Big 10 Report: Conference Realignment

[Mr. Laz]

A source in St. Louis familiar with the situation told NewsCenter 16 Thursday afternoon that Missouri will leave the Big XII and soon join the Big 10. Other schools expected to follow the Tigers are Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers and Nebraska.

Many have speculated that such an expansion would include Notre Dame but ND athletic director Jack Swarbrick told me today that the Irish prefer to stay independent in football and in the Big East for other sports. Swarbrick said maintaining football Independence is such a part of what Notre Dame is.

He went on to say the Big East is a great partner for the University in other sports.

"We do have to monitor what is going on," Swarbrick said. "There will be significant shifts. "Hopefully we can navigate them by keeping our football independent and keeping our Big East affiliation because that is what we care about."

The move of Syracuse, Pitt and Rutgers to the Big Ten from the Big East could categorically change the landscape of the Big East itself. Thus, what Swarbrick is referring to when stating the University must continue to monitor what is going on.

The interview with Swarbrick was done before the late afternoon announcement.

http://www.wndu.com/sports/headlines/92447574.html

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by teedubya

http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1093803

Three different sources at Big 12 South schools being targeted by the Pac-10 told Orangebloods.com Sunday morning that Dan Beebe's attempts to secure a new TV deal on par with the SEC's $17 million/school payout for the 10 remaining schools in the Big 12 is in play.

The sources said they are proceeding cautiously with the new information provided by Beebe.

But the information might slow down the rocket-like pace of Big 12 schools seeking a new home and possibly draw all the divided parties back to the table.

Here's what Beebe has provided to the five Big 12 South schools who have been targeted by the Pac-10, including Texas A&M, who has been in deep conversation about joining the SEC, according to sources.

--Beebe has secured information that enough money could be inked in its next TV negotiation (in 2011) that revenues per school would jump from between $7 million and $10 million in the Big 12 currently to $17 million, which is what the SEC pays out.


--Individal institutions would be allowed to pursue their own networks, which has been a goal of Texas. If the Longhorns went to the Pac-10, they would have to forgo their own distribution platforms, including a network, because the Pac-16 would seek to have a conference network in which all inventory is shared.

(Consultants have put Texas' ability to generate revenue from its own network at between $3 million and $5 million after a start-up window of about three years.)


--The Big 12 would proceed with 10 teams. Everyone would play everyone in football, providing a nine-game conference schedule. And the option to save or dump the conference championship game would be determined by the institutions.


--The loss of Nebraska and Colorado should have been a loss of about 16 percent to the league's revenue generating capacity. But because Colorado was an underperformer, the league lost only about 8.6 percent of its value with the loss of Nebraska, according to sources with knowledge of the Beebe Plan.

Hold on folks. This is about to get interesting. The key in all of this is that Texas appears to be at least reconsidering its position on going to the Pac-10 and will listen to the Beebe proposal and to the idea of remaining in the Big 12.

Nothing is done. It is fluid. But the Beebe Plan to hold the Big 12 together is definitely in play right now.

As Orangebloods.com was told by a top source in the day's developments: "The winds to keep the Big 12 together with 10 teams are getting stronger."

The plot only figures to thicken as Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott and Pac-10 chief operating officer Kevin Weiberg spoke to officials from Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in Oklahoma City Saturday and are in College Station today to speak with Texas A&M officials, according to sources.

Texas had been resolute up to this point that if Nebraska left the conference, it would accept an invitation to join the Pac-10 and lead an exodus that appeared to include Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.

Texas A&M has been in deep discussions with the SEC and as of Saturday night had enough votes on its Board of Regents to join the SEC (believed to be 6-3). But the dissenting votes on A&M's regents board are apparently passionate about keeping Texas and A&M together and not breaking up a 100-year rivalry by having the schools head to different leagues.

SEC commissioner Mike Slive was in College Station Saturday. Sources close to the situation say A&M has an invitation to the SEC if it wants it. The SEC has also been doggedly pursuing Oklahoma.

But thus far, OU, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State have indicated they would stay with Texas. Up to this point, that appeared to be an announcement to join the Pac-10, starting as early as Tuesday of this week.

But with news that Texas is now seriously considering the Beebe Plan, there is a growing chance the Big 12, which is now at 10 schools (the Big Ten, by the way, is now at 12 schools) just might survive after all.

Stay tuned.

[HolyHandgernade]

So, my question to the Tiger fans, if this new Beebe proposal looks good, are you loyal to that, or loyal only as long as the Big Ten doesn't come calling?

[Bambi]

Originally Posted by teedubya

http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1093803

Three different sources at Big 12 South schools being targeted by the Pac-10 told Orangebloods.com Sunday morning that Dan Beebe's attempts to secure a new TV deal on par with the SEC's $17 million/school payout for the 10 remaining schools in the Big 12 is in play.

The sources said they are proceeding cautiously with the new information provided by Beebe.

But the information might slow down the rocket-like pace of Big 12 schools seeking a new home and possibly draw all the divided parties back to the table.

Here's what Beebe has provided to the five Big 12 South schools who have been targeted by the Pac-10, including Texas A&M, who has been in deep conversation about joining the SEC, according to sources.

--Beebe has secured information that enough money could be inked in its next TV negotiation (in 2011) that revenues per school would jump from between $7 million and $10 million in the Big 12 currently to $17 million, which is what the SEC pays out.


--Individal institutions would be allowed to pursue their own networks, which has been a goal of Texas. If the Longhorns went to the Pac-10, they would have to forgo their own distribution platforms, including a network, because the Pac-16 would seek to have a conference network in which all inventory is shared.

(Consultants have put Texas' ability to generate revenue from its own network at between $3 million and $5 million after a start-up window of about three years.)


--The Big 12 would proceed with 10 teams. Everyone would play everyone in football, providing a nine-game conference schedule. And the option to save or dump the conference championship game would be determined by the institutions.


--The loss of Nebraska and Colorado should have been a loss of about 16 percent to the league's revenue generating capacity. But because Colorado was an underperformer, the league lost only about 8.6 percent of its value with the loss of Nebraska, according to sources with knowledge of the Beebe Plan.

Hold on folks. This is about to get interesting. The key in all of this is that Texas appears to be at least reconsidering its position on going to the Pac-10 and will listen to the Beebe proposal and to the idea of remaining in the Big 12.

Nothing is done. It is fluid. But the Beebe Plan to hold the Big 12 together is definitely in play right now.

As Orangebloods.com was told by a top source in the day's developments: "The winds to keep the Big 12 together with 10 teams are getting stronger."

The plot only figures to thicken as Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott and Pac-10 chief operating officer Kevin Weiberg spoke to officials from Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in Oklahoma City Saturday and are in College Station today to speak with Texas A&M officials, according to sources.

Texas had been resolute up to this point that if Nebraska left the conference, it would accept an invitation to join the Pac-10 and lead an exodus that appeared to include Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.

Texas A&M has been in deep discussions with the SEC and as of Saturday night had enough votes on its Board of Regents to join the SEC (believed to be 6-3). But the dissenting votes on A&M's regents board are apparently passionate about keeping Texas and A&M together and not breaking up a 100-year rivalry by having the schools head to different leagues.

SEC commissioner Mike Slive was in College Station Saturday. Sources close to the situation say A&M has an invitation to the SEC if it wants it. The SEC has also been doggedly pursuing Oklahoma.

But thus far, OU, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State have indicated they would stay with Texas. Up to this point, that appeared to be an announcement to join the Pac-10, starting as early as Tuesday of this week.

But with news that Texas is now seriously considering the Beebe Plan, there is a growing chance the Big 12, which is now at 10 schools (the Big Ten, by the way, is now at 12 schools) just might survive after all.

Stay tuned.

What I don't get is that it really isn't that much money we're talking about here. When I first heard that the Big 10 yearly payout was around $20 mil a year I was like "that's it?"

Don't these school spend like $20 mill in an afternoon?

It really comes down to what your donors give.

T Boone Pickens shits twenty million dollars.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by HolyHandgernade

So, my question to the Tiger fans, if this new Beebe proposal looks good, are you loyal to that, or loyal only as long as the Big Ten doesn't come calling?

From a fan standpoint, there is nothing good about continuing to be Texas' bitch. I don't care where we end up as long as it's away from them. If it happens, I guess I'd have to at least try to start liking basketball, because under this plan nobody outside Texas and Oklahoma would ever be relevant in football again.

But sadly, our ineffective, useless, gutless, brainless, dickless AD will probably jump on it. Of all the rumored reports, this is the one I absolutely hope ends up false.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by Buck

Not going to list all the conferences for the 2008 season, but here is the MWC standings for that year.

2. Utah
7. TCU
11. Boise St
25. BYU

Now show the standings for the same team for each of the last 50 years. Now you see what conferences look at when evaluating other teams.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by Wickedson

What I don't get is that it really isn't that much money we're talking about here. When I first heard that the Big 10 yearly payout was around $20 mil a year I was like "that's it?"
Don't these school spend like $20 mill in an afternoon?

It really comes down to what your donors give.

T Boone Pickens shits twenty million dollars.

Jesus.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by frazod

From a fan standpoint, there is nothing good about continuing to be Texas' bitch. I don't care where we end up as long as it's away from them. If it happens, I guess I'd have to at least try to start liking basketball, because under this plan nobody outside Texas and Oklahoma would ever be relevant in football again.

But sadly, our ineffective, useless, gutless, brainless, dickless AD will probably jump on it. Of all the rumored reports, this is the one I absolutely hope ends up false.

Why don't you think Mizzou can compete with Texas and Oklahoma? I realize they have yet to do so, but if you want to be a nationally respected football program, you've eventually got to be in the same class as programs like those two. And under this Beebe plan, Mizzou could add to it's quiver of Texas recruiting weapons the fact that they will be playing 4 games against Texas schools every single year (presumably 2 of them in Texas, on average, and most of them televised there).

[Mr. Laz]

cracks me up


a few weeks ago, Mizzou was ...



and then SatanHusker came along and ...




and now Mizzou is all, Hey Big-12 ...

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Why don't you think Mizzou can compete with Texas and Oklahoma? I realize they have yet to do so, but if you want to be a nationally respected football program, you've eventually got to be in the same class as programs like those two. And under this Beebe plan, Mizzou could add to it's quiver of Texas recruiting weapons the fact that they will be playing 4 games against Texas schools every single year (presumably 2 of them in Texas, on average, and most of them televised there).

Yes, that's great for recruiting. Hey, mom and dad, on Saturday we're playing Texas! Come watch us lose 70-3! Later we'll get ice cream! WOOHOO!

This changes nothing. They still have far more money and resources, the pick of the top recruits.

I'm not employed by MU - I don't have kids at MU. I care about winning on Saturday, or at least having a reasonable chance to win. This plan gets us pummeled by super schools that we've never been able to compete with twice a year, takes away a non-conference game, and pretty much guarantees us that we'll never even sniff a BCS berth.

[Mr. Arrowhead]

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/06/12...#ixzz0ql3Os2xn

Big 12 schools mull their options
By BLAIR KERKHOFF
The Kansas City Star
Related:


The buzzards are circling.

With the Big 12 on the verge of dissolution, reports have Kansas, Missouri and Kansas State on wish lists and radar screens of various conferences.

Nobody from the schools is commenting publicly, but The Star learned athletic officials from five schools — KU, Mizzou, K-State, Iowa State and Baylor — were connected by conference call on Saturday to get a lay of the land.

The strong sentiment was to continue as the Big 12, although those prospects are looking dimmer by the day.

Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott met with Oklahoma officials on Saturday, and reports indicated that he also visited with administrators from Oklahoma State. That was part of what a source said would be a weekend trip to Oklahoma and Texas in which Scott would invite five schools — Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State — to the Pac-10. They would join Colorado, which announced Thursday it was leaving the Big 12 for the Pac-10.

Oklahoma’s regents have scheduled a meeting for Wednesday to discuss conference options after Scott and Pac-10 deputy commissioner Kevin Weiberg met Saturday with Oklahoma president David Boren and athletic director Joe Castiglione.

Scott might have to hurry. The Southeastern Conference won’t be outmaneuvered. Texas A&M has expressed concern over the lengthy travel involved in the Pac-10. And what would stop the SEC from adding just one Big 12 program? Texas has privately said it has no interest in the SEC, but Oklahoma might.

Options for Missouri, Kansas and Kansas State seem, oddly enough for the land-locked schools, to stretch from coast to coast.

First, there’s the Pac-10, which is moving quickly. If A&M doesn’t go west, Scott could look at Kansas as a member. But a source close to the situation said Utah would likely be targeted by the Pac-10 before the Jayhawks.

The SEC and Big Ten, which added Nebraska on Friday, figure to begin maneuvering after the Pac-10 makes it play.

If the Pac-10 jumps to 16, the thinking is the SEC and Big Ten could respond in kind, and Missouri, long speculated as a Big Ten candidate, could land there.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said in Lincoln, Neb., on Friday that his conference would return to its original timetable — set last December at 12 to 18 months. That seems likely because others believed to be on the Big Ten’s radar, like Notre Dame and some in the Big East, wouldn’t be part of SEC or Pac-10 expansion plans.

Possibilities for the remaining Big 12 to move as a package could begin with the Big East. The conference could lose members to the Big Ten or if it remains intact would swell to the playoff number of 12 football teams by adding Kansas, Missouri, Kansas State and Iowa State. They could join Louisville and Cincinnati to form a division.

The Big East already had 16 in its powerful basketball conference, but two 10-team divisions could be a solution.

One drawback: travel. Sending teams between the Midwest to the East Coast would be costly and time-consuming.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Saturday that Big 12 North schools and Baylor were on the Mountain West radar, but a source close to the Big 12 said it might be the other way around.

“The Big 12 has an automatic qualifier to the BCS and the Mountain West doesn’t,” the source said. “Who would join whom?”

That’s assuming a reduced Big 12 could keep its BCS status and entry to the lucrative bowl system. The Mountain West, which added Boise State on Friday, is on track to receive that status but not until 2013.

Remaining together to form the nucleus of a new Big 12 has been discussed among schools not headed to the Pac-10 with schools coming from roughly the current Big 12 footprint.

But the league might has to see what remains if the Pac-10, Big Ten and SEC start a race to a 16-team conference.

“It’ll trickle down,” said Todd Turner, a sports consultant and former athletic director at Washington and Vanderbilt. “Louisville, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Utah, BYU — they’re all kind of in no-man’s land right now. Maybe Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri can hang together, try to put something in place.”

The trick is trust.

“I would be looking for who my allies might be,” Turner said. “What company do you want to keep? It’s a confusing mess. That’s why I’d go to try and find out who my allies were.”

All of which is why forging ahead with a 10-team Big 12 is easily the best solution for the Big 12 North schools plus Baylor. Consultants and TV officials have told Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe even after losing Colorado and Nebraska future television contracts for his league will be worth more than the Pac-10 plus the Buffaloes.

It appears that won’t matter. The South schools seem to be headed out the door and it will be left for the others to fend for themselves.

The MU Board of Curators will hold a closed-door meeting at 8 tonight in Columbia. It is expected the curators will discuss Missouri’s strategy scenarios for the new landscape.

Kansas State president Kirk Schulz said staying close to home is his strong preference.

“The Olympic sports, you can’t imagine people leaving early in the morning, competing and being back home that night,” Schulz said. “Some of those three time-zone conferences, it’s going to take a couple days to play conference opponents.”

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/06/12...#ixzz0ql6BQgFR

[Archie Bunker]

Hope we wore our kneepads....



http://twitter.com/ChipBrownOB/status/16084175238

"Mizzou's push to show rest of Big 12 that it has seen the light and really values (i.e. needs) the Big 12 has been noticed, sources say."

[vailpass]

I will be surprised if MU doesn't end up in the B10. Delaney knows he doesn't have to rush, is watching to see what P10 does, letting ND start to read the writing on the wall then watching to see what ND decides to do (if anything).
MU would be a natural fit in the B10.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by frazod

Yes, that's great for recruiting. Hey, mom and dad, on Saturday we're playing Texas! Come watch us lose 70-3! Later we'll get ice cream! WOOHOO!

This changes nothing. They still have far more money and resources, the pick of the top recruits.

I'm not employed by MU - I don't have kids at MU. I care about winning on Saturday, or at least having a reasonable chance to win. This plan gets us pummeled by super schools that we've never been able to compete with twice a year, takes away a non-conference game, and pretty much guarantees us that we'll never even sniff a BCS berth.

What good is a BCS bid if your team sucks as bad as you think it must. I'd much prefer Mizzou playing OK and TX every year and being legit the year they win their conference than playing against a bunch of relative cupcakes and getting pummeled by a real team after getting a cheap BCS bid.

If you don't want Mizzou playing in Beebe's new version of the Big 12 because of OK and TX, then I don't see how you could have had an interest in playing in the Big 10.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Archie Bunker

Hope we wore our kneepads....



http://twitter.com/ChipBrownOB/status/16084175238

"Mizzou's push to show rest of Big 12 that it has seen the light and really values (i.e. needs) the Big 12 has been noticed, sources say."

[Saulbadguy]

I'd be cool with the rest of the conference remaining Texas' bitch, while they remain K-States bitch.