CU has rejoined the Big 12 and broken college football - talking out asses continues

[Jens1893]

When we line up the advantages of staying in Pac-10/8 vs joining the Big12 (knowing what we know about our admin), I think it’s clear which direction we go.

Pac10/8 pros:
-Quiche
-Sniffing Stanford and Cal’s farts at a wine tasting

Big12 pros:
-We’re not hidden from the National eye on P12 network
-TV slots while most of the country is awake
-Actually reconnecting with our Texas recruiting base instead of lip service
-Increasing % of student body likely to care and donate to football by being Texas based instead of california
-Unique brand and mystique for plains kids and recruits instead of Cali-lite
-History with the teams
-Pundits actually talk about the conference
-Admin will stop emulating Cal and have to blend in with its new conference mates by actually trying in sports

Taking all this into account, Phil and Co will hold in the Pac so their trips to wine country aren’t put into jeopardy

If you list that as a pro you also need to list losing California as a con.

Given that travel doesn't matter anymore for these "student athletes" lol we should totally consider adding an Italian or French team if they need trips to good wine countries.

 

[Buffnik]

It has been the B1G and the SEC as the only major conferences for years.

This is just saying the quiet part out loud.

The playoff expansion with auto-bids for conference champs was something that would have maintained broad interest from all fans of FBS schools.

But what if, instead, the B1G & SEC decide to do their own tournament with their respective champs playing each other? If they decide to leave everyone else out, it would kill a lot of the interest in college football.

I'm afraid that's what is going to happen. Essentially, kill all traditions while also turning away from what has made the NCAA basketball tournament so great. Because, you know, it looks like there's a good dollar in it that can be used to pay more for coaches, players and facilities to keep up with others who are also spending more money. It's a self-perpetuating cycle that has no ultimate benefit to any of the participants.

 

[Jens1893]

So using your analogy, you’d have us stay on the sinking ship until a better life boat comes along. Bold strategy.

I wouldn't say the P12 is just a sinking ship, I'd say we're on a raft floating in the ocean already. And the sharks are circling. And a storm is coming.

 

[Alfred91]

The NFL gets by with only 32 teams, seems like the BIG, SEC and TV networks seem happy to cut all the way to 40 to 48 schools when a lot of folks thought it was going to be more like 60.

The more I have thought about this, I could see the cream of the ACC eventually being picked off, ND joining up, and some of the lower tier of the Big Ten and SEC being dropped. It could end up being 32.

I wouldn't feel very comfortable if I were Vandy, Northwestern, Purdue, Mississippi State, or even the Nubs and Kentucky.

 

[Highlander]

The playoff expansion with auto-bids for conference champs was something that would have maintained broad interest from all fans of FBS schools.

But what if, instead, the B1G & SEC decide to do their own tournament with their respective champs playing each other? If they decide to leave everyone else out, it would kill a lot of the interest in college football.

I'm afraid that's what is going to happen. Essentially, kill all traditions while also turning away from what has made the NCAA basketball tournament so great. Because, you know, it looks like there's a good dollar in it that can be used to pay more for coaches, players and facilities to keep up with others who are also spending more money. It's a self-perpetuating cycle that has no ultimate benefit to any of the participants.

It is unfortunate, in the era of paying players like a pro league, they don't pause and look at what the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL have done to ensure long term interest in their respective sports.

I agree with you. It will just take 20+ years for it to play out.

 

[Alfred91]

I'm afraid that's what is going to happen. Essentially, kill all traditions while also turning away from what has made the NCAA basketball tournament so great. Because, you know, it looks like there's a good dollar in it that can be used to pay more for coaches, players and facilities to keep up with others who are also spending more money. It's a self-perpetuating cycle that has no ultimate benefit to any of the participants.

It's gonna be a minor league football system. The programs will break away in all but name, the players won't be students, and the programs will just lease the team names, facilities, etc.

It might actually hurt football ratings in some places, but it's not going to change anything in the South or Midwest. So many of the fans could give a **** less about the school anyway.

 

[Alfred91]

I agree with you. It will just take 20+ years for it to play out.

It will get really interesting when it becomes an international league.

Just kidding.


Not necessarily.

 

[LesGrossman]

If you list that as a pro you also need to list losing California as a con.

Given that travel doesn't matter anymore for these "student athletes" lol we should totally consider adding an Italian or French team if they need trips to good wine countries.

I totally forgot to add the long storied history of the quaint Texahoma wine belt that runs from Lubbock to Tulsa as a pro for B12 too lol

 

[DBT]

Professional sports figured out a long time ago that the more parity the better for their sport. This hierarchical system that college athletics is becoming will kill college athletics for a large number of fans.

I don’t think the power schools and their media partners care though. They are looking out for themselves and don’t really care about the overall health of college athletes.

 

[buffs233]

I think you're ignoring the chronic mismanagement of the athletic department by the CU administration.

I think they'd rather ride the Pac-10 into oblivion than admit that we're better off in the Big 12.

The CU Faculty and several on the BOR will strongly support sucking the hind tit of Stanford and Cal as academic “peers” until they can no longer do so. There will be a push internally to stay in the PAC 12, even if it’s virtually assured to blow up in short order.

 

[ahoelsken]

A couple things-One, I've seen several projections that have the Big 12 over $50M in TV revenue right now, and that's before we talk about an addition of the Mountain/Arizona schools. Two, I wouldn't totally write off the west coast for CU yet. If we move, what does the North division do? I'd have to think we're probably at a full blown merger of the Big 12 and Pac 10 at that point. Not like the North division schools with a bunch of MWC leftovers is a functional conference. Three, I think scheduling will be interesting with this new Big 12. If I'm them, and I can get the mountain/AZ schools but not UO/UW, I'm playing 8 conference games and telling my schools to schedule as many Big 10 and SEC schools as possible, even if you have to resort to playing neutral site games or doing 2 for 1s.

 

[ahoelsken]

The CU Faculty and several on the BOR will strongly support sucking the hind tit of Stanford and Cal as academic “peers” until they can no longer do so. There will be a push internally to stay in the PAC 12, even if it’s virtually assured to blow up in short order.

You guys are overplaying this now. If we're meeting with the Big 12 five days after USC/UCLA made their move, the CU Faculty and members of the BOR at worst understand the situation.....and that the Big 12 is likely the only option for CU.

 

[LesGrossman]

You guys are overplaying this now. If we're meeting with the Big 12 five days after USC/UCLA made their move, the CU Faculty and members of the BOR at worst understand the situation.....and that the Big 12 is likely the only option for CU.

I’m really interested to see what happens tomorrow since we most likely will not have an answer in respect to UO/UW.

If they do the deed and join the B12 tomorrow, they might be able to prisoner dilemma UO/UW into defensively joining as well if the B10 is slow playing them

 

[leftybuff]

How many TV sets can Honduras' football team deliver?

 

[ahoelsken]

I’m really interested to see what happens tomorrow since we most likely will not have an answer in respect to UO/UW.

If they do the deed and join the B12 tomorrow, they might be able to prisoner dilemma UO/UW into defensively joining as well if the B10 is slow playing them

Here's the other question I just thought of-If the four of us leave the Pac 12, the conference has got to be effectively dead after this coming academic year-doesn't it?

I'd think a vote to disband may come pretty quickly if the Big 12 invites the four of us.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

A couple things-One, I've seen several projections that have the Big 12 over $50M in TV revenue right now, and that's before we talk about an addition of the Mountain/Arizona schools. Two, I wouldn't totally write off the west coast for CU yet. If we move, what does the North division do? I'd have to think we're probably at a full blown merger of the Big 12 and Pac 10 at that point. Not like the North division schools with a bunch of MWC leftovers is a functional conference. Three, I think scheduling will be interesting with this new Big 12. If I'm them, and I can get the mountain/AZ schools but not UO/UW, I'm playing 8 conference games and telling my schools to schedule as many Big 10 and SEC schools as possible, even if you have to resort to playing neutral site games or doing 2 for 1s.

Why would you schedule a bunch of B1G and SEC games?

 

[PAHIBuff]

How many TV sets can Honduras' football team deliver?

 

[ahoelsken]

Why would you schedule a bunch of B1G and SEC games?

Out of conference? What closes the gap between the leagues and makes the Big 12 look better more than wins over the Big 10 and SEC?

 

[4BienemyTDs]

Out of conference? What closes the gap between the leagues and makes the Big 12 look better more than wins over the Big 10 and SEC?

I think a new Broncos Mega Stadium for 1-2 neutral games is helpful for TV packages and OOC games

 

[Da Lama]

Get into a conference ASAFP. That is all that matters right now. When the rest of this shakes out it will happen lightning fast. Anyone who doesn’t have a landing spot already at that time will be proper fvcked.

 

[BerkeleyBuff]

Thoughtful breakdown by this guy on who would be attractive from the PAC and why. If you're looking for optimism, don't watch.

 

[SeanMSan]

I’m really interested to see what happens tomorrow since we most likely will not have an answer in respect to UO/UW.

If they do the deed and join the B12 tomorrow, they might be able to prisoner dilemma UO/UW into defensively joining as well if the B10 is slow playing them

If rejoining the BigXII by the end of the week is what goes down, and someway WSU and OSU get left behind and sink to G5…Buffs need to try and get former verbal commits Alton Julian and Rezjohn Wright from OSU (if even possible, maybe if the admissions hurdle is lowered …better chance to get into the B1G, probably).

The BigXII is not the most ideal, but if executed well, it could be a parallel road to the B1G and SEC, that could do some damage when the roads intersect. Then when the GoR for the ACC is up, and realignments are in, maybe (probably not likely) the Buffs are in better standing to woo a super mega conference, if the BigXII is not back (baby)

 

[SINKRATZ]

So any news?

 

[Go Buffs]

So any news?

Yes.

 

[chipwich]

 

[manhattanbuff]

The CU Faculty and several on the BOR will strongly support sucking the hind tit of Stanford and Cal as academic “peers” until they can no longer do so. There will be a push internally to stay in the PAC 12, even if it’s virtually assured to blow up in short order.

What evidence do you have that there’s an internal push to stay in the Pac-12?

 

[Bison]

So any news?

We might know for real where CU is going as soon as tomorrow night to as late as Friday.

But…there is a BOR special meeting tomorrow evening. No agenda mentioned though but it’s at 5:30 pm which would be after the Big 12 meetings tomorrow conclude.

Upcoming Meetings & Events | Board of Regents

regents.cu.edu

 

[Creebuzz]

The problem with this article is that it is written by a 52 year-old for an audience in the same age range. And these moves aren't being made with the 40 year olds in mind, they are being made with the next generation in mind. A generation which has different interests, requirements and demands.

I have said it before, but even if you ignore the obvious issues like CTE, football has an inherent problem in that a game takes on average of 3 hours and 12 minutes to complete and the ball is only play for around 11 minutes. That's a lot of downtime and I am not sure the future generations will be as tolerant as ours and may well conclude that the entertainment value isn't worth the time investment. Think of it as entertainment budget, but not solely financial, but also time wise. I think the one sport that's best positioned here is basketball, also because it's very Tiktok or IG reel friendly, but also because a game usually takes just over 2 hours and the ball is in play for 48 minutes, give or take, but the true competition here isn't another sport, any sport, but Netflix, XBox, PlayStation etc. I think they may well conclude that they get more entertainment value out of an hour spent watching Netflix or playing a video game than they get out of watching a football game.

I think the desire for traditions, rituals, and balanced competition are truisms regardless of age cohort.

At the same time, I do not disagree with your second paragraph at all. There are many structural issues with football on several levels. Some of it is how younger generations consume sports. Some of it is regionalism. Some of it is health concerns. We’ve discussed that many times on the board before.

Football is a really complicated sport. It takes some time to adjust to even the basic rules. When I was a kid, there was nothing else to watch on TV, so I spent many Sunday afternoons watching it. My son watches zero football and probably never will. It’s almost too late to learn at 12. The cool kids surf anyway is what he’d say.

 

[Highlander]

I think the desire for traditions, rituals, and balanced competition are truisms regardless of age cohort.

At the same time, I do not disagree with your second paragraph at all. There are many structural issues with football on several levels. Some of it is how younger generations consume sports. Some of it is regionalism. Some of it is health concerns. We’ve discussed that many times on the board before.

Football is a really complicated sport. It takes some time to adjust to even the basic rules. When I was a kid, there was nothing else to watch on TV, so I spent many Sunday afternoons watching it. My son watches zero football and probably never will. It’s almost too late to learn at 12. The cool kids surf anyway is what he’d say.

Don’t worry about it yet. I didn’t become a fan of spectator sports until 19-ish. Mtn post below…

When I was growing up in Chicago, my dad would throw on the Bears game Sunday afternoons as an excuse to take a nap instead of doing yard work. They sucked.

When I was in high school, our HS team went on a run and made the playoffs for the first time in forever my senior year. It was completely unexpected and a ton of fun. It was the first time I ever genuinely rooted for a team.

On my campus tour of CU my senior year in HS, the guide mentioned the football team had beaten Nebraska the previous year. The only question I asked on the tour was right then: “Wait, Nebraska is good, aren’t they?”

My freshman year in college, I went to 2 games and was very ambivalent towards the Buffs. I mean, they lost to the Ducks in the home opener in 87 that I attended back when the Ducks were a laughingstock. The second game was parents weekend with my folks.

My sophomore - senior years (88-90), I had to work every game in the Flatirons Club. This gave me the luxury of watching essentially every play of every home game of those seasons stone cold sober.

That last experience turned me in to a huge fan.

Don’t worry if he isn’t into spectator sports at 12. My oldest (18 F) is just now starting to express interest in actually sitting down and watching CU football on TV despite them knowing their entire existence I’m a massive fan and having attended 1-2 games a year since being 2 years old.

 

[30Something]

I’m starting to think this dink is just trolling.

Don't sell him short. The biggest CU supporter/booster I know went to CSU. He held CU season tickets the entire time he was an undergrad, and still has them to this day in the Champions Center (or whatever the hell its called).

He isn't trolling. He's a booster too. Not all CU boosters are alumni.