Interesting causes for B12 recruiting woes

[Bugeater]

Guess a certain school was more relevant than was thought to the likes of you know who!

http://www.sbnation.com/college-foo...510684/big-12-realignment-recruiting-rankings

 

[jedimasterjed]

The biggest mistake the Big 12 made was not dumping Texas and keeping the other teams that left. I think at some point the conference is broken up and there will be 4 super conferences. A team like Iowa state or Kansas state could end up in the Mountain West

 

[newAD]

Wow. The loss of Nebraska and A&M has hurt the conference. Who would have thought?

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

You are crazy. Dumping Texas would have been the death knell to that league.

A&M adds to the SEC but isn't a main player. Baylor is Baylor. Texas Tech is on eastern New Mexico.

TCU is a Mountain West team.

From a business standpoint there is no debate. People just need to put their dislike of Texas aside to see it objectively.

 

[hddude55]

You are crazy. Dumping Texas would have been the death knell to that league.

A&M adds to the SEC but isn't a main player. Baylor is Baylor. Texas Tech is on eastern New Mexico.

TCU is a Mountain West team.

From a business standpoint there is no debate. People just need to put their dislike of Texas aside to see it objectively.

I didn't realize the death of the Southwest Confernce saved the Big Eight.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

I didn't realize the death of the Southwest Confernce saved the Big Eight.

Well, the Big 8, like all other conferences, was eventually going to have to expand or be left behind. And the merger with the four schools from the SWC made perfect sense.

The HUGE mistake that the old Big 8 members made was to line up behind the leadership of Texas out of hatred for, and envy of, Nebraska's dynasty. Had they resisted Texas, the conference would have had a much better chance of survival.

Maybe Texas A&M would have still bolted. Ditto CU and Misery. Maybe even NU. But those defections became almost certainties as soon as Texas was anointed the de facto leader of the conference.

 

[jieder]

Well, the Big 8, like all other conferences, was eventually going to have to expand or be left behind. And the merger with the four schools from the SWC made perfect sense.

The HUGE mistake that the old Big 8 members made was to line up behind the leadership of Texas out of hatred for, and envy of, Nebraska's dynasty. Had they resisted Texas, the conference would have had a much better chance of survival.

Maybe Texas A&M would have still bolted. Ditto CU and Misery. Maybe even NU. But those defections became almost certainties as soon as Texas was anointed the de facto leader of the conference.

Had the old Big 8 aligned together and (along w/Texas A&M) said "No Way" to the Longhorn Network start-up, I feel the Big XII would still be alive and strong with its original 12 members.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

I didn't realize the death of the Southwest Confernce saved the Big Eight.

You are kidding yourself if you think the Big 8 had any long term sustainability.

The biggest mistake made with the merger of the SWC and the Big 8 was the greed of Texas, Oklahoma, A&M and Nebraska and the unequal sharing of revenue. Those 4 were able to control votes and basically block any votes to change the revenue sharing model. Of course that led to Texas starting the Longhorn Network and Nebraska getting pissed because they wanted a Big 12 Network.

Anyway that's another discussion.

Revisionist history is always the best.

 

[ellobo]

With the exception of UT's recruiting woes I'm not sure why they think this is a new trend. At least on paper, the B10 has been out recruiting the B12 for years. This is because the B10 schools themselves, from an academic standpoint, have more of a national footprint. This has spilled over into athletic recruiting as the more geographical diverse student populations has been a selling point.

A story I'd like to see is how technology has effected recruiting in the B12. I've had a theory for years...actually based on when I started folllowing recruiting (years ago) and noticed the B10 was consistently out recruiting the B12 on paper but not necessarily out performing them on the field. My thought was that due to the relative lack of depth of talent in certain states it was actually leading to those states being severely underrated by the recruiting services and even the coaches themselves. Because both weren't spending a lot of time poking around those states they were missing out on the talent that was there...talent that was feeding the local programs and would be national recruits if they had more exposure (and thus would have been rated higher).

However, today anyone with internet access and a cell phone can distribute film cheaply and in mass. Add to that, technology led to the creation of the fan sites/networks which led to things like more regional camps/combines, etc. But it is not only the fan sites...there are now multiple trade (for the colleges use...not fan consumption) sites which are essentially databases so that the programs have instant and extensive information on recruits around the country (a school can literally do things like query 6 foot, 180 lb CBs that have timed a 4.4 and have stats, film, contact info etc. of kids from all over the country including the more remote locations). There are other examples of how technology has changed recruiting but my point is that it has led to way fewer "hidden gems," programs being able to identify and connect with talent outside of their "500 mile radius" much easier and thus the weakening of programs and conferences that relied on talent in their footprint being relatively ignored.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

Well, the Big 8, like all other conferences, was eventually going to have to expand or be left behind. And the merger with the four schools from the SWC made perfect sense.

The HUGE mistake that the old Big 8 members made was to line up behind the leadership of Texas out of hatred for, and envy of, Nebraska's dynasty. Had they resisted Texas, the conference would have had a much better chance of survival.

Maybe Texas A&M would have still bolted. Ditto CU and Misery. Maybe even NU. But those defections became almost certainties as soon as Texas was anointed the de facto leader of the conference.

Agree with most of this. I think we need to go back to the formation of conference though. The bylaws set included the unequal sharing of revenue. Texas was clearly the biggest revenue generator. If the other 11 schools ban together, Texas leaves and goes independent or goes to another league. The remaining 11 simply didn't generate the revenue to split equally and still remain a viable option. I think the hatred of Nebraska is sort of a Nebraska thing used by Nebraskans.

By the time the league decided to share their Tier I and II media revenues, Nebraska and A&M were gone. And The Longhorn Network was a tier III media and wasn't shared.

 

[LAjayhawk]

Loss of NU and aTm has crippled big12. Consider a game 10 years ago NU v aTM replaced today by TCU v WV. Big 12 has become a secondary regional conference.

Losing ATM has damaged Texas recruiting the most and losing NU has damaged national branding the most. Even the occasional KU v MU game when both schools had good teams was a much bigger national draw than Baylor vs TCU.

Sad. Even with Oklahoma back in national contention the last 2 years they are complaining openly about the conference.

You can even see in their recruiting they have expanded nationally and are losing big in Texas with recruits.

 

[DerHusker]

Wow. The loss of Nebraska and A&M has hurt the conference. Who would have thought?

 

[phoenix4nu]

Snyder's health issues won't help K-State's recruiting.