The Big 12 expansion groundswell

[Jeff Lebowski]

i thought that paragraph ruined an otherwise great post.

i agree with SU that this thread is filled with a bunch of nothingness. clearly something is going on, but this thread really isn't enlightening whatsoever on what that is. With Holmoe's loose lips earlier on, i had high hopes that things would leak out, and with HB Arnett's claim, it seems like there could be more information out there, it just isn't making it into this thread.

Nice to see that you and SU have retained your sense of humor and dignity.

[YOhio]

I know! Will the cleverness never end?

Know yer place dirt burglin', t-sip.

[OrangeUte]

Nice to see that you and SU have retained your sense of humor and dignity.

that was a little harsher than i intended it to be.

i'm curious what's going on behind the scenes.

[SeattleUte]

that was a little harsher than i intended it to be.

i'm curious what's going on behind the scenes.

You should just ask me. I'll tell you. NOTHING is going on behind the scenes. Holmoe's breathless hints and evasions tell us this, as well as the nothingness otherwise happening.

[YOhio]

You should just ask me. I'll tell you. NOTHING is going on behind the scenes. Holmoe's breathless hints and evasions tell us this, as well as the nothingness otherwise happening.

You're clueless. Tons of stuff is happening behind the scenes. Tons! We're just keeping it secret.

[Babs]

i agree with SU that this thread is filled with a bunch of nothingness.

and this would differ from the rest of the board...

[OrangeUte]

and this would differ from the rest of the board...

a very fine point.

[Uncle Ted]

Mack says don't get too excited about changing the Big 12 name just yet...

Todd in Austin, Texas, asked: Coach Brown, if it were up to you, what would be the name of the new Big XII (Ten)?

MB: It's really confusing Todd, because the Big Ten has 12 and the Big XII has 10 and the Pac-10 has 12. We need to wait and see where this goes over the next few years, because there may be some more additions. Then we can come up with a new name.

[myboynoah]

Mack says don't get too excited about changing the Big 12 name just yet...

The smoking gun. Yeeeeeehhhhaaaawwwwww!

[Uncle Ted]

The smoking gun. Yeeeeeehhhhaaaawwwwww!

I think the correct phrase is "BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE!!!".

[Uncle Ted]

There are some new rumblings on Orangebloods about expansion. One interesting post:

Note to OP: Im afraid it may still be to soon to have a legit conversation about this matter. Too many Big 12 fans are still upset about how everything went down for us to have an honest conversation about IMO. The most common response you are going to see is "the Big 12 sucks and will not be around in a couple years anyway."

The other responses will be along the lines of, "The Big 12 is not going to expand bc it will mean splitting the pot an extra two ways"... while true as of now, that statement only applies while the current television contracts are still in place. We will know much more following the 2011 season about possible conference expansion.

IMO the Big 12 has no choice but to expand if they want to remain a viable conference... they must expand the TV market, and I believe the conference administrators knows this and will not act retroactively in the future.

Im inclined to believe that feelers have already been put out to Notre Dame, as well as Arkansas (or they put out feelers to the Big 12 depending on who you want to believe). I have heard BYU is a school the Big 12 is very interested in and is near the top of conferences' expansion board and that Air Force isnt too far down the list either. TCU (and to a lesser degree Houston) are always discussed but I dont think those are realistic options due to the fact that the driving force behind expansion is going to be $$$... the only way the conference can expand is if the 2 new schools bring in more to the pot than the current members would lose by adding 2 more cuts in revenue distribution.

Using the 2009 Big 12 revenue #s as a guide (and assuming that money was split 10 ways instead of 12) were talking about a 12-13 million dollar difference which the two additions would have to be able to make up in order for expansion to be a lucrative undertaking. I think that shortens the Big 12's potential expansion list considerably.

Ideal expansion: Notre Dame and one of BYU or Arkansas... maybe Louisville?

Realistic list: BYU and one of Louisville, Memphis, Cincinatti, or Houston, UNLV, or Air Force

[Uncle Ted]

Chip Brown on ND joining the Big 12:

Q: “Will Notre Dame ever join the Big Ten or will they stick to being an independent in college football?”

A: “I’d argue that if Notre Dame ever does join a conference, they’d look at the Big 12 before the Big Ten. With that, they could still maintain their own TV contract (with NBC). In fact, Texas and Notre Dame had some conversations about just that, but nothing developed.”

[Uncle Ted]

Dan Beebe said today there is no plan to expand Big 12 but the door is still open for institutions of "great value":

"One of the things that was rewarding and satisfying after we got through this, when we had the 10 that decided to remain together, there became a lot of enthusiasm and excitement about having 10 members, having the type of cohesion and familiarity you get with playing everybody every year in football, you know, playing everybody twice a year in basketball. The kind of collegiality and cementing of the relationships that I think that can bring was something that I think our folks realized. And there's absolutely no interest at this point in time in looking to expand our membership. ''

"If an institution in this region of the country that could bring great value, more value than what we would have to provide to them was to step up and want to be a part of us, then maybe we'd have to look at it. But right now there's no affirmative interest by our members in expanding whatsoever.

"There's so much excitement about continuing with the round-robin in football, seeing each other every year, and the double round-robin in basketball and other sports, that I think that's going to carry the day for the foreseeable future."

[LiveCoug]

There are some new rumblings on Orangebloods about expansion. One interesting post:

Do you have a link for that? Is that on a pay site? Interesting stuffs there... Actual smoke, I dear say.

[Uncle Ted]

Do you have a link for that? Is that on a pay site? Interesting stuffs there... Actual smoke, I dear say.

It's a pay site... rivals.com. I would say it is board talk by from an educated poster. If you would like the link I can dig it up.