Link: http://texas.247sports.com/Article/...mer-All-American-Rod-Babers-feels-th-45882843
In spite of recent news the Big 12 appears doomed
by Rod Babers, Horns247.com
At the recent Big 12 meetings in Irving the conference voted to have a championship game in 2017. There are also discussions about dividing the 10-team conference into two divisions.
Although this is a step in the right direction for the Big 12, some view it as rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. I wouldn't go that far.
It's more like performing a Broadway classic while the ship is going down. At least everyone's in a better mood, possibly distracted, and if there are drinks being served they may even be a little tipsy.
No matter your opinion, the reality is there's money to be made and that's why we're seeing the Big 12 put things into motion. If projections are correct, a conference championship game would but the Big 12 behind only the SEC and Big Ten in revenue distribution per school.
Since the Big 12 meetings the most vocal advocates for a conference television network have quelled (Oklahoma president David Boren included) and -- based on the vibe coming out of the meetings earlier this month -- the conference decision makers seem content at a 10-team membership for the league, at least for now.
Part of the pause could be Texas athletic director Mike Perrin finally making his personal feelings on expansion known, even though school benefactors like Red McCombs disagree with him.
I've long been an advocate of Big 12 expansion and have stated my case several times. The argument against expansion is always the same, that there aren't enough viable candidates. My retort is usually the Argo principle: when you're out of good ideas, sometimes you have no choice but to go with the best bad idea available.
That's partly why -- regardless of how the current situation plays out -- the Big 12 is ultimately doomed.
Sure, the conference is out of a coma and no longer on life support. But it's still in the ICU.
The genesis of the Big 12 is more accurately described as the Big 8 absorbing the major Texas schools from the Southwest Conference, but the perception is and always will be the Texas schools negotiated a deal that formulated the Big 12. That may or may not be true, but what became obvious is Texas is now the power broker in this conference. It seems Texas' and Oklahoma's political talking points are starting to exhibit more synchronicity and no one would believe that's the result of serendipity.
In Irving, Perrin said there will be another phase of realignment in the future. The assumption by Big 12 officials is they will somehow be the beneficiary of this movement, something I'm failing to see.
The Big Ten and the SEC are considered impossible to take from. The Pac-12 has already poached a former Big 12 member (Colorado) and currently has a forward-thinking commissioner in Larry Scott, who has been aggressive on expansion in the past. The ACC has a membership agreement with Notre Dame through 2025 that gives them the most member schools of any Power Five conference.
Compared to those leagues, the Big 12 looks to be a dead conference walking.
The Big 12 is Dunder Mifflin from "The Office". They're a fledgling, mid-level paper company in an increasingly paperless world, downsizing to become even smaller while finding it tougher and tougher to compete with Office Depot, Office Max and Staples.
Like Dunder Mifflin, the Big 12 has a Michael Scott-like figure as its fearless leader in Bob Bowlsby. Lately, Big 12 commissioners have been symbolic of the Big 12's lack of vision and sustainability.
Since Kevin Wieberg, who would later work with the Big Ten and Pac-12 on launching their own conference television networks, resigned in 2007, the Big 12 would've been lucky to have any leadership at all. Instead they got Dan Beebe, Bob Bowlsby and the burnt orange hand.
That worked out great for Texas, but it may have impeded the progress of the rest of the conference.
Without clear leadership the Big 12 has become a "House of Cards" episode and Texas is Frank Underwood. Big 12 commissioners have been functional but not formidable, and that's why the Big 12 has become the least respected of the Power Five conferences not just with fans and coaches, but with student-athletes and prospective recruits as well.
Although it's reported that the Big 12 is healthy, common sense convinces me otherwise. Being the smallest Power Five conference and the only such league without a television network is doing barely enough to stay afloat.
when I was recruited to the Big 12 in 1999 it was a conference that was three years old. It still had that new conference smell. At the time the Big 12 was considered college football's new money, a conference with the bravado of the Southwest Conference with the legitimacy of the Big 8. But in recent years the bold vision that once guided the conference has degraded into a rudderless ship, compelled by the waves of realignment and subject to the shoals of suspected discontent.
I'm not only a fan of the Big 12, I'm also a former member of it and arguably its most valuable kind of member, which is the student-athlete.
I was recruited by Texas to play football in the great state of Texas and the Big 12, a conference created in part by Texans, for Texans. Now, I'm not trying to sound like some radical Texan who favors secession or anything along those lines, but when it comes to football at the University of Texas and within the state we're still the Joneses.
The state of Texas is the heart of the Big 12, and I've always taken pride that Texas has a conference it identifies with, especially considering we're the mecca of football in this country. Monetarily, culturally, statistically, emotionally, and spiritually no state has invested more in the sport of football at every level than Texas. No other state better deserves a college football conference affiliation than the state of Texas, and I feel that its future is in grave danger.
The latest hit to the Big 12's ego was the decision by FOX to place the Texas-OU game on FOX Sports 1 instead of their national network affiliate. Although FOX chose to place the game on FS1, they did prioritize it as their first selection of regular season college football games. The move can be viewed as a negative for the conference in that the league's marquee regular-season game has been placed on cable. The decision by ESPN to prioritize the Texas-Notre Dame game over Texas-OU shows the network's lust for the Longhorn brand. Regardless, both are good signs for the Texas brand, not necessarily for the conference when it comes to marketing.
The Big 12 is that married couple we all know is getting divorced. We feel guilty because we all attended the wedding and a few of you were taking side bets on how long it would last at the reception.
For fans, the Big 12 is a loveless, sexless marriage that may be past the point of counseling.
In spite of recent news the Big 12 appears doomed
by Rod Babers, Horns247.com
At the recent Big 12 meetings in Irving the conference voted to have a championship game in 2017. There are also discussions about dividing the 10-team conference into two divisions.
Although this is a step in the right direction for the Big 12, some view it as rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. I wouldn't go that far.
It's more like performing a Broadway classic while the ship is going down. At least everyone's in a better mood, possibly distracted, and if there are drinks being served they may even be a little tipsy.
No matter your opinion, the reality is there's money to be made and that's why we're seeing the Big 12 put things into motion. If projections are correct, a conference championship game would but the Big 12 behind only the SEC and Big Ten in revenue distribution per school.
Since the Big 12 meetings the most vocal advocates for a conference television network have quelled (Oklahoma president David Boren included) and -- based on the vibe coming out of the meetings earlier this month -- the conference decision makers seem content at a 10-team membership for the league, at least for now.
Part of the pause could be Texas athletic director Mike Perrin finally making his personal feelings on expansion known, even though school benefactors like Red McCombs disagree with him.
I've long been an advocate of Big 12 expansion and have stated my case several times. The argument against expansion is always the same, that there aren't enough viable candidates. My retort is usually the Argo principle: when you're out of good ideas, sometimes you have no choice but to go with the best bad idea available.
That's partly why -- regardless of how the current situation plays out -- the Big 12 is ultimately doomed.
Sure, the conference is out of a coma and no longer on life support. But it's still in the ICU.
The genesis of the Big 12 is more accurately described as the Big 8 absorbing the major Texas schools from the Southwest Conference, but the perception is and always will be the Texas schools negotiated a deal that formulated the Big 12. That may or may not be true, but what became obvious is Texas is now the power broker in this conference. It seems Texas' and Oklahoma's political talking points are starting to exhibit more synchronicity and no one would believe that's the result of serendipity.
In Irving, Perrin said there will be another phase of realignment in the future. The assumption by Big 12 officials is they will somehow be the beneficiary of this movement, something I'm failing to see.
The Big Ten and the SEC are considered impossible to take from. The Pac-12 has already poached a former Big 12 member (Colorado) and currently has a forward-thinking commissioner in Larry Scott, who has been aggressive on expansion in the past. The ACC has a membership agreement with Notre Dame through 2025 that gives them the most member schools of any Power Five conference.
Compared to those leagues, the Big 12 looks to be a dead conference walking.
The Big 12 is Dunder Mifflin from "The Office". They're a fledgling, mid-level paper company in an increasingly paperless world, downsizing to become even smaller while finding it tougher and tougher to compete with Office Depot, Office Max and Staples.
Like Dunder Mifflin, the Big 12 has a Michael Scott-like figure as its fearless leader in Bob Bowlsby. Lately, Big 12 commissioners have been symbolic of the Big 12's lack of vision and sustainability.
Since Kevin Wieberg, who would later work with the Big Ten and Pac-12 on launching their own conference television networks, resigned in 2007, the Big 12 would've been lucky to have any leadership at all. Instead they got Dan Beebe, Bob Bowlsby and the burnt orange hand.
That worked out great for Texas, but it may have impeded the progress of the rest of the conference.
Without clear leadership the Big 12 has become a "House of Cards" episode and Texas is Frank Underwood. Big 12 commissioners have been functional but not formidable, and that's why the Big 12 has become the least respected of the Power Five conferences not just with fans and coaches, but with student-athletes and prospective recruits as well.
Although it's reported that the Big 12 is healthy, common sense convinces me otherwise. Being the smallest Power Five conference and the only such league without a television network is doing barely enough to stay afloat.
when I was recruited to the Big 12 in 1999 it was a conference that was three years old. It still had that new conference smell. At the time the Big 12 was considered college football's new money, a conference with the bravado of the Southwest Conference with the legitimacy of the Big 8. But in recent years the bold vision that once guided the conference has degraded into a rudderless ship, compelled by the waves of realignment and subject to the shoals of suspected discontent.
I'm not only a fan of the Big 12, I'm also a former member of it and arguably its most valuable kind of member, which is the student-athlete.
I was recruited by Texas to play football in the great state of Texas and the Big 12, a conference created in part by Texans, for Texans. Now, I'm not trying to sound like some radical Texan who favors secession or anything along those lines, but when it comes to football at the University of Texas and within the state we're still the Joneses.
The state of Texas is the heart of the Big 12, and I've always taken pride that Texas has a conference it identifies with, especially considering we're the mecca of football in this country. Monetarily, culturally, statistically, emotionally, and spiritually no state has invested more in the sport of football at every level than Texas. No other state better deserves a college football conference affiliation than the state of Texas, and I feel that its future is in grave danger.
The latest hit to the Big 12's ego was the decision by FOX to place the Texas-OU game on FOX Sports 1 instead of their national network affiliate. Although FOX chose to place the game on FS1, they did prioritize it as their first selection of regular season college football games. The move can be viewed as a negative for the conference in that the league's marquee regular-season game has been placed on cable. The decision by ESPN to prioritize the Texas-Notre Dame game over Texas-OU shows the network's lust for the Longhorn brand. Regardless, both are good signs for the Texas brand, not necessarily for the conference when it comes to marketing.
The Big 12 is that married couple we all know is getting divorced. We feel guilty because we all attended the wedding and a few of you were taking side bets on how long it would last at the reception.
For fans, the Big 12 is a loveless, sexless marriage that may be past the point of counseling.
