The Big 12 expansion groundswell

[All-American]

I couldn't remember half the conference.

Hmm. Let me see . . .

BYU
Utah
Wyoming
Colorado St
Air Force
UNM
SDSU
UNLV
TCU
Rice
SMU
Tulsa
SJSU
Hawaii
Fresno State

That's as good as I could do. I had to look it up to remember UTEP.

[Surfah]

Hmm. Let me see . . .

BYU
Utah
Wyoming
Colorado St
Air Force
UNM
SDSU
UNLV
TCU
Rice
SMU
Tulsa
SJSU
Hawaii
Fresno State

That's as good as I could do. I had to look it up to remember UTEP.

You had to look up UTEP? They were a hated WAC foe.

[Uncle Ted]

I haven't heard anything about aTm in almost a week. The rumors were that this week was when the SEC invite was coming. In fact, I seem to remember that today was to have been the day. Have you Texas guys been hearing anything specific?

What chip said yesterday...

Meanwhile, Texas A&M sources continue to tell Orangebloods.com that the Aggies expect movement in their bid to join the Southeastern Conference on Tuesday or Wednesday.

I am not sure what exactly is meant by "movement". Maybe that means the SEC presidents will actually get together and vote?

[Jacob]

It seems like not much is to be gained by the SEC with A&Ms move.
It also seems like not much is to be gained by the PAC-12 by further expansion, especially if it doesn't include U Texas.

And if there are indeed some votes against adding an Oklahoma, why on earth would Utah vote to expand with OK and OKST? If Utah had any sense of honor, wouldn't they really say that they are not voting for any expansion whatsoever that doesn't include BYU? Even if some fans and administrators don't want BYU in the conference, I don't see much upside to their voting for expansion.

I think Mark Cuban has it right. TV networks aren't interested in OK vs Utah, or Colorado, or Arizona, etc. They mostly want OK vs Texas. So this is what has been kicking around my head for a few days, having bought what Cuban was saying. If TV networks want key matchups (and of course they do) then expansion is not the way to go for the B12, but contraction. Maybe it's too late, but they should have taken advantage of last year's exodus and created a new conference. They should have dumped Iowa St and Baylor and created a new conference with the 8 leftover.

Would a network have paid less for that 8 team conference? Of course not. Expansion to 12 doesn't do enough because the real problem is that the Texas's don't want to keep feeding the free-loaders. If your could get ND and Pitt and WV/BYU then you have a lower percentage of free loaders, but you can't go to 12 without those types of programs. The conference is too diluted.

[Pelado]

It seems that last year there were some deriding Oklahoma for just doing whatever Texas wanted. Their overtures to the PAC this year might just be to placate those booster critics who don't want them in lock-step with the Longhorns.

[SteelBlue]

It seems that last year there were some deriding Oklahoma for just doing whatever Texas wanted. Their overtures to the PAC this year might just be to placate those booster critics who don't want them in lock-step with the Longhorns.

This is the conclusion I've come to as well.

[Uncle Ted]

Missouri may not be going anywhere...

Missouri is the latest Big 12 member to join the digital realm, alongside Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas State. The Mizzou Network will be an Internet-based channel with live, multi-camera broadcasts of the school’s Olympic sports along with behind-the-scenes glimpses into previously off-limits activities such as football practices or basketball locker rooms.

The network will carry applications for smart phones, tablet computers and Internet-capable TV.

[...]

As for the revenue-producing sports, conference TV contracts give Missouri the right to broadcast one football game live each season, as well as men’s and women’s basketball games that are not gobbled up by other TV deals. Those events will likely require viewers to pay up.

[...]

Oklahoma has invested $5 million toward its SoonerVision HD production, an online offering that the school hopes to eventually grow into a full-bore TV network. And Kansas State has unveiled its own high-definition digital network, K-StateHD.TV, a subscription service that debuted in late August.

“People want to consume (college sports) in all different kinds of ways, not just on the radio or on the official athletic department website,” said Andrew Wheeler, a Learfield Sports vice president based in Dallas.

So is OU going to share their network with little brother, OSU, if they go to the Pac-12?

[shoganai]

Missouri may not be going anywhere...



So is OU going to share their network with little brother, OSU, if they go to the Pac-12?

Sounds like all of these schools could use some close consultation with the school that pioneered school-specific networks.

Since the mid-1980s supreme court decision on NCAA tv rights was the catalyst for conference expansion mania in the first place (starting with the SEC in 1992), you have to wonder what part the exponential technological advances are going to play.

Maybe home-grown networks with anywhere, anytime access, and cutting-edge HD technology are going to lead us in a different direction. Once we reach the tipping point (which is coming very soon) where there's no longer any real difference between our television and WiFi, what is the logical end game?

Could it be that the real trend of the future isn't conference consolidation at all, but independence?

[Uncle Ted]

Sounds like all of these schools could use some close consultation with the school that pioneered school-specific networks.

Since the mid-1980s supreme court decision on NCAA tv rights was the catalyst for conference expansion mania in the first place (starting with the SEC in 1992), you have to wonder what part the exponential technological advances are going to play.

Maybe home-grown networks with anywhere, anytime access, and cutting-edge HD technology are going to lead us in a different direction. Once we reach the tipping point (which is coming very soon) where there's no longer any real difference between our television and WiFi, what is the logical end game?

Could it be that the real trend of the future isn't conference consolidation at all, but independence?

I think conferences will continue for scheduling.

I know one thing for sure: I love the BYUtv app. I love watching True Blue and games out of the BYUtv archive. BYU is definitely the leading the way.

[Surfah]

Baylor starting to push some political weight?

http://www.baylor.edu/nation/index.php?id=84714

[Uncle Ted]

Baylor starting to push some political weight?

http://www.baylor.edu/nation/index.php?id=84714

What are they going to do? Prop up the corpse of Ann Richards?

[shoganai]

I think conferences will continue for scheduling.

I know one thing for sure: I love the BYUtv app. I love watching True Blue and games out of the BYUtv archive. BYU is definitely the leading the way.

The problem I have with the scheduling argument is that it's circular...

Few teams are independent because it's hard to schedule. It's hard to schedule because few teams are available in October/November. Few teams are available in Oct/Nov because few teams are independent, etc.

To your point, however, if the only benefit to a conference is scheduling, then how long can conference affiliation really last for the big time schools once everybody has their own HD network, that any fan can easily access? - Especially if a school like BYU does a little trailblazing and convinces another school or two that they can do it as well.

I suppose I'm getting way ahead of myself, but if not only BYU, but a team like Texas were to successfuly establish itself as an independent, is it really far-fetched to think that it's only a matter of time before we have 20 or so independent schools like we did back in the 80s?

The only thing that ended the independent party for those schools 20 years ago was the need to consolidate for TV revenue. But, if school-specific networks with no distribution limitations (you only need WiFi) make the conference revenue model obsolete, then where are we headed?

And please don't try and tell me that bowl access is somehow going to hold potential independents back...

[Katy Lied]

Baylor starting to push some political weight?

http://www.baylor.edu/nation/index.php?id=84714

wow.

[Moliere]

Baylor starting to push some political weight?

http://www.baylor.edu/nation/index.php?id=84714

Every Baylor fan should be ashamed by that site, especially after they left smu, TCU, Houston, and rice in the dust.

[LA Ute]

Baylor starting to push some political weight?

http://www.baylor.edu/nation/index.php?id=84714

Wow, an official Baylor site, not just a fan site. Ken Starr in action?