Texas AD not looking to leave Big 12

[RSSBot]

Speculation, unlike politically correct athletes and coaches, doesn't work one step at a time.

So obviously, when Nebraska and Missouri elect to join the Big 12, Texas has no choice but to leave for the more competitive and richer pastures of the SEC, right?

"If two teams come out of the Big 12, I don't think it changes our world that much," Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds told the Dallas Morning News.

He also added: "I can't speak for anybody but Texas. Our position is that we love the conference, we like what it's done for us. We want to continue to be a part of it and want it to continue to be strong. Money is an issue. The TV contracts are an issue. I think the Big Ten is way ahead of us in tradition and years and TV money. I think that's the reason some people are looking at that [conference] in a favorable way."

So the next question becomes, if three teams leave the Big 12--a real possibility with Colorado and the Pac-10 flirting alongside the Big Ten, Missouri and Nebraska--does that change Texas' world enough to move elsewhere?

Colorado, while far from a death blow to the Big 12, would force the conference to add another team like Utah, BYU or Houston. Commissioner Dan Beebe doesn't sound like TCU or SMU, schools within the conference's current footprint, are anything more than emergency options for expansion.

"I'm not sure how much any other institution in the states where we already have schools would add," Beebe told a Kansas City radio station last week. "I think we captured the markets in those states. If it's just a numbers deal, then maybe we add institutions in states where we already have schools. But other than that, I do think we have to look at expanded area to figure out if there is ability to add more value with markets that we haven't in the past had."

If it waits too long, a team like Boise State, which adds little beyond football anyway, might already be a member of the Pac-10 or Mountain West Conference.
But Dodds' comments quell the hysteria surrounding the idea that Nebraska and Missouri's exit from the Big 12 ensures Texas'.




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[GoBuffs!!]

I hope the Big 12 suceeds, I dont like california.

 

[Deleted member 807]

He also added: "I can't speak for anybody but Texas. Our position is that we love the conference, we like what it's done for us. We want to continue to be a part of it and want it to continue to be strong. Money is an issue. The TV contracts are an issue. I think the Big Ten is way ahead of us in tradition and years and TV money. I think that's the reason some people are looking at that [conference] in a favorable way."

Yeah. 105K stadium with a >90% home winning percentage. 7 home games, mostly televised, with an OOC schedule filled with cupcakes. Pick of the litter on the recruiting trail. In the past 14 years since the establishment of the B12, UT has 5 South titles, 3 conference championships, 2 appearances in the mNC and one undisputed national title. Plus they were able to perpetuate their longstanding rivalry games with OU, A&M and Tech. UT has been laughing all the way to the bank, ever since the B12 was created.

The school's atheletic revenue is north of $120M, about 50% more than it's nearest rivals and 3 times larger than the bottom 2/3rds of their conference peers. This is enough cheddar to sport strong NCAA teams in Baseball (2 nat'l champs), Basketball (3 final Four appearances), and domination in women's track. The UT swimming and diving team generated a bunch of Olympians.

It's hard to imagine how the B12 could have been a much better instrument in the creation of the Texas juggernaut.

Of course the concept that a conference is as only as strong as it's weakest member is foreign in B12 country. It would be easier to disband the B12 than get B12 member schools to ever agree to communism.

 

[Buffnik]

Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State are excited about the prospect of NU, MU and CU leaving the conference.

OU and OSU move to the North. Houston and TCU get added to the South. Arkansas gets an invite for the North. If they say no, the conference looks at other options (BYU, Air Force, Memphis, etc.).

UT and TAMU figure their end of the season game decides the South every season. Likewise, OU and OSU for the North. The Big 4 running the conference make even more money and all is well in the Big 12 as far as they're concerned. No one else complains because it's still the best deal the other 8 can find.

Plus, the Big 12 and Pac 12 do a TV network deal that covers at least 1/3 of US households on a basic cable tier (the entire Western USA) while controlling recruiting in Texas and California.