What if Big 12 went on offense?

[SINKRATZ]

There's been a lot of "what-ifs" thrown out there, so I thought I'd take a stab to see what would happen if the Big 12 went on offense.

I'll qualify by admitting this is a long shot, but if Beebe sees his conference dying, maybe it would be worth a shot.

What if Texas (and Beebe) were able to convince Nebraska and Mizzou to stick around on the promise that if they did, the Big 12 would expand to 16 and seek a network TV deal similar to the Big 10 network. Also (and here's the kicker) the schools they would target initially would be Cal, Stanford, USC, and UCLA.

The only reason I even suggest it would be that I can see that new Big 16 attracting a network deal as lucrative as the Pac 10, and without the Super 6, the Pac 10's tv deal probably goes away in it's current ($20million) form.

Texas holds all the cards for the Super 6 and by stopping the move the Pac could be scrambling. Do the California schools get nervous enough to actually jump ship? Probably not, so feel free to poke holes in this, but as it stands now the Pac has by far the worst TV deal and no championship game - they need something to happen and a Big 16 might start to look pretty attractive to some folks.

 

[NashBuff]

Love your idea but I don't think the Pac-10 schools will split. The four new schools would have to come from the MWC or possibly C-USA. The Big 12 doesn't have a lot of BCS school options out there if there are any.

 

[CarolinaBuff]

I've thought about this a little too but yea, who would they go after? Certainly no SEC or Big 10 schools are gonna leave their respective conferences and the ACC and Big East teams are too far away, so that leaves the Pac-10 as far as major-conference teams go, and would the the Cali teams be interested in leaving? :huh: You could also target the AZ or Northwest schools but they wouldn't add all that much.

 

[Razorbuff]

The PAC 10 schools won't split, and no major conference program with half a brain is going to join in on the Texas dominated conference, where everything from revenue sharing on down is tilted to favor one program.

 

[buffaholic]

Beebe=Texas. Texas wants all the cash. No one will join that consortium except non-BCS desperados.

 

[SINKRATZ]

The PAC 10 schools won't split, and no major conference program with half a brain is going to join in on the Texas dominated conference, where everything from revenue sharing on down is tilted to favor one program.

You might be totally right, but for the sake of argument...why? If the Big 12 were determined to not only stay together, but expand, that puts the Pac 10 in a difficult position (****ty TV deal, no championship game, other conferences expanding).

I suppose they could go after some combination of Utah, BYU, NM, UNLV, Hawaii, SDSU, Boise, etc, but if I'm the 4 Cali schools, is that a more valuable conference that a Big 16 with them? I don't think so.

And as for joining a Texas dominated conference, they're already dealing with the devil now.

 

[JimmyBuff]

USC might be the one that would leave the pac 10.. Still the Big 12 has a **** leader and schools are fighting among themselves.. Why would anyone want to join this league?

 

[SINKRATZ]

USC might be the one that would leave the pac 10.. Still the Big 12 has a **** leader and schools are fighting among themselves.. Why would anyone want to join this league?

Yeah, It's not ideal but if every conference around them is growing and making more money, their 10-team operation may no longer be viable if they want to remain competetive.