How to make this work

Discussion in 'On The Field' started by coolhorn, Jun 14, 2010.

  1. coolhorn

    coolhorn 2,500+ Posts

    If UT, et. al. are serious about making the Big 12 work, putting it on solid ground, this HAS to happen:

    No more internal bickering. Bury the hatchet, and not in each other. It's okay to get into the rivalry thing, but not off-field.

    Make the Big 12 profitable for EVERY team. Revenue sharing doesn't have to be exactly equal, but even the last place teams need to make some money.

    Plan ahead. Eventually, the conference will need to expand beyond ten teams, but make the expansion worthwhile. There are some targets out there that are worth pursuing a couple of years down the road. Arizona State and Arizona have been something of a mismatch and a last consideration in the Pac 10. If that league doesn't come up with the tv contract to end all tv contracts, have some back channel conversations with them. Phoenix is an attractive market.

    If Utah goes to the Pac, seriously consider BYU, and if they're brought in, market the heck out of Salt Lake City. I hate to say this, but at least consider some back-channel talk with the swine. Arky hasn't really be a significant force in the SEC in a while, and perhaps could be brought on board with a Big 12 on firm footing. They were a national name for much of the SWC's time, and could become prominent again in the right situation.

    UT probably needs to abdicate a little bit of its' power within the league to spread some good feelings around. Big 12 members NEED to know they really have a voice in how the league works.

    Athletics is what this is all about, but make academic improvements where they're needed attractive as well. Tech and OU have made a concerted effort over the last several years to bring their academics up to spec. Let UT, and the league, help them get there. A big part of the reason the Big 10 and Pac 10 are attractive is the academic reputation of their member schools. Every team in the Big 12 ultimately needs to have AAU membership.

    Schedule wisely. Every team in the league doesn't have to play a killer schedule, but every team needs to add more attractive OOC opponents where they can. The Big 12 NEEDS to be one of the top two or three most attractive leagues in going after the tv dollars. Marquee matchups help that.

    Last, but definitely not least, while it's important to know you have options if things don't work out, EVERY team in the conference needs to quit fixating on their options, and play well much better with each other in making the Big 12 a destination conference, rather than the blue plate special for other leagues looking to expand. EVERY team in a reformulated Big 12 needs to know that it's important to the overall success of the conference, that it's attractive, and that it's not taken for granted by the schools at the top of the conference. You cannot command loyalty with a deadline, but you can earn loyalty with the way you treat others. Arrogance and self-interest HAVE to take a back seat if this is to work.
     
  2. stanhin

    stanhin 5,000+ Posts


     
  3. coolhorn

    coolhorn 2,500+ Posts

    Really valued. We want you in the league. Not "We're going where we damned well please, and care less what happens to you." That's what their "buddies" in Nebraska said to them last week. UT needs to be better than that. Also, find some way for the conference to help them pull themselves up by the bootstraps, if they want to compete. Iowa State may never be a UT, but they can be a lot better than they've been, and they have been trying.
     
  4. DigglerontheHoof

    DigglerontheHoof 1,000+ Posts

    I'd add that a concerted effort needs to be made to keep Texas hs talent in the Big Twelten. Texas can supply most of the talent for a competitive conference IF the member schools work towards a concerted effort not to rip each other w/ negative recruiting. One of the reasons ND, Miami FSU and others stole so much talent out of Texas in the SWC days is b/c we basically just went scorched earth on one another.
     
  5. TXSNOS

    TXSNOS 1,000+ Posts

    add Utah (or BYU), whichever one doesn't go to the Pac 10, and New Mexico
     
  6. glenn

    glenn 1,000+ Posts

    coollee, you are right. after the scare a lot of people got, there is more opportunity to build a family--which is what deloss wanted to do--than there has ever been in the big 12.

    even ou must have some sense of that. a nice gesture from them given his behavior toward us would be to slit stoops' throat. in a nice way, of course.
     
  7. coolhorn

    coolhorn 2,500+ Posts

    If this conference plays at a high profile, every team in the conference will be able to pull in good talent. I do agree we need to distance ourselves from the negative recruiting that's practiced in the SEC. This is one thing the Big 12 can take from studying the Big 10 and Pac 10. You rarely hear about negative recruiting out of those leagues.
     
  8. Kaiser Sose

    Kaiser Sose 100+ Posts


     
  9. coolhorn

    coolhorn 2,500+ Posts

    Nah...and neither does Iowa State, K-State and the others need to make what UT does, as long as they make enough to give them a chance to do some things that will make them more competitive on the field. That's what Nebraska never wanted to get...if the last place team can be more competitive, the conference can be stronger, and more stable. The big dogs are gonna eat anyway, but the smaller dogs need some resources to put into their programs. They also need to hire the right coaches...that, we can't help them do.
     
  10. Mobyhorn

    Mobyhorn 250+ Posts

    This is the most sensible thread I have seen after the initial sour grapes and, quite frankly, little tantrums by some.

    It is not a given that this conference can't be better than what it just was. And we do not have to sell out an identity by melding into some geographic monstrosity that many were initially complaining about.
     
  11. HornFan4Ever

    HornFan4Ever 25+ Posts

    I would have really missed the food at the games in Ames, so all is good! [​IMG]
     
  12. Satchel

    Satchel 2,500+ Posts


     
  13. OrangeHair

    OrangeHair 250+ Posts

    I think you have to add TCU and BYU. Each team by themselves doesn't add enough value in terms of tv money BUT by getting the championship game back it might make sense dollar wise.

    I don't think moving OU and OSU to the north makes sense. Maybe you put TCU in the north even though it doesn't make perfect sense.
     
  14. Sealman81

    Sealman81 25+ Posts

    TCU should NEVER be an option....we don't need to support another small, private school.
     
  15. Santafe

    Santafe 500+ Posts

    Sorry, it is hard to make a case for Baylor. There is a reason no other conference wanted them: they don't make much money on the football side of the ledger. For the 2008-2009 football season, Baylor was last in the Big 12 by a wide margin, earning only $11,896,723 in football revenues. Even basketball Kansas earned $6 million more than Baylor.
     
  16. coolhorn

    coolhorn 2,500+ Posts

    TCU, for the time being, is probably happier where they are. The Mountain West is probably going to get its' BCS invite.

    If we're looking to expand, I think ultimately, for the conference to survive, we need to look to the Arizonas, BYU, and Arkansas. I'm not saying we can get any or all of them, just that they're basically in the kinds of markets needed to make the Big 12 viable. Even the swine, though in a state with a small population, at least have the potential to get back the national reputation they had when they were in the SWC.

    It will be a hard sell to persuade any of the four targets mentioned, but we apparently have the time now, and you can't go to hell for trying, I think.
     
  17. Lancehorn

    Lancehorn 250+ Posts

    I say reach out right now to BYU and Utah both in the west, and Central Florida and South Florida in the east.

    Those Fla. Schools are potentially strong and Tampa and Orlando are growing markets. Get in the SEC's kitchen. Long term, recruiting in Florida to Orlando might be more attractive than to Starkville if Central and South Fla continue to be increasingly competitive and they are on TV a bit more like they would. They have HUGE enrollments and the athletics are just now coming, as is the money. Hell South Florida spanks a random SEC team just about yearly now already.

    Then just toss the trial balloon out to Az and ASU.

    If they have interest then consider 16 teams, but you can go with 14.

    Seems as good an expansion idea as just about any right now. Split it east and west.
     

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