The Big 12 expansion groundswell

[oxcoug]

DO NOT JINX. Change that now.

Responding to this post if the first time I've noted that "wuap" is the html for the rolling angry head. Funny.

I disagree on your jinx hypothesis - I think that faith without perfect knowledge will be rewarded.

[Goatnapper'96]

I suspect this reality will shock some. I've been prepared for this for years and have no problem with it.

I have asked this same question. It will be interesting, but my guess is after some initial disapointment BYU fans will accept and enjoy their place in the world. I think BYU would be a solid program in hoops and football in the Big-12. I don't forsee many championships but I can see BYU being in the top 4 and hovering between 10-15 in polls every couple of years. I see hoops as just a notch below, but I really think highly of Dave Rose and I also think the recruiting demographic is changing.

[Flystripper]

I was talking about the implications for fan support, mostly. It's great to say "raise the bar" and all that. But the reality of being in a BCS conference means that you can be a pretty darn good team and still only win seven games some years.

Is this going to be a shock to the BYU fanbase? Or do you think most of them are prepared for it?

Hopefully not. Pressure from fans to win 10 game every year is a good thing for a program, even if BYU only winds up winning 7 in lots of years. You want a fan base that cares. You want a fan base that expects excellence. Will many fans have unrealistic expectations? Yes. Look at any great program and they have fans that expect greatness and have unrealistic expectations even in years when the talent does not meet them.

[byu71]

I think we would all be excited to have these kind of teams in the Marriott Center.

But... I do think it's legitimate to wonder how excited we would still be if Kansas hammered us in Provo nine times out of 10.

And, of course, the same questions can be asked about football. I think it's safe to say our 2010 team would have struggled to win more than four games with a Big 12 schedule last season.

Really, other than Texas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska, nobody in the Big 12 has ever been consistently good enough to be real contenders in any national sense. Is BYU different or better than the others? Maybe. But, I don't really know.

I think we would be naive not to realize these possibilities and to consider their implications. I'm really not trying to be a buzz kill here, but I'm curious how the fan base would react to that. I'm really not sure how I would...

I agree there is some element that makes me want to remain the teams that can claim to be as good as the rest, but we got screwed. We don't have to prove it. I especially think staying put would be easier on the AD, and head FB coach. Rightly or wrongly, fans will want us to compete.

[Devildog]

Find out what? That Texas and OU run the conference? Shocker.

I really do hope this works out for BYU. The state of Utah stands to look good with college football teams in the PAC 12 and Big 12. We've come a long way in a short time.

I know many around here see BYU as the potential "savior" of the Big 12.

I sincerely hope that BYU isn't really closer to a band-aid on a sucking chest wound.

[jay santos]

I was talking about the implications for fan support, mostly. It's great to say "raise the bar" and all that. But the reality of being in a BCS conference means that you can be a pretty darn good team and still only win seven games some years.

Is this going to be a shock to the BYU fanbase? Or do you think most of them are prepared for it?

I think it will be a shock, but we need it. Our fan base is mostly lame and entitled.

[YOhio]

I don't plan to be famished. I plan on feasting every now and then, all the while enjoying the meal.

BYU can and will compete.

Nut up.

Enjoy the f***ing ride! That's what I plan on doing.

[dabrockster]

So, tell me how you would react...

Would you still be excited if it had been five years since we beat Kansas in basketball, and Texas or Oklahoma in football?

These are realistic possibilities. I really am curious how different fans would feel about this.

First of all. Your pitty party of BYU losing all the time won't even register into my mind.

[dabrockster]

I don't plan to be famished. I plan on feasting every now and then, all the while enjoying the meal.

BYU can and will compete.

Nut up.

Seems he enjoys being the big fish in a little pond.. May be the last BYU fan on earth with such aspirations...

[Joe Public]

I didn't see this posted yet; forgive me if it was:

However, The Salt Lake Tribune has learned that BYU officials have had discussions with Big 12 officials within the past week regarding the school’s interest in joining the conference, and what conditions and assurances it would need to make the jump exactly a year after announcing they were breaking away from the Mountain West Conference.

It is unclear whether the talks have included an invitation from the Big 12.

A BYU source said the talks have included the school’s desire to utilize its own television network, BYUtv, in a BCS automatic-qualifying conference much as it plans to this year. The talks have also included ESPN officials and even some input from Notre Dame representatives, whom BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe has referred to as “partners” in the past year.

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

[WashingtonCoug]

I'm sure that one of the hold ups for BYU in joining the BIG 12 is the guarantee that will never come from OU and Texas. I think the only way it would be smart to do this is if the BIG 12 can convince two other teams to come with BYU. A ten team league will not last. If the BIG 12 wants to stick around longer than a few more years, they need at least 12 teams. Possibly even more. My realistic wish-list of teams I think the BIG 12 can get is Louisville, Memphis, Houston, Pitt, WVirginia, Air Force and possibly one of the smaller Florida schools. If I'm ISU, KSU, Baylor and maybe even Kansas, I would be pushing for at least 12 schools. Anything less and the BIG 12 is dead in two years.

[Art Vandelay]

Enjoy the f***ing ride! That's what I plan on doing.

I've noticed this whole conference shake up thing has really affected your language. That stuff may be ok in the backwoods of Dayton, but around these parts we would appreciate it, if you keep your potty mouth to yourself.

[Eddie]

I was talking about the implications for fan support, mostly. It's great to say "raise the bar" and all that. But the reality of being in a BCS conference means that you can be a pretty darn good team and still only win seven games some years.

Is this going to be a shock to the BYU fanbase? Or do you think most of them are prepared for it?

As long as I get to tell WAC, MWC, Sunbelt, Conference USA, etc., conferences that BYU is going to beat them easily - and can offer "we have Big 12 talent and depth" as the only explanation...I can live with it.

[dabrockster]

Here goes - as an act of good faith and belief and celebration. Hopefully not of the premature variety.

But it goes without saying that if your statement turns out to be in error I will wish a plague upon your genitals.

oxcoug

[Uncle Ted]

This may have already been posted.

PBW, given your feelings about aTm you may not want to read this.

Spoiler for Ouch:

Most of us know at least someone who is hooked on drama. You probably live a rather routine life — work from 9 to 5, drive home, eat dinner with the family or friends, watch a little TV, maybe go for a bike ride on the weekend. Meanwhile, the guy at the next desk is feuding with his sister-in-law; embroiled in at least two lawsuits; lashing out at business rivals; stirring up Little League politics, and arguing with the local box store because it didn’t give him a free extension cord for the power drill he just bought.
That type of individual just has to have drama in his life at all times. He or she feeds off it like an insatiable jungle carnivore feeds off a herd of zebra.

Texas A&M is the guy at the next desk.

And like your co-worker, all its negative energy might be going for naught.


Texas A&M announced Wednesday it is leaving the Big 12 by July 2012 if it is accepted by another league, presumably the SEC. It has wanted out of the Big 12 badly. To the Aggies, the Big 12 is like a North Korean prison, with big longhorns painted on the cell walls.
The Big 12 has two marquee teams in Texas and Oklahoma, plus a bunch of interchangeable opponents. Texas A&M has a splendid academic reputation. If you’re interested in a career in agriculture or the military, it’s top drawer. And if you have dreams of someday being a general in charge of the cabbage patch at Camp Pendleton, there’s no better place to study.

But if you’re a football player, that’s another story. Texas A&M last won a national championship in 1939, and last won a conference title in 1998. The BCS bowl system began in ’98, and that was the only year A&M qualified for a berth in a BCS bowl game. Meanwhile, Texas has been in a BCS bowl game four times, Oklahoma eight times.

[...]

Texas A&M is hungry for drama, but what it might receive instead is the mind-numbing tedium of being a punching bag for schools very much like Texas and Oklahoma, only with different uniforms, logos and locations.

I’m sure A&M believes that it will open up all new recruiting doors to have “SEC” on its masthead. But really, that school attracts a particular type of individual, one who enjoys the studious, crew-cut nature of that institution. Usually, if a five-star recruit wants to attend a major program but still remain in his home state of Texas, he’ll attend Texas. If he prefers the glamour and prestige of being in the SEC, he’ll bolt the state completely and go to LSU, Florida or Alabama.

The pairing of Texas A&M and the SEC is unlikely to create a conga line of blue-chippers headed to College Station.

[...]

I suppose A&M sees this coming and wants to get the jump on the competition. But it’s doing it in an odd way. The SEC hasn’t said it wants A&M. In fact, a couple of weeks ago its presidents voted not to expand at this time, although it left that option open.

I guess the Aggies figure, “If we leave the Big 12, the SEC will HAVE to take us.” Hmmm. I don’t know about that. Maybe. But the SEC doesn’t appear to be the kind of business entity that gets dictated to. It seems like — figuratively speaking, of course — the type that would smother you with a pillow if a dollar could be gained from it. And I’m sure there are other schools the SEC might consider adding that would be more attractive than Texas A&M. Oklahoma, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Missouri, Clemson and West Virginia are among the schools mentioned in various reports.

And who knows? Maybe A&M has something else cooking. Perhaps there have been discreet cell-phone calls in the middle of the night to the commissioners of the Pac-12 or Big Ten, complete with whispers and giggles.

No, the Aggies seem to have some serious issues. They want to be respected and adored. They also want to text you about their love life, squabble with the neighbors, pick a fight with somebody at the gym and give you financial advice against your will.

They want to leave a longtime relationship to pursue somebody they perceive as more attractive, even if there’s no indication that party is the least bit interested.

The Aggies of Texas A&M. Right now the rest of college football is, like, so over them.