It's time to start knocking on ND's door again to try to get this long shot. BYU would be in. The way ESPN is knocking on our lack of Championship game, the Big 12 may never get a team in again unless we have an undefeated team.
Agreed ND probably would not come. BYU and Boise State. It would take a couple of years to build the depth to compete, but TCU has made the adjustment fairly well. If we are going out west to grab BYU, another team in the west might be a good idea.
I kind of like this topic now that it looks like our conference really does need to expand. Notre Dame isn't coming, i just won't ever believe that especially now that Dodds is gone. BYU and Louisville are possibilities based off the last round of rumors but our conference would be spread so far out that to outsiders it would almost remind them of conference USA or some other lesser tier conference. I think both those teams would strengthen the conference but it would be nice to find schools within our geographic foot print or at least make a little travel sense taking West Virginia into account. I don't want this to hijack the thread but to be honest if West Virginia is left out there by themselves they may not stay with the conference if the conference weakens or if it makes more sense for them to align themselves back closer to home. And i'm fully aware of conference penalties but i'm sure that wouldn't stop someone from leaving a conference or how else do you expect us to bring someone in? Some school is going to have to leave a conference for us to gain one.... except for BYU. And I'm also not an advocate of adding any more Texas based schools, it would resemble the old SWC too much and to me would be repeating history and fail again. I like Louisville because they are committed to having a good football program and they are respectable in it but they are also strong in basketball AND if the rumors are correct and we didn't hurt any ones feelings the last round of discussions. And if I'm dreaming I would like Virginia and Virginia Tech to come or one of those and Clemson. I would like to see at least two teams added out there by West Virginia that have a commitment to football but also bring other sports to the table such as mens or womens basketball as well as baseball, Virginia has been pretty good lately on the baseball field and so has Clemson. I think any of those bring a little more excitement as well as solid depth in every sport and i think it could add a rivalry to the conference for West Virginia. These are just my opinion and pipe dreams, i don't have any insight in this that any of these teams would consider this.
All power conferences have clauses now that might it next to impossible to leave. That leaves BYU and _? Let's just grab Tulane for a cool road trip every other year.
Texas needs to leave to a bigger conference...not the other way around. Otherwise, you have a Snow White and the seven dwarfs effect.
We blew it years ago when we had all these universities (e.g., Florida State, Clemson, etc.) showing interest in joining our conference. Guess who was the lead dog in preventing that? Now, we just got screwed in the first-ever college football national playoff, so it looks like we are forced into finding two teams from a field of leftovers. BYU is clearly the best available out there. Team No. 2 will have to come from a field of small stadiums and alumni. I think the best thing for UT is to leave the Big 12 for the Pac-12. Take the huge money hit now and move on to far greener pastures down the road, because the Big 12 is screwed.
Well i don't think the big 12 is done, Texas will be strong soon but the rest of the big 12 will need to be able to compete nationally to maintain respect and hopefully grab two more respectable schools
ND is affiliated with the ACC. All expansion was in place, then Deloss brought in Chuckie Nein-as, who ****** everything up. He had his head so far up ND's *** that he pissed off the two meaningful new members, who told him and the Big XII to "f**k off". Unless the Big XII raids another conference, there are no desirable teams to expand with. After Nein-*** f**k up, it isn't likely anyone in one of the Power 5 would accept a call from Dallas.
Sabre, i'm thinking you are right and it's sad these guys have such powerful degrees but so little foresight.
Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State to the Pac-12??? Was discussed at one time - and would create a terrific, strong conference. HHD
Oregon vs. Texas would be outstanding. True, Texas would most likely be in the PAC-12 South if they joined. In fact, OU and Texas would probably be in that division. (Colorado and Utah would likely move from the South Division and Cal or Stanford to the South.) That would be a monster division (with Arizona, Arizona State, USC, UCLA, Cal or Stanford, UT, and OU. You'd earn your salary coaching through that schedule every year.
If the Big 12 could be salvaged and built up with some additional teams, that would be better than going to an existing conference, IMO. If you go to the PAC, you're joining USC, UCLA and Oregon's conference. If you go to the Big, you're joining OSU and to a lesser degree, MU'S conference. I prefer bringing teams into OU and Texas' conference. I would rather be the king of one of the better conferences, than a newcomer with a vote in the PAC, Big or SEC, etc. It's good to be the king, assuming the kingdom isn't a total dump.
One can also argue that being king can destroy a conference, if the king gets too big for his empire. Then there's the fact that beyond BYU (and its problems), there aren't any "quality" teams left for expansion.
i think the more likely scenario is for the big 12 to petition the NCAA to add a conference championship game.
I think that we stay pat, we came real close to having two teams in the playoff, closer than any other conference. If Baylor and TCU would have played someone tough outside out of conference and one of those other favorites would have lost, we would have had two representatives. With a conference Championship game it is going to bite them in the ***, think Texas vs. Colorado or when OU lost to Kansas State. What would have happened had Alabama lost, what SEC team would have gotten in? We do need to make it one true Champion, TCU would have been **** out of luck.
Even with the title game this year they would have found a reason to leave BU and TCU out. Naming a champion could have helped but to me playing 9 conf and everyone in conference should equal playing 8 and a title game. The ou loss to osu may have hurt too. mizzou didn't play anybody this year and was blown out by the one good team they played. It's pointless to talk about conference re-alignment or adding teams, but I'm not sure about BYU. They would be a good addition but would their Sunday off throw a wrench into things? It would only help ND to join the BIG or Big 12.
Deloss is gone and Louisville has better athletics than BYU in nearly every sport. Football, baseball, basketball both men and women are all better and ranked in the polls. Notre Dame isn't joining any conference in football as long as they get the special treatment they receive. Till the playoffs expand to at least 8 teams, it's not much better than the BCS was. At least computers don't see $ in their evaluation of teams to make a decision.
The SEC, Big 10, Pac 12 and ACC only play 8 conference games. With the added CCG, 2 out of every conference plays a 9th conference game. 9 conference games is the same number of conference games Oregon, Alabama, Florida State and Ohio State played. 9 conference games is the same number of conference games Baylor and TCU played. Oregon gets a rematch 9th conference game with Arizona, Alabama gets a 2 loss Missou 9th conference game( one of Missou's losses was to Indiana), Florida State gets a Ga Tech 9th conference game and Ohio State gets a 9thconference game with a mediocre Wisconsin. How does the committee think a 9th conference game against the above competition is somehow better than Baylor's 9th conference game against K State? As much as I enjoy Briles getting screwed for 2008, he has it right with the yankee/regional bias on the committee. Giving the 9th conference game of these conferences preference because it is called a CCG is baloney. The thirteenth game and OOCS is also baloney. There is not one Ohio State ooc team that would not have been beaten by TCU or Baylor. Ohio State played Cincinatti, Kent State, Navy and Va Tech and lost to a 6-6 Va Tech team. Baylor lost to a WVa Team that carried Alabama in to the fourth quarter and TCU lost to Baylor. Any Committee that has Ty Willingham(the worst coach to ever roam the sidelines) deciding playoff teams is fundamentally flawed from the start.
A few people argued for going to the SEC with aggy and maybe OU and OSU back in the seismic summer of '10. Seventy-five percent of Horn fans disagreed. They said the SEC was too dirty for us and opted first for those long, brutal road trips to Pullman and Corvallis and then for the LHN. I didn't get then and now it's too late. aggy can block us just as USC blocks Clemson and UK blocks Louisville. We'll never get in the SEC. ND will never come, so forget about that. We could have had Louisville a year or two ago. That was another mistake. I'd go for BYU and the next best available team.
If UT ever made a move it should be to a conference that values at least some academic standards which would be the BIG or Pac 12. Academics in the sec is not even considered.
Why can't we talk to Louisville now? Are they locked in or so mad at Texas they supposedly won't consider it? It might take some time, but I would still go after them if there is any chance. It might be far fetched, but I would also talk to Arkansas. The SEC has not been the oasis they thought it would be for them. Also till this day, Texas to them is and will always be their rival. The bowl game still proves that. They will never get worked up about any SEC team or any team for that matter like they do Texas. They may want that back and what have they done in the SEC, little to nothing. They lost 17 straight SEC games till finally beating Ole Miss and LSU. It's been a coaching merry-go-round and till those victories, Belima was on a short leash too. They talk about the SEC shafting them now like they use to the SWC. Can't hurt to open a communication channel there and see.
Getting a team from another major conference is going to be impossible as the media rights ($) are tied to the conferences, not the schools. As it would be almost impossible for us to leave unless the Big 12 votes to disband, which won't happen unless at least 6 teams are guaranteed landing spots.
The bad news is you can thank the Big-12 for coming up with the idea of signing away your media rights to your conference,
Louisville is now in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The truth is Louisville was eager to join the Big 12. We could have had Louisville, any time between autumn 2011 (when West Virginia was admitted to the Big 12) and November 2012, when the ACC invited Louisville. No one blames the Big 12 for taking West Virginia over Louisville, but the TV networks wanted the Mountaineers. A Louisville exit fee (buyout) would be steep, given what happened to Maryland: In late 2012, the University of Maryland announced that it would exit the ACC to join the Big 10 Conference. In a court settlement, the original buyout of $52.3 million was reduced to $31.4 million (the amount that had been previously withheld from Maryland by the ACC).
Have we the Big 12 ever considered adding UCF and or South Florida to our conference? Hear me out here, They would improve in their recruiting playing in the Big 12 with Florida recruits which that would make them better teams. Also they would be stealing some better recruits from Florida St, Florida, Georgia, Miami, and Bama being in a power conference. And it would be the same philosophy of the SEC trying to get Texas recruits using the Aggies in their conference. It would help us get Florida Recruits from that state. It would improve the viewing audience for that area for the Big 12. To me it sounds like a perfect fit. Yes it would take a couple of years for them to improve for our league but in the long run it would happen. TCU went from a 4 win team the first year in the Big 12 to a one loss team the second year. Also we could get the Big 12 Championship back. The only Negative would be they are not big brand name school but neither is Vandy, Ole Miss, Mississippi St, South Carolina, and Kentucky (for football) in the SEC. Besides there is only so much room in each conference for the big brand name teams.
Oddly enough, the Herald-Dispatch (in Huntington, WV) is reporting a rumor that the Big-12 is considering four schools for admission: Cincinnati, East Carolina, UCF and South Florida. That would ease WVU's travel burden, give the Big 12 a presence in Florida for recruiting purposes, and permit a Big-12 conference championship game. (I'll believe it when I see it happen.) Those are two reasons for realignment although some of the Big-12 members are openly hostile to expansion because they don't want to divvy up additional pieces of the conference revenue pie. Another reason is to ease the travel expenses for WVU considering the Mountaineers' closest league neighbor, Iowa State, is 871 miles away. (NOTE: In 2011, Clemson, Miami and Virginia Tech were rumored to be interested in following Florida State to the Big-12. It's a shame we didn't pursue them.)
That actually makes sense. Grabbing BYU, and another unknown, is probably what most people want, but that would be very difficult on WVU. We accepted them, so we need to watch out for them, as well.
