BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

I miss this SEC.

 

Big 12 alleges multiple employees of ESPN conspired to compel the eventual implosion of the Big 12. Doesn’t name them. This story keeps getting wilder.

 

My first thought is "So what if ESPN did do that!?!"

My second is that ESPN likely was involved in the discussions pretty early on as the SEC would want to be getting more TV/streaming revenue if OU and Texas (and others?) were added.

 

Wasn't really a call ... I wasn't invited for an on-campus interview, so I didn't make the finalist pool. I would have been highly unlikely to have taken an offer there, and they knew it. There's a lot of that -- ''Do you think he/she would really come here? -- that goes on in academic hiring committees. The last thing you want to do is pour a lot of time and money into a particular candidate and then have him/her turn you down. And a lot of times, if you get turned down, you don't get to hire anybody, because others have moved on, etc.

One thing I did do was email the dean, whom I'd met during one conference interview, and tell him what was going on with those letters. No matter the motivation, undermining the work of that hiring committee was a shitty thing to do. I remember saying something like, "My interest in UTEP hasn't changed at all as a result of this letter."

 

UTEP might be the only campus in America with a Bhutanese architectural scheme.

 

The hat/cattle ratio in College Station comes into focus.

Texas A&M Board of Regents votes to support inviting Texas, Oklahoma in SEC expansion

 

Conspired my ass.

So which three to five teams is the American going after?

 

It's a long shot, but it might be enough to prevent the teams from moving until it's resolved. Then you drag your feet in court.

 

Big 12-ESPN TV deal runs through 2025, and as recently as 2 months ago ESPN and Fox refused to discuss an extension.

ESPN, FOX Decline Early TV Negotiations with Big 12 Conference

 

Aren’t you surprised they weren’t allowed to vote no? It doesn’t kill the golden steer, but it does allow them to virtue-signal to their people.

 

That's the crux of it, whether the Big 12 can prove ESPN did something illegal. Shady don't count. If not, well, ESPN is the 1,500 lb gorilla and they do as they please.