I appreciate your argument and I certainly understand all of your points.True
FIFY - but it's still dumb.
Here is the list of assumptions that must *all* be true:
1. ISU will not revert to their mean of a substandard program once they lose their once-in-a-lifetime coach.
2. TCU will not revert to their mean of an average to slightly below program once they lose their once-in-a-lifetime coach.
3. USC will not revert to their mean of a true blue-blood program
4. Oregon will forget how to spend uncle phil's money to buy a good program*
5. UW will likewise continue their current malaise forever and always, amen.
6. Every single team that is added to the B12 will continue their current level of success, despite playing against better teams in every single game of their seasons.
But sure, if all those assumptions are true, then you're 100% right!
Meanwhile, in the real world, some of them will be true, but most of them won't.
*I do understand that "revert to historic mean" is a possibility for UO, but they have managed their current level of success across how many head coaches now? They've certainly managed to break past the "once-in-a-lifetime great coach" barrier that so many programs fail to cross. But, just because a rule has an exception or two doesn't invalidate the rule.
A couple of thoughts.
1. I believe that the NIL is going to change all of the trends in CFB. So much so that the "revert to the mean" theory comes off of the rails. I can easily envision a situation that Great Plain teams like Nebraska, NDSU, ISU, SDSU, TT, BU, KSU and even Wyoming dramatically outperform their historical records because they integrate the right "sponsors" into their programs. Those sponsors can elevate the talent very quickly.
The effect of NIL on Cincy is going to be negligible, but UCF, and Houston stand to benefit quite a bit from NIL. If the BIG 12 decides to add BYU than all bets are off because I believe that BYU will see enormous benefits from NIL. So much so that they stand to be a perianal top 25 team as they were in the Level Edwards era.
Of the Pac-12 teams I really only think that UO, USC, Utah and maybe UW will benefit greatly from NIL.
2. A Big 12 that includes UCF, Cincy, Houston, and BYU would have an enormous footprint that includes the South, Florida, Texas, Rust Belt, and the Far West. It would be a national brand with a reach that no other P5 conference has. (BYU is actually an international brand)
I will say it again, that the Pac 12 is 5-13 versus the remaining Big 12 members in bowl games over the last 10 years. Hopefully George Kliavkoff and the powers that be can reverse this trend but the NIL is uncharted territory.