[QUOTE=eazyb81;7961560]Right, because they are trying to promote UT over the Big 12, which is driving the wedge here. Why didn't OSU or Michigan feel the need to say "no thanks" to a Big Ten Network and start a school-specific one? Why have other conferences said LHN simply would not be allowed if UT came knocking?
See, I think this notion of "over the Big XII" is your perspective. I think they just see it as promoting a UT network for Texans. Your comparing a conference that been together for not even 2 decades against conferences that have over half a century of relationships. The Big XII came together because of TV contracts, and now you think there should just be a bunch of camaraderie. It doesn't make any sense. You can't force the appearance of decades long relationships.
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Originally Posted by eazyb81
I agree it won't happen, but it would be a solution to this mess and resolve a significant amount of internal conflict.
And sorry if you don't like the term "worthless", but that is exactly how ESPN, Fox, etc would view the revenue potential of a Big 12 Network without Texas. The Big Ten Network would be worthless without OSU and Michigan. The upcoming SEC Network will be worthless without Florida and Alabama.
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I think that's just conjecture. I don't think anyone has tried because the whole conference thought in terms of self interest. It was like they assumed the right to keep third tier control only meant an individual network. So, everyone was excited about their own network and how to make that work, but considers any collaborative effort to be folly. Makes perfect sense.
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Originally Posted by eazyb81
This point goes back to the prior that a Big 12 Network is worthless without Texas. With LHN, Texas is eliminating upside from a potential Big 12 Network from schools like ISU, KSU, KU, etc.
Don't worry, hopefully the last of the complainers will be gone shortly and you guys can forget this mess ever happened. Schools like Mizzou, A&M, Nebraska, and Colorado just don't understand the great vision of LHN.
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Well, I think all those schools left for different reasons. CU used the excuse of Texas but had been wanting to move west for quite some time because they identified with that culture more and most of their alumni on the west coast. NU was upset over the partial qualifier and the disrupted series with OU. Many of the things this conference has now was because NU wanted it that way. My guess is they wouldn't have been nearly as upset if their program hadn't gone in the tank like it did for a number of years. A&M has an inferiority complex, their issue was ruled in their favor and they still thought the SEC was the only way to carve out their own identity. If anyone really had a beef with a recruiting imbalance with the LHN, it would have been them.
MU doesn't compete for the same recruits UT does. There is no real recruiting advantage the LHN ensures over MU that UT didn't already possess. I'm not saying Texas isn't a headache to deal with, they obviously are. I just think this LHN issue has been blown way out of proportion. I think this is an opportunity for MU to play like one of the big dogs. I just don't know if they know the new kennel they want to run to isn't going to make them one of the runts again, even more so than they ever were in this conference.