU (Columbus), etc. 10. Almost every week, our game is significant. Does anyone really think that Texas vs Baylor, Tech, or Kansas State would compare to Texas vs Iowa, Michigan, tOSU, Penn State, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin. These games involve the whole STATE folks. That is why the SEC is a big deal, except these are much larger and more significant states. The only significant issues: will A&M be able to block this politically? As many have said, not as likely as before. Perry will not have much say, because it is the legislature that makes the laws. Secondly, would A$M to SEC allow the SEC to get more recruits in Texas? I think maybe a few more, but who cares because we will have become the 800 pound gorilla and be getting recruits from everywhere. Lastly, I would like to remind people of the Stoops to Tuscaloosa trip and the solidarity against Texas from the other Big XII schools who kept us out of the NC game in 2008 by voting us too low. This is not an isolated event. Remember what Dodds did to Houston. You do not screw with Texas, or we will take you out. They do not support us, so to hell with them.
Longhorns Win, I agree with most of your post. My main concern with all of this is recruiting. I don't think it's all that cut and dried, and I've seen the lean times around here, so I guess I never take recruiting for granted.
Here is a link to a column by Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune. TG is very plugged in to the B10. BTN and BT Conf. HQ are in Chicago and he has been covering it for years and the Trib has for decades (The B10 Football MVP award is the "Silver Football Award" that is presented by the Chicago Tribune). TG also appears on the BTN during football season as an analyst. He's actually pretty good. With that, here is his column on the subject of Texas to the Big Ten: Does Texas Make sense and cents in the Big Ten?
Full Flask, thanks for the reply. Your Texas vs aggy theory assumes aggy wants to stay in a presumably dying/dead Big12. Many see them headed with us to the Big10 (not likely imho) or off to the SEC. The SEC is a likely destination for them, imho. They fit there with those cheaters and they've expressed interest in that move previously. I think they'd let us go without a fight if they knew they had a place in the SEC. Also, I don't really see Mizzou as merely a finger. Yes, we are the prize of this conference, but Mizzou is next in terms of bringing in tv sets. They leave, and the dominoes will start to fall unless something big is done to replace them quickly.
Full Flask, I respectfully disagree about Missouri leaving not killing the Big XII. Should the conference could add TCU or someone else, but then we become the 110 pound weakling who is kicked around by the SEC and everyone else in recruiting. Want to return to the days when 9/10 top ten recruits went out of state? That is what would start to happen. Dodds will not let that happen. This is all about prestige, money, and recruiting. The Big Ten is much better than the Big 12 on the first two and the third doesn't matter because we take our recruits with us wherever we go AS LONG AS WE ARE IN A GREAT CONFERENCE.
If you ask me (and you haven't) - The Big 12 should go on the offensive. Why wait around to watch the conference endure a slow death. I think Notre Dame will eventually have to conference-up, so why not approach them about joining the Big 12? Perhaps TCU (for example) as well. I know this sounds farfetched but from the looks of things the Big 12 won't be around forever. I'd rather bring teams to us rather than go to the Big 10 or PAC 10 at this point. Are we in agreement that the Big 12 is in jeopardy, or am I Chicken Little?
We are not offended by the horns down. That is really silly and sophomoric gesture by rivals which shows their penis envy. What isn't silly is active participation by teams in our conference to try to bring Texas down as has happened recently. I agree again with Shark. The Big Ten members would not hate us in the way that the other Big XII schools hate us. It is sort of like 10 Fortune Fifty companies having respect even though they are competing with each other vigorously (if we were in the Big Ten). Right now, Texas is in the Fortune Fifty, A$M is at 450, and no one else is even in sight of the Fortune 500. Every school in the Big XII will do anything to pull Texas down as they have. That will not happen if we were in the Big Ten. Do you really think Dodds and Mack will just ignore the Stoops visits and the votes. Who do you think encouraged the hamstringing of Coach Boom in recruiting? It sure as hell was not Rutgers or USC who could care less. It had to be local Universities. After all these years, the Big XII is growing apart, not together. Why should the 800 pound gorilla wait until the conference falls apart when the options might be restricted somewhat. Sure we will have a place to go, but if the Big Ten is calling and we say no, do you think they will accept us when we are desperate? Yeah, maybe on their terms. Now, it is on our terms.
If we joined the Big 10, our future opponents might not like us all that much. But I couldn't see them actively acting against our interests. I, for one, would like to be in a conference that sees itself as a partnership of rivals, as opposed to some zero-sum death match in which any- and everything is on the table when it comes to taking down Texas. We've seen the constant and endless shenanigans from OU. We see that Bill Byrne cannot bring himself to refer to us as UT or Texas (instead referring to us - maybe under duress - as "our friends in Austin"). Tech fans are desperate to disassociate themselves from us. Missouri talks openly and on the record as wanting to leave the conference ASAFP. Tom Osbourne takes every possible opportunity to bemoan our presence and influence. KU resents us for wanting to rotate the hoops tournament. I think the only schools in the conference that don't have fundamental issues with us are Baylor, Okie State and ISU. And of course KSU, who loves us for all the wins they get over us. And CU, because they're all mellow and ****. From the marijuana. Which, like, they could get better product if the Pac-10 and ... right? This is not a recipe for long-term conference viability. As for the Leg getting in the way, all Texas would have to do is point to the massive new funding opportunities that would come from the academic association. That, in turn, frees up money that could go to institutions like UH and Tech and Texas State and North Texas. Increasing the profile and reputations of those schools is almost as vital to our state's future as making sure Texas (and A&M for that matter) continue as strong research institutions. It's a strange argument that says because we have enough money to perform our public duty now, therefore we don't want - or need - more to continue to do so in the future. I don't even really buy the underlying premise, since every year we have to fight tooth and nail to make sure the Leg keeps us going at our current rate. It would also provide a significant hedge against fluctuations in alumni donations ... both to the academic department and the institution as a whole. It will really suck if we end up shooting ourselves in the foot because people are worried about a little cold weather or a slightly increased travel budget.
Why do you think the B12 will die? The B12 has been in the title game a couple of years and even has won it once in a while. Go to the B10, yeah the Ohio St. fans respected Texas when we went there to play a couple of years ago.
....pac 10 travel is easier notwithstanding the time zone...anyway I am tired of the 11 AM games it is an injustice to the culture of college football...9 pm local time on abc suits me just fine...
I do not think it is reasonable to compare a few drunk, college students who are pyromaniacs and hate couches at tOSU to coaches of rival schools actually trying to undermine us as has been happening with nary a whisper from the conference head. The BIG XII is a bastard child which is already dying. Do you hear anyone trying to get out of the Big Ten or the SEC? Heck no. So why have Missouri, Colorado, and Texas been rumored and the rumors not been denied? Because long term, the Big XII will not be as strong as other conferences. It is simple demographics. We do not have that many people in the Big XII, except Texas and some in Missouri which is why the other conference opponents should be kissing up to us all the time rather than trying to undermine us. I do believe the chants of SEC, SEC, SEC! are a little over the top, but this sort of undermining crap will not happen if we joined the Big Ten. They are not insecure like the OU idiots and their associate coaches who know deep down they could beat Texas for 20 straight years and they would still be a second rate university compared to us. The Big Ten would say, hell, I don't like it that Texas is in the NC game once again, but they would realize that it would be good for the conference and say, We (tOSU, Michigan, Penn State, etc) are going to kicked their butts next year. Oh, yeah, and WE (the Big Ten with Texas) are THE CONFERENCE and all others are wannabes. Stoops and his associates are not only cheaters historically, they are short-sighted in trying to undermine Texas.
Shark, how much is Ohio State paying you? Beware, Shark is a mole from the Big 10, sent here to sell the Big 10 and win over the Texas fanbase to this idea. There might be others, too. Don't trust anyone! We've been infiltrated!
I would far rather see UT move to the Big X than stay with the group of provencial haters we have to associate with currently. Schools like Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State, and Michigan have their own pride and tradition just like Texas. Their identity won't be affirmed with an occasional win over Texas, their lives won't be devoted to tearing us down. Plus, the biggest reason by far to go to the Big X is the allure of the Rose Bowl game. There is also a much better TV deal, and it would certainly jump even higher were UT part of the package. This won't be happening now, it is clear, but how long into the future will the Big XII hold together? I don't see it as very permanent.
I wonder if our recruiting philosophy would change? Would we become a Big 10 team on the field? In order to be competitive in our new surroundings, would we recruit mastodons instead of the speedy athletes we now recruit? Another way to put it, would we adopt a Midwest style of ball instead of the Southern/Southwest style that we have always had up to now.
...once again pac 10 is more our style of play ....if we move that is where we are going....tv dollars only one factor...plus we cut a better deal...
