The Big 12 expansion groundswell

[Blueintheface]

I'm so tired of this 4 conference 64 team crap. Its not going to happen. Some douche just picked the number 4 and 64 because its the only numbers they knew how to make a playoff bracket with.

The Bowls arn't going away. Money is driving all of this. BYU will be included because when you get slapped in the face with a stack of hundreds you pay attention.

I thought it was tithing slips?

[BemidjiCoug]

I thought it was tithing slips?

those too

[BigFatMeanie]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports...EsJ_story.html

[Paperback Writer]

As far as recruiting Texas blue chippers goes I am not sure if it is going to help aTm a lot to go to the SEC. It is all about having a winning program. What Texas blue chipper is going to want be part of a team that may get to the SEC conference championship once in about 15 years. It is seems that having aTm in the SEC will help the other SEC teams with recruiting Texas blue chippers more than it will help the aggies.

What has Texas A&M got to lose? IIRC, the last time the Aggies made it to the Big 12 CCG was 1998. Looks like they were working on close to 15 years in the good 'ol Big 12. And it does come down to winning...as you point out. There is the scenario that Texas A&M could do a lot worse in the SEC. But I think the Aggies are hoping they can leverage the Texas state brand and geographic proximity - play in the SEC but still go to school closer to home and in Texas...and make the family proud. I think the Texas A&M brand is strong enough to compete for blue chippers in the SEC unless an Aggie trainwreck occurs (and I don't put that past them).

BTW, speaking of Texas blue chippers in the SEC, I see that Allen's QB has given his verbal to Bama. Allen really looked nice in their opener. I am hoping to make it out to a few more Allen games this year.

Sadly, I haven't had time lately to devot to Eagle football. It's an embarrassment as one of the starting WR's is a YM in my ward (#19). Was out of town during the opener for my daughter's softball tournment. I guess it's natural for interest to wane as son #2 isn't an athlete like his older brother. But still, I should do better and plug back into Allen Eagle football while getting ready for the new stadium.

It seems Nebraska did fine in the Big 12...

I hope they maintain this winning percentage in the Big ten now that their texas recruit pipe may have less of a flow.

Well, thanks for those stats. But we both know they would look different if only the past nine years were examined instead of the entire 15-year conference history. Nebraska was closing the gap on OU and Texas though but still had it's work cut out. I'm not too concerned with Nebraska recruiting Texas though. The "Texas pipeline" wasn't all that great to Nebraska. Rarely did Nebraska sign a player that Texas or OU really wanted. The hope is that Nebraska in the Big Ten might turn this around. Even if it doesn't change, Nebraska will still get Texas players as they did in the Big 8. Now that I think of it, an Aggie trainwreck in the SEC will probably help Nebraska. But out of respect for my Aggie son, I'll contiune to hope that the Mack Brown train is really off the tracks (recent Longhorn recruiting would indicate otherwise though).

[TripletDaddy]

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, so as everyone knows, yesterday I saw a mysterious BYU pop-up tent go up a few mere blocks from the COB.

Today, the pop up tent is still up. A pic of it here as of 15 mins ago:



However, check out what I saw parked in the parking structure, only 15 feet away from the pop up tent!!!!!!



This is it! It is happening!

[shoganai]

I didn't anticipate my CUF post jumping boards so quickly.

I decided a couple of days ago that I was done making any contributions to that other board at least until this whole expansion hooplah was worked out. The amount of traffic that board receives does give it advantages in some situations, and I guess I would be at least partially dishonest if I said I didn't enjoy the having a lot of people read my stuff when I have some worthwhile stuff to put together - I am a former news reporter after all. But, too much noise and too much controversy (of a general adolescent type) hit a tipping point in the last couple of weeks, so, I went on cougarboard vacation and decided to spend my unproductive hours on the more quiet, quaint CUF.

At any rate, I heard about the lunch involving Samuelson from someone I would never consider a "source" - it was a marketing professor at the Marriott School. Apparently a bunch of the business/marketing faculty had a lunch meeting with the president yesterday to discuss some proposed changes to some undegraduate curriculum/program, and they also talked about things like trying to expand the size of the MBA program, etc.

Samuelson opened the meeting up for questions at some point and, naturally, one of the faculty asked if he could comment on the football conference situation.

Now, I don't know if this professor had the quote exactly word-for-word correct, but it was clear that there wasn't a lot of ambiguity in the answer - "We are not joining the Big 12."

Mostly over on the other board (but a little bit here as well), there seems to be this bubble of hype that has turned into a deafening echo chamber. Through different back-channel leaks and Chip Brown-esque links, there's this impression that everything at BYU is in total lock-down mode and there is something building towards an inevitable "official" announcement or hour of decision with gargantuan implications.

When I heard the professor's report about the lunch, what it made me realize more than anything is that this bubble of hype with the expectation of some grand official occurance probably exists merely in our own minds.

As I thought about it more, I realized that nobody at BYU has actually been any more tight-lipped than normal. Nobody appears to be in any kind of lock-down negotiation mode. Holmoe has spoken a couple of times to the media just as he normally does this time of year, and nobody has overtly dodged any questions or denied any request to comment. Over and over again this month the answer has been what it has been for a year - "we're happy with independence and we're fully committed to it" - with the usual, "we'll see what the future holds," caveat.

I think it's reasonable to conclude that the Big 12 and BYU have had some discussions with each other recently, but who's to say one or both parties have concluded that there will be no invitation/acceptance right now, for whatever speculative reason?

Sure, there might be a few additional phone conversations back and forth, here and there, but if the gist of it was that BYU is going to stay independent for now, would there ever be any kind of official yes/no announcement? I think it's extremely doubtful there would be. A few people discredited my "rumor" immediately because they couldn't believe the president would speak so "haphazardly" to a group when "no official announcement has been made!"

Well, in fact, lots of "official statements" have been made since about this time last year, and they've all indicated that BYU isn't going anywhere.

Now, I suppose there could be ongoing discussions/negotiations and the answer could swing from yes to no, or vice versa in the near future. But, my own personal conclusion is that things aren't nearly as hot and heavy over at BYU as some of us have let ourselves believe.

So, to conclude this rambling post, I will defend completely what I posted yesterday. The lunch meeting absolutely happened, and I believe with 99 percent assurity that Samuelson pretty unambiguously said that BYU is not joining the Big 12. I'm sure some may come back with a plate full of crow for me to eat if BYU does accept an invitation soon. Frankly, I don't care. I didn't say it, Samuelson did. So I would recommend speculating on why he would say that if it wasn't actually true, rather than making waves towards some pretty inconsequential message board junky like myself.

[Blueintheface]

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is it! It is happening!

What are those cones doing in front of the KSL building?

[LiveCoug]

If BYU isn't having conversations with the Big 12, or isn't interested in the Big 12, why wouldn't they just come out and say it with 100% conviction? That would end all speculation and it would be very simple to do.

[Green Monstah]

I hope you're wrong shoganai, but I have this nagging feeling that you're right.

I really wish this thread would die.

[dabrockster]

I decided a couple of days ago that I was done making any contributions to that other board at least until this whole expansion hooplah was worked out. The amount of traffic that board receives does give it advantages in some situations, and I guess I would be at least partially dishonest if I said I didn't enjoy the having a lot of people read my stuff when I have some worthwhile stuff to put together - I am a former news reporter after all. But, too much noise and too much controversy (of a general adolescent type) hit a tipping point in the last couple of weeks, so, I went on cougarboard vacation and decided to spend my unproductive hours on the more quiet, quaint CUF.

At any rate, I heard about the lunch involving Samuelson from someone I would never consider a "source" - it was a marketing professor at the Marriott School. Apparently a bunch of the business/marketing faculty had a lunch meeting with the president yesterday to discuss some proposed changes to some undegraduate curriculum/program, and they also talked about things like trying to expand the size of the MBA program, etc.

Samuelson opened the meeting up for questions at some point and, naturally, one of the faculty asked if he could comment on the football conference situation.

Now, I don't know if this professor had the quote exactly word-for-word correct, but it was clear that there wasn't a lot of ambiguity in the answer - "We are not joining the Big 12."

Mostly over on the other board (but a little bit here as well), there seems to be this bubble of hype that has turned into a deafening echo chamber. Through different back-channel leaks and Chip Brown-esque links, there's this impression that everything at BYU is in total lock-down mode and there is something building towards an inevitable "official" announcement or hour of decision with gargantuan implications.

When I heard the professor's report about the lunch, what it made me realize more than anything is that this bubble of hype with the expectation of some grand official occurance probably exists merely in our own minds.

As I thought about it more, I realized that nobody at BYU has actually been any more tight-lipped than normal. Nobody appears to be in any kind of lock-down negotiation mode. Holmoe has spoken a couple of times to the media just as he normally does this time of year, and nobody has overtly dodged any questions or denied any request to comment. Over and over again this month the answer has been what it has been for a year - "we're happy with independence and we're fully committed to it" - with the usual, "we'll see what the future holds," caveat.

I think it's reasonable to conclude that the Big 12 and BYU have had some discussions with each other recently, but who's to say one or both parties have concluded that there will be no invitation/acceptance right now, for whatever speculative reason?

Sure, there might be a few additional phone conversations back and forth, here and there, but if the gist of it was that BYU is going to stay independent for now, would there ever be any kind of official yes/no announcement? I think it's extremely doubtful there would be. A few people discredited my "rumor" immediately because they couldn't believe the president would speak so "haphazardly" to a group when "no official announcement has been made!"

Well, in fact, lots of "official statements" have been made since about this time last year, and they've all indicated that BYU isn't going anywhere.

Now, I suppose there could be ongoing discussions/negotiations and the answer could swing from yes to no, or vice versa in the near future. But, my own personal conclusion is that things aren't nearly as hot and heavy over at BYU as some of us have let ourselves believe.

So, to conclude this rambling post, I will defend completely what I posted yesterday. The lunch meeting absolutely happened, and I believe with 99 percent assurity that Samuelson pretty unambiguously said that BYU is not joining the Big 12. I'm sure some may come back with a plate full of crow for me to eat if BYU does accept an invitation soon. Frankly, I don't care. I didn't say it, Samuelson did. So I would recommend speculating on why he would say that if it wasn't actually true, rather than making waves towards some pretty inconsequential message board junky like myself.

Sorry buddy. But defending your post only adds insecurity to it imo...

[YOhio]

I decided a couple of days ago that I was done making any contributions to that other board at least until this whole expansion hooplah was worked out. The amount of traffic that board receives does give it advantages in some situations, and I guess I would be at least partially dishonest if I said I didn't enjoy the having a lot of people read my stuff when I have some worthwhile stuff to put together - I am a former news reporter after all. But, too much noise and too much controversy (of a general adolescent type) hit a tipping point in the last couple of weeks, so, I went on cougarboard vacation and decided to spend my unproductive hours on the more quiet, quaint CUF.

At any rate, I heard about the lunch involving Samuelson from someone I would never consider a "source" - it was a marketing professor at the Marriott School. Apparently a bunch of the business/marketing faculty had a lunch meeting with the president yesterday to discuss some proposed changes to some undegraduate curriculum/program, and they also talked about things like trying to expand the size of the MBA program, etc.

Samuelson opened the meeting up for questions at some point and, naturally, one of the faculty asked if he could comment on the football conference situation.

Now, I don't know if this professor had the quote exactly word-for-word correct, but it was clear that there wasn't a lot of ambiguity in the answer - "We are not joining the Big 12."

Mostly over on the other board (but a little bit here as well), there seems to be this bubble of hype that has turned into a deafening echo chamber. Through different back-channel leaks and Chip Brown-esque links, there's this impression that everything at BYU is in total lock-down mode and there is something building towards an inevitable "official" announcement or hour of decision with gargantuan implications.

When I heard the professor's report about the lunch, what it made me realize more than anything is that this bubble of hype with the expectation of some grand official occurance probably exists merely in our own minds.

As I thought about it more, I realized that nobody at BYU has actually been any more tight-lipped than normal. Nobody appears to be in any kind of lock-down negotiation mode. Holmoe has spoken a couple of times to the media just as he normally does this time of year, and nobody has overtly dodged any questions or denied any request to comment. Over and over again this month the answer has been what it has been for a year - "we're happy with independence and we're fully committed to it" - with the usual, "we'll see what the future holds," caveat.

I think it's reasonable to conclude that the Big 12 and BYU have had some discussions with each other recently, but who's to say one or both parties have concluded that there will be no invitation/acceptance right now, for whatever speculative reason?

Sure, there might be a few additional phone conversations back and forth, here and there, but if the gist of it was that BYU is going to stay independent for now, would there ever be any kind of official yes/no announcement? I think it's extremely doubtful there would be. A few people discredited my "rumor" immediately because they couldn't believe the president would speak so "haphazardly" to a group when "no official announcement has been made!"

Well, in fact, lots of "official statements" have been made since about this time last year, and they've all indicated that BYU isn't going anywhere.

Now, I suppose there could be ongoing discussions/negotiations and the answer could swing from yes to no, or vice versa in the near future. But, my own personal conclusion is that things aren't nearly as hot and heavy over at BYU as some of us have let ourselves believe.

So, to conclude this rambling post, I will defend completely what I posted yesterday. The lunch meeting absolutely happened, and I believe with 99 percent assurity that Samuelson pretty unambiguously said that BYU is not joining the Big 12. I'm sure some may come back with a plate full of crow for me to eat if BYU does accept an invitation soon. Frankly, I don't care. I didn't say it, Samuelson did. So I would recommend speculating on why he would say that if it wasn't actually true, rather than making waves towards some pretty inconsequential message board junky like myself.

You should tweet this.

[Blueintheface]

If BYU isn't having conversations with the Big 12, or isn't interested in the Big 12, why wouldn't they just come out and say it with 100% conviction? That would end all speculation and it would be very simple to do.

Their answer to that question would simply be 'why have a press conference if nothing is happening'.

[shoganai]

If BYU isn't having conversations with the Big 12, or isn't interested in the Big 12, why wouldn't they just come out and say it with 100% conviction? That would end all speculation and it would be very simple to do.

My point is, they have said every time they've been asked - this month, last month, last year, etc. - that they are committed to independence and have no plans to join another conference.

Why would they have to do anything special and make some grand announcement now when they've been saying it all along?

[TripletDaddy]

If BYU isn't having conversations with the Big 12, or isn't interested in the Big 12, why wouldn't they just come out and say it with 100% conviction? That would end all speculation and it would be very simple to do.

Here is what Holmoe said a couple of weeks ago...or rather, what he didnt say...

The athletic director declined to say whether BYU has a buyout clause with the West Coast Conference, where most of its other sports have been placed.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/...tball.html.csp

It is possible that Homoe is telling the truth 100% and that there have been no discussions, no contact, nothing. That would mean that virtually 100% of the media has it wrong and that BYU is not a top target. Or, in the alternative, both sides are telling the truth...BYU is a top target but until aTm is gonzo, no official contact has been made.

Son of Samuelson's impromptu demotivational speech runs counter to public speaking 101....he paints BYU into a corner with an absolute. Holmoe says, "we aren't focused on that, maybe if it were to happen then we would have something to chat about."

[oxcoug]

CB sleuths turn up charter flight from Addison TX (15 minutes from B12 HQ) to Provo this morning.

This is it!

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/LXJ327