Quote:
Originally Posted by |Zach|
Missouri isn't going to the Pac 12.
If the Big 12 breaks apart then that will open up the need for other conferences to keep up with the super conference threat. The Tigers will go B10 or SEC.
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I think you're wrong and here's why:
The PAC is the aggressor here, they'll make the first pitch before the conference officially goes belly up. He'll try to secure a deal before the actual movement starts so he doesn't have to compete against the SEC and Big 10. He'll do it by making this sales pitch:
He'll point out the fact that if the Big XII breaks up before 2012, it will dissolve the FOX/ESPN contract for second tier rights that amounted to 1.1 billion dollars, plus the unspecified prediction of the first tier contract due in 2016. If A&M goes SEC, that an exclusively ESPN contract. If Texas goes independent, that's an exclusively ESPN contract. The PAC contract was set up as a FOX/ESPN deal and it will be easier to negotiate new terms within that framework with that available money. Money that in all likelyhood will no longer go towards KSU, ISU or Baylor and only a small portion towards SEC re-negotiations, if any at all. This could give the PAC the richest contract in conference sports, between 25 and 30 million per school, most likely.
In addition, the PAC will provide you with a regional network that you don't have to front all the money on that you can show regional high school games on among other things. This in addition to the exposure on the national PAC Network.
Your competition won't be as severe as it is in either the Big 10 or SEC which means you will position yourself better for bowls/playoffs.
Unlike the Big 10 which snubbed you, we really want and value you. In fact, we think your location is so important to our increased exposure towards the east, we want to put our Inland Division headquarters in St. Louis.
As a member of the PAC you will now have a presence in the two states that produce the most high school talent in the country: Texas and California
You don't have to try and establish new recruiting territory already dominated by the SEC and Big 10 and you get to preserve a great number of your traditional rivals in KU, CU, OU and Tech.
You will be part of a conference that will dominate the market west of the Mississippi across three time zones with one of the most innovative thinkers in marketing at your lead. We look at you as a founding partner, so you will get a full share of the new contract as opposed to the graduated entry Nebraska must do in the Big 10.
My guess is Mizzou will jump at the chance to be a big fish in a rich new pond rather than a small fish in an rich but old one. OU will agree to go to the PAC as well because they will retain their position as the do now as the traditional football power, unlike in the SEC where they be "one of" the great powers. Tech already wants to go, and as much as I hate to say it, Kansas will just be thrilled to be included. Last time Texas was the prize, but this time Missouri is. Sure, they want OU, but they could probably get by with OSU. Mizzou is the deal breaker. If they can't convince them, everyone will probably stand pat until the Big XII attempts to negotiate their first tier for 2016.