BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

Monopoly friendly? We voted a cat into the damn game. No way we would've done that if we were Monopoly friendly.

 

I am sure you are right from a fan interest point if view. But I bet BC still made a lot more money off the ACC TV contract. Until the economics change the realignment game will continue.

 

Plus, even with the uncertainty in the ACC, it beats the hell out of being in whatever the Big East has become.

 

I understand that the Big 12 has an agreement where television rights are assigned to the conference. But can this agreement be dissolved by, let's say a 2/3's vote. So Texas, which appears to control five bitches (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Baylor and TCU) and West Virginia pull out of the conference would the agreement dissolve? And them merge with let's say Florida State, GT, Miami, Clemson and Boston College. So that the Southwest schools would lose the Iowa, Kansas and western Missouri television markets , with maybe a population of six million people, and pick up markets up a population of 40 million or so.

I jsut throw the schools out as an example. My question is tha legally is it possible that this could be done if Texas wanted to do it and rounded up enough votes.

 

Texas doesn't control shit at this point. None of those schools will do UT's bidding.

 

I think you underestimate the power of fear in these proceedings. For example, if Texas calls up Texas Tech and says they are looking for five other schools to leave Tech would say go your own way, Bevo? Then Texas would say, fine, we will call Baylor and see if they want to climb on our boat. I think that Baylor, TCU and Tech will do everything possible to stay aligned to Texas.

And if Texas called Oklahoma/Oklahoma State with the same offer those two schools would have to wonder where they land absent a tie to Texas. Because Texas could always threaten to call Kansas/Kansas State next. So I think Texas has considerable influence over other conference schools in these scenarios. No one wants to be the next Cincinnati or UConn.

 

With the way things are set up now, there's no reason Texas would want to leave. And if it did call OU/OSU up, I can be pretty sure in saying that David Boren would tell the Longhorns to kiss his white ass, that the Big 12 will find a way to survive without them if they try to leave and distribute Texas' TV money between the other schools.

Oklahoma had offers before and chose to stay in the Big 12. If things melt down again, the Sooners, with OSU in tow, will end up somewhere where both schools would be happy, probably the SEC or Pac-12. OU isn't as handcuffed to Texas as everyone seems to think it is. They want to keep the relationship alive, but they don't need it.

You overestimate Texas' power at this point.

 

Where is Texas going to go?

 

1. Texas didn't drive the 2010 and 2011 Pac-16 scares. Oklahoma did. In 2010, Texas wanted (and got) the LHN. In 2011, Texas wanted to protect that investment when Oklahoma and Oklahoma State started up talks to go west again. So if Texas didn't want to go in 2010, and it didn't want to go in 2011, why would it go now?

2. Other conferences would actually need to negotiate with Texas to make it happen. Think the Longhorns would want to abandon a 15-year, $300 million just so Tier 3 games could be put on a regionalized Pac-16 Network? Or on Raycom in the ACC? Besides, Texas has no interest in sharing Tier 3 wealth with Wazzu, Northwestern or Boston College.

3. Those conferences would also need to be OK with Texas playing by one set of rules (LHN) while the other conference members abide by another set. Think Florida State would be OK with Texas making a list of demands? Or North Carolina/Duke? The Notre Dame exception won't be there for the Longhorns. All sports or none.

 

I thought I read that Oklahoma/Oklahoma State asked about joining the Pac 12 or SEC when A&M left and where told no thank you, the Oaklahoma television market is not big enough for us to bring in extra schools. Why should those conferences let in two schools from a state with a population of less than four million.

The motivation for Texas to leave the Big 12 is simple. Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas and West Virginia have a combined population of about 12 million people. Florida, Georgia and South Carolina have a combined population of 34M or so. Texas could make a lot more money if they could figure out how to dump some of the schools from the Great Plains and play schools in the southeast. And while that may not come to fruitation it is certainly a possible motivater for Texas.

 

Lacey, why would Texas create a new conference to become more southern-based when it would be much easier to add Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech and Clemson to the Big 12? Certainly possible if the Big Ten adds Virginia and North Carolina, for example, and the other ACC schools begin to look around.

Besides, for a conference that lost four schools presumably because of Texas, I'm not sure about the feasibility of your argument that Texas could create a new conference. Think about it: You're saying a school that drove away four AAU institutions to the Big Ten, SEC and Pac-12 could just snap its fingers and make X number of schools jump at the chance to play the Longhorns. Lacks logic.

Also lacking logic: Texas dumping Big 12 schools without ABC/ESPN and FOX saying a word about it. I'm sure ESPN would be thrilled to lose the Kansas and Oklahoma schools from their Big Monday lineup each winter, replaced by Clemson-Texas. And I'm sure FOX would be equally thrilled to lose the those same schools plus WVU (which FOX told the Big 12 to add, deciding the argument for the 10th spot over Louisville) during college football season.

 

There's also the small matter of the grant-of-rights that every single school in the Big 12 - including Texas - agreed to last year when it signed its latest TV deal. If any school leaves the conference before 2025 it forfeits its media rights and revenue to the Big 12 until the 2025.

Now I'm not a lawyer but it seems to me that Texas might have a wee bit of a problem getting out of that.