The Big 12 expansion groundswell

[byu71]

I'll email him and let him know it's available.

If they aren't, depending on how my Dr's appt. goes tomorrow, I might.

[Paperback Writer]

That just makes no sense for them to leave without a partner.

I thought the point of inviting FSU and Clemson was to build the conference in to the big population centers along the East Coast to gain footholds in ACC and SEC strongholds and give West Virginia some surrounding partners.

I would give my left nut to join in football only with Notre Dame.

I suppose West Virginia and FSU could be partners. Not sure I would consider South Carolina a big population center and Clemson (1953) seems to have deeper roots in the ACC than FSU (1991). Again, I'm not sure why FSU would even leave the ACC. I would guess they would exert less power in the Big 12 then they hold in the ACC and there would be a lot more travel. But I didn't think the Big 12 would reach as far east as West Virginia either.

[SeattleUte]

Shoot! Had I not done this in the disjunctive it would have been an amazing prediction.

http://www.cougaruteforum.com/showpo...43&postcount=8

[Marvelous]

I would give my left nut to join in football only with Notre Dame.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I love BYU football. That said, I think I'd prefer to keep my nuts. I would be willing to sacrifice both of yours though if it would appease the football gods.

[The_Douger]

I mean, don't get me wrong, I love BYU football. That said, I think I'd prefer to keep my nuts. I would be willing to sacrifice both of yours though if it would appease the football gods.

If they need two from me, it's a no go. There's plenty of guys out there doing just fine who have one.

[Cougarmandias]

When the nut count reaches 12,000, BYU is IN.

[TripletDaddy]

Barry Tramel likes BYU!

http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/2...ean-expansion/

So, how does that equate to Big 12 expansion? Big 12 expansion boils down to this.
1. Can newcomers make a huge financial upgrade for the conference?
2. Would expansion help or hurt the cause of getting Big 12 schools into the four-team playoff.

Let’s answer question No. 1. Notre Dame would bring cash to the conference. Some combination of ACC schools like Florida State and Clemson would bring cash to the conference. Brigham Young might bring cash to the conference. That’s about it.

...That’s why I think the Big 12 will stick with the current 10-team format unless one of the aforementioned money-makers wants in.

[TripletDaddy]

Barry Tramel has BYU on the brain.

A Plan for Notre Dame and BYU

[The_Douger]

I doubt it happens, but I could totally live with that.

[Marvelous]

Barry Tramel has BYU on the brain.

A Plan for Notre Dame and BYU

I would love everything about this. Independence in football is hurting Dave Rose's program as much as anything else. I don't think ND would ever do it, but I would love it if BYU were able to work out some sort of deal like this with the Big 12 - even if it were just the 5 football games.

[TripletDaddy]

The most reliable source yet on B12 expansion: Chuck Neinas speaking to the B12 Expansion Committee (letter obtained via an Open Records request)

http://newsok.com/article/3688049

Read the quotes below only if you hate BYU or don't want BYU to be in the B12:

In a January memo to the Big 12 expansion committee, interim commissioner Chuck Neinas said Notre Dame is the only school the Big 12 could add that would “enhance the Big 12 value for television.”

“Our television partners agreed that the only new member that would enhance the Big 12 value for television was Notre Dame.”

Neinas goes on in the memo to say he discussed expansion with ESPN president John Skipper, Fox Sports president Randy Freer and ESPN's head of college athletics operations Burke Magnus. Neinas said all three agreed a 10-member conference was preferred, but they would live with expansion to 11 or 12 teams

Nenias referenced a December meeting of athletic directors who were spit on the idea of expansion. He wrote that if the conference were to expand, there was strong support for the University of Louisville to become the Big 12's 11th member.

[hostile]

The most reliable source yet on B12 expansion: Chuck Neinas speaking to the B12 Expansion Committee (letter obtained via an Open Records request)

http://newsok.com/article/3688049

Read the quotes below only if you hate BYU or don't want BYU to be in the B12:

Thanks for sharing.

[Uncle Ted]

CB update on ND and B12... (actually this is kind of old. June 26)

The Presidential Oversight Committee today signed off on a four-team, college football playoff proposal given to them by the 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame - a proposal that calls for a committee to select the best four teams at-large based on strength of schedule, head-to-head matchups and conference championships.

But what does this playoff format, which will run for 12 years through the 2025 season beginning in 2014, mean for Notre Dame in terms of feeling pressure to join a conference (even if it's just moving its Olympic sports from the Big East into a new league)?

This format does not put nearly the pressure on Notre Dame to join a league that a playoff format dominated by conference champions would have.

In fact, I'm being told by sources in the Big 12 that the new playoff format will not have as much to do with the Irish's ultimate decision about whether to move its Olympic sports into the Big 12 as the changing landscape in the Big East will.

If Notre Dame follows through on such a relocation of its non-football sports - many in the Big 12 are hoping to see (and some are now expecting to see) - it will be because the Irish no longer feel connected to the Big East.

That conference has changed dramatically since the Irish joined it in 1995. Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami left for the ACC. Now, West Virginia is gone. Pittsburgh and Syracuse are leaving for the ACC. TCU said it would come, then got a better offer in the Big 12.

Even potential expansion candidate Boise State is having second thoughts about the Big East and has until July 1 to decide if it's staying in or leaving the Mountain West.

If Boise is having second thoughts about the Big East, you know Notre Dame is as well.

The playoff format announced today may not be the call to arms for Notre Dame, but two sources in the Big 12 continue to say they believe the Irish will announce the school's Olympic sports are leaving the Big East for the Big 12 - possibly before the end of the summer.

Stay tuned.

Edit: Some follow on comments from CB...

There is some belief in the Big 12 that ND moving its Olympic sports into the B12 could spark a frenzy that might lead to more realignment. It would take someone like Florida State and its trustees board becoming convinced the B12 is the place to be, similar to the way A&M and Mizzou's regents and curators became convinced.

I'm being told the pecking order is 1) ND's Olympic sports; 2) Florida State; 3) either Clemson or Georgia Tech

But if Florida State doesn't become convinced in its administration that the Big 12 is the place to be, then the Big 12 is likely to remain at 10 schools with ND as an associate member for the short term, I'm told.

[ERCougar]

Thanks for sharing.

I KNEW you hated BYU!

[TripletDaddy]

So let me get this straight....Notre Dame misses Boston college, Miami, Virginia tech, Pitt, and Syracuse......so it is joining the B12?