Like Run said, the contract will most likely be prorated with added teams. But if I was the Big 12 I would do it as soon as possible because their clout isn't getting any better, and in my opinion it's going to get much worse in the next 5-10 years. Fox may not even want to renegotiate a contract then if they aren't making any profit with this conference. When a conference is down to two Bluebloods, neither of which have won a national championship in over 10 years, and 8 other derps, you don't have much of a leg to stand on. I still think it's best if OU leaves and lets the conference dissolve. If that happened Texas would probably go independent for awhile. But I think the LHN would eventually conflict too much with the other conference networks and they'll have to drop it. What concerns me more than anything is if Texas gets out first, drops the LHN and goes to a conference like the SEC. You've seen how it's helped Texas A&M's recruiting. Just think of what it would do for Texas. The million dollar question is if UT is willing to give up the LHN, because none of these other conferences are going to allow UT to come in on their high horse and say they are going to do this or that. In the Big 12 Texas is a majority of one. That's won't fly in the Big 10 or SEC.
Even though Texas would be a good fit in the Big 10, I've always thought the geography wasn't right for them to make that kind of move. I don't see the boys in Austin wanting to go Minnesota in November. The SEC does have some kind of rule in place, but as much as I hate Texas, I know if they were to ever comply by the rules and also be willing to drop the LHN, I think ANY conference in the country would go out of their way to have them. I'm not sure we could say that about any other school in the country. Texas has the money, education and prestige that almost no other school in the country can equal. Even if they have to bend the rules a little, I think they would take them.. Besides, as much as A&M and UT hate each other, many people in that state would like for these two state rivals to start playing each other again. But I think if it came down to Texas absolutely needing or being forced into joining a conference, it would probably be the ACC. Seems like a better fit.
Wow! I didn't know OU was this close to leaving in 2010. Something tells me this info was leaked on purpose today to let the rest of the conference know they are close to leaving this time. And like they said, what really has changed in the last 6 years? Twitter is blowing up this morning over the OU Board of Regents thinking about saying no to expansion.
Oklahoma was 'within 30 minutes' of leaving for the Pac-10 in 2010
By Tom Fornelli | Staff Writer
May 9, 2016 12:32 pm ET
Oklahoma came very close to adding a Pac-12 logo to this helmet. (USATSI)
The Big 12 hasn't been a true "12" for a while now, though there's been plenty of recent talk about the conference expanding in hopes of better positioning itself to compete within the Power Five.
We don't know which schools the Big 12 will be adding, or if it will add any at all. What we do know, though, is that no matter what happens, things won't be nearly as hectic as they were in the Big 12 back at the beginning of the decade when conference realignment felt more like conference armageddon.
The Big 12 lost both Texas A&M and Missouri to the SEC a year after losing Nebraska to the Big 10 and Colorado to what then was still the Pac-10.
At the time, there were reports that Oklahoma (as well as Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Texas Tech) could be leaving to join Colorado in the Pac-10 to help form the first "super conference" of 16 teams. Obviously, it didn't happen, but the possibility may have been closer than you think.
In his latest story on internal strife at Oklahoma about the possibility of Big 12 expansion, CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd unearthed this little nugget that caught my eye.
That's how close we came to the Big 12 no longer existing at all. Had Oklahoma and Texas left, it wouldn't have mattered who else went with them; the conference would have ceased to exist. The other Power Fives would have picked off what they wanted from the conference's remnants, and if anything remained after that, they'd have been relegated to life in what's now the Group of Five.
This is why, in last week's Friday Five, I decided to write about which Big 12 schools would be most attractive to other Power Five conferences rather than which schools the Big 12 should be looking at to expand. While the conference may believe that adding two new teams will stabilize life for all of its members and improve the Big 12's chances of College Football Playoff glory, I'm not nearly as convinced.
Oklahoma was "within 30 minutes" of leaving five years ago, and honestly, what about the Big 12 has really changed other than a few new names?
Oklahoma was 'within 30 minutes' of leaving for the Pac-10 in 2010
By Tom Fornelli | Staff Writer
May 9, 2016 12:32 pm ET
The Big 12 hasn't been a true "12" for a while now, though there's been plenty of recent talk about the conference expanding in hopes of better positioning itself to compete within the Power Five.
We don't know which schools the Big 12 will be adding, or if it will add any at all. What we do know, though, is that no matter what happens, things won't be nearly as hectic as they were in the Big 12 back at the beginning of the decade when conference realignment felt more like conference armageddon.
The Big 12 lost both Texas A&M and Missouri to the SEC a year after losing Nebraska to the Big 10 and Colorado to what then was still the Pac-10.
At the time, there were reports that Oklahoma (as well as Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Texas Tech) could be leaving to join Colorado in the Pac-10 to help form the first "super conference" of 16 teams. Obviously, it didn't happen, but the possibility may have been closer than you think.
In his latest story on internal strife at Oklahoma about the possibility of Big 12 expansion, CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd unearthed this little nugget that caught my eye.
The Big 12's dysfunction is no secret. An Oklahoma source told CBS Sports that the school was “within 30 minutes” of leaving for the Pac-10 in 2010. That's a reference to Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott's reported interest in raiding of six Big 12 teams in June of that year to form a Pac-16.
According to Dodd, both Texas and Oklahoma -- the Big 12's most valued properties -- were close to leaving in 2010 and 2011. Ultimately, the Pac-10 would not allow Texas to move the Longhorn Network west. The rightsholders -- ESPN and Fox -- also promised the Big 12 the same money for 10 teams as they were paying for 12. That hammered home the point that any conference with Texas and Oklahoma in it was worth saving. That's basically why the Big 12 still exists today, surviving through two rounds of conference realignment earlier this decade.That's how close we came to the Big 12 no longer existing at all. Had Oklahoma and Texas left, it wouldn't have mattered who else went with them; the conference would have ceased to exist. The other Power Fives would have picked off what they wanted from the conference's remnants, and if anything remained after that, they'd have been relegated to life in what's now the Group of Five.
This is why, in last week's Friday Five, I decided to write about which Big 12 schools would be most attractive to other Power Five conferences rather than which schools the Big 12 should be looking at to expand. While the conference may believe that adding two new teams will stabilize life for all of its members and improve the Big 12's chances of College Football Playoff glory, I'm not nearly as convinced.
Oklahoma was "within 30 minutes" of leaving five years ago, and honestly, what about the Big 12 has really changed other than a few new names?
If Oklahoma were to leave the B-12 (for any reason), that would shake the foundation of conference alignment(s) in college football as we once knew it for a generation or more. Tradition, culture, and geography be damned. What would come next, Alabama leaving the SEC or Ohio State leaving the Big 10.
I'm a security guy, so no media experience on my p art. But you gotta figure that ESPN has some type of an OUT in the LHN contract. Surely ESPN cant keep losing it's @$$. They have to have a buy out to get out of the contract. If not, then its the worst contract ever.
That being said, I'm a bit disappointed in my commish (Larry Scott) in that he's not made a call to OU, OSU, and maybe even Houston to get into the central time zone and get a deal done withe DirecTV. OU needs to get out of the shadow of Texas. You can still play them, and play games in the state of Texas for recruiting. Coming with a Houston would give them the ability to play in a hotbed of recruiting. As I said, very disappointed that Scott has not gotten something done.
Kansas would have to be the frontrunner with OU. Although terrible in football, I think Kansas probably reached their lowest point last year and will be on an upward swing from here on out. Fat Charlie really screwed things up with his recruiting of all those JC's in one year. It's going to take them a couple years to get it turned around..
Right now the only guy on the OU BOR who is talking to the press is some Broadway producer who doesn't know shit about football. But there are two schools of thought that are going through everybody's minds. One is they are making a mistake by not adding two schools. The other is this is good news because adding no schools gives this conference a better chance to dissolve quickly and for OU to get out. I'm more for the ladder because there really aren't any schools left that would IMPROVE our conference standing to make us stronger. I guarantee none of these P5 schools are going to leave a sure thing right now to join a disjointed Big 12.
I've read so many articles this morning, maybe it's in the one GS posted, but there may have been some ESPN intuition with the LHN that TAM might try and get out and that it would end up being a bigger windfall for the SEC Network (getting into Texas). ESPN embedded with SEC you know they would be in the circle on which teams the SEC would like to have. In that regard maybe they look at the LHN as an inevitable part of a better SECN? They may have suspected a loss, so they aren't shocked.
The tradition was shook a long time ago. And to be honest, the Big 12 has about a zero for tradition when you compare it to the SEC/BIG/PAC-12. It's now just a ragtag collection of the big 8 and SWC. I don't know enough about the SWC, but I imagine THE showdown was TAM/UT. I do know the Big 8. NU and OU won 72% of the football titles in 102 years (it's 88% if you add CU and Mizzou). It was the game. Both of those traditions are dead. Oklahoma leaving, imo, is no longer a shock. It is riveting tv, though.
I honestly don't know what would happen. Texas will always have a place in a conference, but it could be a huge disaster for the 7 other schools. I can't believe with as much money that has been pumped into a program like Okla State that they would settle for something like the Mountain West or American. The travel costs wouldn't be worth the diminished revenue..
I read his comments. He's friends with Boren. Im inclined to believe this is the smoke screen for Boren after getting on his expansion soapbox. He gets away without a tarnished image. A polititan and an actor-type...no, no deception here. To boot, he says OU was so beat up, they couldnt play a championsip game had they won. Nail in coffin.
