The Big 12 expansion groundswell

[Uncle Ted]

I know y'all were thinking this day would never come but it is free Longhorn Network weekend. Watch the LHN on the internet for free!

Link: http://espn.go.com/longhornnetwork/#

[TripletDaddy]

lol @ LHN.

Definitely worth losing Nebraska, Colorado, aTm, and Mizzou.

[Omaha 680]

lol @ LHN.

Definitely worth losing Nebraska, Colorado, aTm, and Mizzou.

No one cares about Colorado.

[Uncle Ted]

No one cares about Colorado.

[YOhio]

No one cares about Colorado.

Except the most competent conference in CFB.

[SeattleUte]

Except the most competent conference in CFB.

No one cares about Colorado like no one cares about BYU right now. Colorado actually has a national championship in the nineties and Big 12 championships since then, including big bowl appearances. Colorado will be back. It is in a populous, sports crazy state.

[Uncle Ted]

No one cares about Colorado like no one cares about BYU right now. Colorado actually has a national championship in the nineties and Big 12 championships since then, including big bowl appearances. Colorado will be back. It is in a populous, sports crazy state.

Missouri and Georgia Tech don't recognize Colorado's national championship.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Down_Game_(1990)

[YOhio]

No one cares about Colorado like no one cares about BYU right now. Colorado actually has a national championship in the nineties and Big 12 championships since then, including big bowl appearances. Colorado will be back. It is in a populous, sports crazy state.

I was being kind and complimentary toward your favorite conference, yet you have to turn it into an insult against my beloved Alma Mater. You're not just a mean drunk, you're a mean man!

[SeattleUte]

I was being kind and complimentary toward your favorite conference, yet you have to turn it into an insult against my beloved Alma Mater. You're not just a mean drunk, you're a mean man!

It was a backhanded compliment. Implicitly I suggested the possibility that BYU too will be back. I'm only drunk on coffee; if anything, I've got the jitters.

[SeattleUte]

Also, Colorado basketball is recruiting like the dickens.

[Omaha 680]

Except the most competent conference in CFB.

Let me put Colorado in perspective for those not in Big 8 country. Imagine we were still in the MWC and somehow, New Mexico managed to rise up and have a good fun for a few years and even win half a national title with the aid of a 5th down in the regular season and a questionable block in the back on a Rocket Ismail punt return in the Orange Bowl. Then after that run, they fade back into their 500 to sub-500 selves and become one of the worst programs in the country. Imagine all their other sports stink, too and they are constantly complaining about how different they are from the rest of the conference and wishing they were elsewhere. All the while their fans are the most boorish in the conference and treat visitors to any game like trash.

Then one year, New Mexico gets an offer from the conference they really want to be in and decide to go. Would we really make an effort to prevent it? They bring no money, they have a tiny fan base that even cares if they are playing, and they bring no national notoriety because their teams all suck. We would say good luck and good riddance and move on and that's what the Big 12 did.

The Big 12 didn't make a mistake by letting Colorado go. That was a blessing. The mistake was not bending over backwards to keep Nebraska and then plugging in BYU to replace Colorado and keep on moving. Had they done that, they would be challenging the SEC as the premier football conference. Instead it is questionable if they will even survive.

[Omaha 680]

No one cares about Colorado like no one cares about BYU right now. Colorado actually has a national championship in the nineties and Big 12 championships since then, including big bowl appearances. Colorado will be back. It is in a populous, sports crazy state.

Unless Bill McCartney is going to take over the team, Colorado will not be back any time soon. And yes, Colorado is sports crazy, but they are not the Broncos. Think SDSU. No one cares if you don't live in Boulder...especially if they aren't winning.

Also, Colorado basketball is recruiting like the dickens.

They should feel very happy about that. We all know how important those recruiting championships are.

[PolyCougar]

Has Bronco really lost this? If he has a strength, it's that his players love him, no?

On Defense I see it, but I swear outside of Bryan Kariya and Nielson the offensive players can seem content to me. Maybe I was just excited to get that gritty coach he seemed to be, you know... the guy that cared about nothing but football (the over-told story of his car and Oregon State come to mind). Kinda like how I was pumped when Dave Rose started getting technical fouls, stomping the floor, and screaming at people after I swear I saw Cleveland spend about decade with his arms folded. And don't get me wrong, I loved Steve Cleveland... but passionate craziness combined with winning is pretty awesome.

[YOhio]

The Big 12 didn't make a mistake by letting Colorado go. That was a blessing. The mistake was not bending over backwards to keep Nebraska and then plugging in BYU to replace Colorado and keep on moving. Had they done that, they would be challenging the SEC as the premier football conference. Instead it is questionable if they will even survive.

Over the past 20 years Colorado accomplished more than any other school in the B12, other than UT, OU and Nebraska. They also had the second or third largest TV market in the conference and had a tradition of overall athletic department success. Few schools in the Big 12 could bring to the table what Colorado did and it's demonstrated by the current state of the conference. If the Big 12 was unhappy with Colorado, it's a Big 12 problem and not a Colorado problem. Letting them go so easily was a sign of leadership incompetence, conference dysfunctionality and foreshadowed a mass exodus of top programs.

It's also very telling that one of the best led conferences in CFB was happy to take what the Big 12 didn't want.

[Omaha 680]

Over the past 20 years Colorado accomplished more than any other school in the B12, other than UT, OU and Nebraska. They also had the second or third largest TV market in the conference and had a tradition of overall athletic department success. Few schools in the Big 12 could bring to the table what Colorado did and it's demonstrated by the current state of the conference. If the Big 12 was unhappy with Colorado, it's a Big 12 problem and not a Colorado problem. Letting them go so easily was a sign of leadership incompetence, conference dysfunctionality and foreshadowed a mass exodus of top programs.

It's also very telling that one of the best led conferences in CFB was happy to take what the Big 12 didn't want.

I beg to differ. 20 years ago was 1991, post national championship. 1990 was the apex and it has been a long tumble since. And as I mentioned before, McCartney made that program. It was a different era. Without McCartney or someone similar at the helm we might as well be talking about 50 years ago instead of 20. Newheisel and Barnett both had their shining moments but turned out to be unmitigated disasters. I won't even mention Jon Daly.

In the past 20 years I would argue that the only programs that brought less value to the Big 12 than Colorado are Iowa State, Texas Tech, Baylor, and maybe Kansas State. But talking about the Denver media market is a red herring. You might refer to it as an "untapped market" in the words of the fine associate AD from SDSU.

I maintain that the Big 12 could have dropped Colorado without missing a beat. You add BYU and you get a comparable TV market to Denver, but with fans who actually care about the program. The point of no return was letting Nebraska go.