BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

Big 12 & Pac-12 meeting, petty politicians lay into Texas, SEC future scheduling

Dan Wetzel, Pete Thamel and Pat Forde college podcast. First one I heard was the one before this, and it was excellent. This is very good too.

 

Best podcast known to man.

 

A couple of tidbits.

Finebaum had Pete Thamel on the air this afternoon. Both agree that it seems to be shaping up that OU and UT stay in the B10 until the contract runs out, awkward as that might be. Of course, something could happen to blow that up. (cough) ESPN (cough). ESPN can say they did not consult with the SEC, and UT/OU can both say that they had no talks with ESPN about the SEC before hand. Saban also said that he hadn't talked to Alabama - and he probably hadn't, but that didn't mean that his agent hadn't spoken to 'Bama's search firm. Same holds true for a lawyer for ESPN speaking hypothetically with a lawyer for UT/OU. This also holds true for ESPN contacting the AAC about the B10/L8. The bit about contact wasn't them speaking but my own speculation, to be clear.

They also agree that Bob Bowlsby's C&D letter wasn't so much aimed at ESPN (and as had been noted, he backed off of that) so much as it was saying to OU and UT that they should expect to pay every penny they owe on the way out the door.

I read something interesting, which may or may not be right. Sankey just signed a new contract with the SEC that runs through 2025. That's an interesting date. If the SEC does expand into a new super-conference, that new conference will be needing a commissioner. There's a lot of supposition going on there, but it seems plausible enough to mention.

 

New Sankey deal is through 2026, I think.
Something has to happen to get the defectors out of the Big 12 before 2025. Doesn’t it?

 

I'd guess that depends what the various members of the L8 get offered/can weasel their way into. For instance, if Kansas got a B1G invite they'd jump so fast they'd cause a sonic boom... but do they bring enough value to be worth cutting the pie thinner? Do any of the remainders? That's the big question here. The other question is can the AAC hold all their members without someone taking a chance on the B10.

I think that they're pretty much stuck unless ESPN works something behind the scenes... and I wonder with all the attention if they'd try that now.

Who friggin' knows?

 

We’ve got to break you of the habit of referring to Baylor’s current conference as the B10. This shit is already confusing enough.

 

I think Boise State has as good of a chance of landing a Big Ten invite as Kansas.

 

If the talk of a split-away basketball tournament is legit, I would think basketball schools would hold value for TV contracts.

Given how KU is an AAU school and Boise State is not, KU by default has a better chance at a Big Ten invite. If the Big Ten isn’t interested in stretching as far as California, or if the California schools balk, would KU and Colorado bring enough value as a pair for the Big Ten to expand?

 

It was a slip, obviously. I'll prolly just go over to using B1G and L8.

 

Thought exercise: How much does the course of college football history change if this pass hits the ground a second later?

 

I never did understand how Nebraska fans could be so irate over the officials getting the play and the clock correct. But that’s how much Texas was in their heads, that as much as they were the face of the Big 8 with Oklahoma, it was never the same in the Big 12.

Nebraska once entertained the thought of creating its own sports network. And then Texas did it and Nebraska hated it.

 

If this info is correct and my math is correct, the Big 12 has been the biggest beneficiary of the playoff on a per-school basis, and it's not even close.
First the info here: It covers the first six seasons of the playoff. It does not include the 2020-21 cycle.
College Football Playoff Payouts: 2014-2020
Now for my math. The column "Dist" refers to the total number of checks cut to members over the six years. The leagues with 14 members have 84 distributions, e.g.