I think OU would rather be in the PAC. The idea of being in the same division as the Arizona schools plus a couple B12 brethren over the SEC schools is more favorable. Perhaps they restructure them with TAM and Missouri, but any alignment probably includes Alabama schools and LSU. Dont think they want that guantlet.
I think OU would rather be in the PAC. The idea of being in the same division as the Arizona schools plus a couple B12 brethren over the SEC schools is more favorable. Perhaps they restructure them with TAM and Missouri, but any alignment probably includes Alabama schools and LSU. Dont think they want that guantlet.
Also, Cali kids are more likely to leave the state to play. For whatever reason, they dont have the same allegiance as other kids to home schools, imo. Going Pac-12 would open that door even more.
As we've beat to death, a lot depends on Texas. I dont think Texas ever goes to a major conference. They want control. If they cant hold on to the B12, they go independent. They already have their TV deal. Which is bad for OU. The PAC already spoke when they said they didnt want just the oklahoma schools. We all know the pac is isolated and needs a bigger market to stay at the big boy table. Thats why they need texas. Is there another Texas team that can satisfy the need of market, on-field product and still be decent enough in academics that the presidents vote them in?
Maybe, someday, college football (and the NCAA) will make some sense (not dollars) and get back to what Inter-Collegiate (football) competiveness is all about;
by aligning teams in a conference that makes geographical and even a dash of cultural a primary consideration. There was a reason the Southeastern Conference
was named such, most of the schools were from the south and the east. The original Pac-10 Conf. and the Southwest Conf. .....et al......same thing. Rivalries form, many times, when schools compete against schools in their own "back yards".....Auburn/Alabama, Florida/FSU, Michigan/Michigan St, Oklahoma/Texas and on and on. Some how, I don't see Wisconsin and Alabama or Michigan St & Oregon et. becoming "rivals".
Let the teams play in their own "territory" and expand the play-offs (hell, 16 team or even more).....watch college football become interesting again.....especially
at year-end. If it requires the Bowls remaining in the picture, so be-it.
by aligning teams in a conference that makes geographical and even a dash of cultural a primary consideration. There was a reason the Southeastern Conference
was named such, most of the schools were from the south and the east. The original Pac-10 Conf. and the Southwest Conf. .....et al......same thing. Rivalries form, many times, when schools compete against schools in their own "back yards".....Auburn/Alabama, Florida/FSU, Michigan/Michigan St, Oklahoma/Texas and on and on. Some how, I don't see Wisconsin and Alabama or Michigan St & Oregon et. becoming "rivals".
Let the teams play in their own "territory" and expand the play-offs (hell, 16 team or even more).....watch college football become interesting again.....especially
at year-end. If it requires the Bowls remaining in the picture, so be-it.
I would choose the Pac, only because of what most of what RunLee said. You want to go somewhere where you know your chances of winning are better. The SEC is a very top heavy conference. There are no less than 4 schools in that conference who have won the NC within the last 7 years. What does the Pac-12 have? What conference has gone the longest without winning the national championship? It's the Pac-12. You've got USC, and then you've got everybody else. Granted, the Pac-12 has improved overall as a conference. But their conference recruiting as a whole is still limited the the Cali schools getting the best players. Everybody else is fair game. And even USC isn't always going to be a power, as we've seen in the last 10 years. If OU were to join the SEC, it would mean an all new kind of recruiting war that Stoops or any other future coach can't win. Remember, Stoops came from Florida. He knows and has stated how hard it is to recruit in the SEC. They take their football much more seriously in that conference than anybody else. That's why they win championships. I would rather OU get a few kids now and then from California. They've already moved west with some of their recruiting, and have pretty much owned the Las Vegas area for the last few years.
Agreed that the Big Ten is going to start it back up. Most likely going after the ACC. The Maryland-ACC rupture never went to court. They settled for 31 million, which was based on conditions before the Grant of Rights and before the long term tv deal. The next team to exit surely will cost 50 million or more but what is coming for the Big Ten, it will entice some teams. It's worth noting that the Big Ten is up for a new tv contract after the 2016-17 season and a bidding war between Fox and ESPN. I've also read the possibility that the price is so high, that it becomes a split deal. IMO, this is the time for Delaney will swing for the fences. Before he targeted Virginia and UNC (Delaney alma mater). If it's 16 teams, Virginia isn't a good choice. Maryland already delivers the DC market. UNC is the Texas of basketball. I'm convinced they think they can hold together the remaining pieces of a basketball ACC. The next two pieces can't just be markets, there has to be some substance. I'd like to see Georgia Tech and Florida St. The SEC will always rule Atlanta, but the Big Ten can get a foothold there. Florida St (remember they and Maryland voted against raising the exit fees) would be a massive upgrade and the money that's coming might be way too much to turn down. Then the SEC will grab some teams.
This is why I think the Big 12 can survive. They won't be the one's getting attacked. They have to circle the wagons around the state of Texas obviously. But one the ACC gets raided teams may get nervous and there just might be another prime market team ready to jump ship like Clemson (which would be good for WVU), or even FSU if the Big Ten went another rout. Perhaps this is why the Big 12 hasn't made any kind of solid move. Maybe they feel something is about to happen soon?
I hope to never see Oklahoma in the SEC. I'd much rather they go west. But, I think against all odds as circa 2010, the Big 12 is going to survive this. It just needs to get to 12 teams eventually so they don't have to play round robin. The Big Ten and SEC are going to rule the money, but the Pac 12 is in a situation as well. You might never see them expand beyond 12. If that's the case, it can work for the Big 12, too.
OSU will be a problem in any move OU wants to make IF the other conference doesn't want them. My guess is any future conference offer will include OSU along with OU because they know the Oklahoma Governor/legislature wouldn't sign off on OU leaving without OSU. Boren could override that decision and move without OSU. But there's one big problem with that. The Governor and legislature decide how much they fund higher education in Oklahoma. That includes OU and OSU and many other in-state schools. If OU was to leave and OSU is left hanging and has to join some conference like the American Conference or CUSA, they would be leaving a situation where they were making something like $30 million in the Big 12 to maybe $10 million in an inferior conference. It would not only kill their enrollment, OSU would also have less money for the funding of their school, and therefore would have to ask the Oklahoma Legislature for more money to continue. This would put them in a serious bind. They would probably have to cut funding to OU to keep OSU afloat. This is the last thing they want. And would only sign off on it if it came down to losing both OU and oSU to lesser conferences. But I doubt that will ever happen. OU/OSU aren't the only schools with this problem. I'm sure Kansas/KSU has the same problem to deal with in case of a split. And from what I understand it's kind of the same was with Texas/Texas Tech. Many in that state legislature won't want to see Tech die because of a Texas move. So that could also be a joint venture. Especially now that A&M has left the conference.
This is the problem with the Big 12. Besides the problems with Texas, who basically ruined the conference, OU and Okie State, plus Texas and T-Tech have to be a package deal. No one wants T-Tech, and very few want Okie State. The Big 12 is stuck in neutral now. There is really nothing they can do other than to expand their own conference. The Big 10 is going nowhere for the immediate future, nor is the SEC or ACC. The Pac 12 can basically do what they want, only having 12 teams. The Big 12's best option is to expand now, before the Pac 12 decides to go to 14 teams and really out the squeeze on them.
The Pac 12 is limited. In two years they are projected to be making 10-13 million less per school than the SEC or Big Ten. They obviously cant do anything they want, because they cant land the big fish in Texas. The Big 12 isnt interested in any team in the Pac 12's realistic footprint, otherwise they could have already had the last best programs, which nobody wants including the Pac 12. The B12 already decided to go east. Any further expansion is getting WVU some neighbors. I think the Pac is stuck, unless their presidents want to lower academic standards and allow the Vegas and Albaquerque-Santa Fe markets. They'd be adding shitty programs, but its about getting tv dollars.If the pac could land Texas, then yes they put the squeeze on, otherwise nothing in those outer orbit teams hurt the Big 12. If anything it will be a fight between the ACC and the Big 12 once the next phase begins, and perhaps a merger as some have suggested. As for now, the pac is losing ground in the tv $ race.
