The Big 12 expansion groundswell

[Indy Coug]

I think your point is that BYU should be the fecal point of any further Big 12 expansion.

Chip Brown should be dropping hints any time now.

[OSUCougar]

I think your point is that BYU should be the fecal point of any further Big 12 expansion.

Gotta love bathroom humor. That never grows old.

[TripletDaddy]

Dodd on expansion: No Dough, No go.

[BYUMizzou]

Dodd on expansion: No Dough, No go.

I thought this was an interesting angle:

The value of A&M and Mizzou is in the new SEC Network, the soon-to-be third-tier rights partner, because their additions equal more inventory.

The Big 12 doesn’t have a conference network for third-tier broadcasts, and because of Texas’ Longhorn Network, it won’t. So, if more additions don’t equate to more significant payout per school, where’s the need to expand?

If further conference realignment becomes more about third-tier TV revenue, the B12 may sit out on expansion, while any B1G or SEC moves will be primarily based on the TV market and number of TV sets added from which they can get a license fee rather than based on the merits of the actual university.

[UtahJazzFan88]

Now New Mexico fans are claiming they belong in the B12.



Of course, it comes from the MWC Board, so what can you expect.

The MWC Board is a ridiculous troll fest of Utah, Boise State, BYU, and SDSU.

[myboynoah]

Mike DeArmond tweets:

Shock of shocks. OU AD says 13-year B 12 grant of rights is not dine deal yet. Texas AD confirms. And Mizzou was suppsed to stay for this?

And BYU was supposed to join this?

Get your act together Big 12 and then let's talk.

[YOhio]

Mike DeArmond tweets:



And BYU was supposed to join this?

Get your act together Big 12 and then let's talk.

Greg Swaim got the call he was waiting for and it is really bad news for BYU.

[Viking]

Mike DeArmond tweets:



And BYU was supposed to join this?

Get your act together Big 12 and then let's talk.

Yes!!!!

[Lost Student]

Mike DeArmond tweets:



And BYU was supposed to join this?

Get your act together Big 12 and then let's talk.

Greg Swaim got the call he was waiting for and it is really bad news for BYU.

Looks like we just dodged a bullet.

[myboynoah]

Greg Swaim got the call he was waiting for and it is really bad news for BYU.

LOL. Now FSU fans are lining up to take hits from GSwaim's pipe.

[Viking]

LOL. Now FSU fans are lining up to take hits from GSwaim's pipe.

Big Time Suckers

[LamarCard]

As an unbiased person watching B12 expansion, I keep going back to something Bowlsby stated when he was officially announced as the B12 Commissioner. He refers to an electronic footprint for the conference instead of a geographic footprint. Here's a link http://www.msnsportsnet.com/page.cfm?story=21227

I honestly don't know what this means for BYU. It certainly looks like the B12 is headed East instead of West. That being said, it's almost like Bowlsby left the door open for Westward expansion as well.

I for one don't buy all this talk about the B12 not expanding. I think there is too much money to be made in a CCG. I also think that the B12 will match the SEC in membership due to the cross scheduling alliance, unless the SEC is ok making an alliance knowing that some of its teams will get left out. I think that the B12 is posturing to avoid law suits. I think Clemson and FSU are posturing to avoid lawsuits now that some others have opened their mouts too early. We'll see though. I have absolutely zero insider knowledge. I've just been trying to put together what I've read in multiple places.

One last note on Clemson and FSU. The SEC will not invite them. The nay votes are in place to hold any Florida, Carolina, or Georgia school out of the SEC. Also, the SEC needs new eyeballs for a TV contract, and neither FSU nor Clemson give them that. There are only two more spots open in the SEC, neither of those is going to go to a school in a state already represented in the SEC. Mizz would have never gotten an invite otherwise.

Where it gets interesting for you guys is how the B12 gets to 14 to match the SEC, then how they get to 16 if the SEC goes to 16.

[Indy Coug]

As an unbiased person watching B12 expansion, I keep going back to something Bowlsby stated when he was officially announced as the B12 Commissioner. He refers to an electronic footprint for the conference instead of a geographic footprint. Here's a link http://www.msnsportsnet.com/page.cfm?story=21227

I honestly don't know what this means for BYU. It certainly looks like the B12 is headed East instead of West. That being said, it's almost like Bowlsby left the door open for Westward expansion as well.

I for one don't buy all this talk about the B12 not expanding. I think there is too much money to be made in a CCG. I also think that the B12 will match the SEC in membership due to the cross scheduling alliance, unless the SEC is ok making an alliance knowing that some of its teams will get left out. I think that the B12 is posturing to avoid law suits. I think Clemson and FSU are posturing to avoid lawsuits now that some others have opened their mouts too early. We'll see though. I have absolutely zero insider knowledge. I've just been trying to put together what I've read in multiple places.

One last note on Clemson and FSU. The SEC will not invite them. The nay votes are in place to hold any Florida, Carolina, or Georgia school out of the SEC. Also, the SEC needs new eyeballs for a TV contract, and neither FSU nor Clemson give them that. There are only two more spots open in the SEC, neither of those is going to go to a school in a state already represented in the SEC. Mizz would have never gotten an invite otherwise.

Where it gets interesting for you guys is how the B12 gets to 14 to match the SEC, then how they get to 16 if the SEC goes to 16.

Because of its religious affiliation, the BYU "electronic footprint" is subject to a considerable amount of debate. With 7 million LDS members in the US, if all Mormons lived in one state it would be the 13th most populous state in the US. The growth rate of the Mormon church makes this potentially a much bigger market in the next decade or two.

Then of course, just because someone is Mormon doesn't mean they are necessarily a BYU fan -- but then you could say the same thing about all sorts of schools in terms of their actual pull compared to their potential pull given their geographic location.

Some schools such as Notre Dame, Nebraska, Texas, Alabama, etc have succeeded in expanding their base beyond traditional geographic and religious bounds. Does BYU have that potential? Doubtful. So what you have with BYU is an increasingly geographically fragmented market that is relatively difficult to measure and unlikely to produce significant broader appeal.

OTOH, BYU has enough pull that ESPN was willing to give them a long term contract and put them on TV 10 times last year, they are consistently a top 25-30 program who by most measures dwarf virtually all other non-BCS schools in terms of their fan base, budget, facilities and competitiveness.

It will be interesting to see what kind of metrics conferences like the BIG12 are really interested in when evaluating expansion candidates.

[lambdacoug]

Because of its religious affiliation, the BYU "electronic footprint" is subject to a considerable amount of debate. With 7 million LDS members in the US, if all Mormons lived in one state it would be the 13th most populous state in the US. The growth rate of the Mormon church makes this potentially a much bigger market in the next decade or two.

[kccougar]

I missed the joke.