More Conference Reshuffling Rumors

[pbiflyer]

The more I think about it, the more I like it.  SEC football is already one of the dumbest, wildest things in sports.  This would ratchet things up x 1,000

My wife was describing her first Gator game to a friend. She said she couldn't remember which team they played, but it was one of those cousin loving states. I told her, this is the SEC, they are all cousin loving states.... (It was Tennessee btw)

[Pakuni]

And a lot of the players who A&M doesn't get, go to other SEC schools.  The SEC got a foothold into Texas, and that's been problematic for UT.

SEC got a foothold in Texas in no small part because of Hurricane Katrina. Tens of thousands of families from Louisiana and Mississippi, and especially New Orleans, moved to Texas after the storm, most settling in the Houston area.

FWIW, it's mostly just Alabama and LSU pulling top kids out of Texas. Other than, it's Oklahoma with a sprinkle of Ohio State. I don;t think Texas joining the SEC will change that much.

[Uncle Rico]

SEC got a foothold in Texas in no small part because of Hurricane Katrina. Tens of thousands of families from Louisiana and Mississippi, and especially New Orleans, moved to Texas after the storm, most settling in the Houston area.

FWIW, it's mostly just Alabama and LSU pulling top kids out of Texas. Other than, it's Oklahoma with a sprinkle of Ohio State. I don;t think Texas joining the SEC will change that much.

Agree with the last part.  The elite programs get the top kids regardless of where they’re from. 

[Pakuni]

Agree with the last part.  The elite programs get the top kids regardless of where they’re from.

If Sark proves to be a good coach who can recruit, Texas will keep more of those kids home. If not, what conference they're in isn't going to move the needle a whole lot.

[Uncle Rico]

If Sark proves to be a good coach who can recruit, Texas will keep more of those kids home. If not, what conference they're in isn't going to move the needle a whole lot.

Ohio State has been doing great work in Texas.  Money flows from Columbus to Texas pretty seamlessly. 

[muwarrior69]

I don't think money has to be an issue for schools to want more of it.

Also, only half-jokingly, TU is pissed that TAMU has closed the gap on them in football. Recruiting against TAMU has been a lot harder now that TAMU can pitch being in the SEC and playing Bama, LSU, Auburn every season.

Hmm...referring to yourself in the third person now.

[DegenerateDish]

Texas should move to become an independent, ditch Longhorn Network, and sell their football inventory to the streaming service that is the highest bidder.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Texas should move to become an independent, ditch Longhorn Network, and sell their football inventory to the streaming service that is the highest bidder.

And watch their relevance decrease?  Because that would be a nightmare to sell to recruits.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

The Big 12 becomes a 8-member league and there would be some attractive candidates to fill the void, particularly from the AAC (Memphis, Cincinnati, Tulsa, etc.)  I'm sure North Dakota State would love the opportunity, too.

Or...for fear of being left too far behind, the other P5 conferences feast on the carcass of the B12 and the term changes from P5 to P4.

I love football conference chaos

[Pakuni]

And watch their relevance decrease?  Because that would be a nightmare to sell to recruits.

And as Notre Dame learned in the wake of the last round of reshuffling, filling a 12-game schedule without some conference tie-in is really hard, specially if you want the kind of schedule that will get you into the playoffs.
Lining up quality opponents in September probably won't be too hard. Good luck doing the same in November.

[Billy Hoyle]

I don't think it's a bad idea for OK and Texas to pursue the move.  Purely from a football perspective, the difference between those 2 and the rest of the league is substantial (revenue-wise).

The Big 12 becomes a 8-member league and there would be some attractive candidates to fill the void, particularly from the AAC (Memphis, Cincinnati, Tulsa, etc.)  I'm sure North Dakota State would love the opportunity, too.

Cincy has been begging to get into the Big 12 for years. They would work well geographically as a bridge between WVU and the rest of the conference. BYU is an excellent candidate, as is Colorado State. Both bring new TV markets.

The Big 12 will continue to exist, but as one tweet put it this morning, they will be the Mountain West with more humidity.

[DegenerateDish]

And watch their relevance decrease?  Because that would be a nightmare to sell to recruits.

We politely disagree here.

Going to Ames/Manhattan/Stillwater/Lawrence/etc, does next to nothing for their recruiting.

Texas football isn’t going to be irrelevant if they were to become independent. If anything it would allow them to go to California, the Midwest, and East Coast.

UT is essentially a free agent right now. Once conference contraction gets going (and it’s coming), they can fill out a competitive schedule on a yearly basis. A one loss UT team as an independent would have a stronger case for the playoff as opposed to a multiple loss team as a member of the SEC.

[Pakuni]

We politely disagree here.

Going to Ames/Manhattan/Stillwater/Lawrence/etc, does next to nothing for their recruiting.

Texas football isn’t going to be irrelevant if they were to become independent. If anything it would allow them to go to California, the Midwest, and East Coast.

UT is essentially a free agent right now. Once conference contraction gets going (and it’s coming), they can fill out a competitive schedule on a yearly basis. A one loss UT team as an independent would have a stronger case for the playoff as opposed to a multiple loss team as a member of the SEC.

At a time when pretty much every (well, probably every) P5 game is on television, is there really much recruiting benefit from an occasional road game in a particular state?

Alabama pulls 5-star kids out of California, and has played there once in the last decade.
Ohio State just landed the #1 recruit of 2021 out of Washington, a place they last played when the kid was four years old.
I'm just not sure this matters at all to recruits.

But again, the biggest challenge will be finding games against quality opponents in October and November. What SEC powerhouse is going to want to travel to Austin in the middle of their conference schedule?

[DegenerateDish]

At a time when pretty much every (well, probably every) P5 game is on television, is there really much recruiting benefit from an occasional road game in a particular state?

Alabama pulls 5-star kids out of California, and has played there once in the last decade.
Ohio State just landed the #1 recruit of 2021 out of Washington, a place they last played when the kid was four years old.
I'm just not sure this matters at all to recruits.

But again, the biggest challenge will be finding games against quality opponents in October and November. What SEC powerhouse is going to want to travel to Austin in the middle of their conference schedule?

I’d argue respectfully, does Notre Dame have a difficult time scheduling? Would a lessened Big 12 school still want to schedule Texas (answer: Yes). Heck, a ND/Texas game every year would probably happen (and would be played just about anywhere in the country).

This isn’t just about football recruiting, it’s Texas trying to become a national brand for recruiting any kid to go to school there.

Texas is and always has been arguably the most coveted school in the conference power plays over time. Location/tv markets/alumni base, they can join any conference they want. If they went independent and decided at any time it wasn’t for them, every power conference would take them in a heartbeat.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I’d argue respectfully, does Notre Dame have a difficult time scheduling? Would a lessened Big 12 school still want to schedule Texas (answer: Yes). Heck, a ND/Texas game every year would probably happen (and would be played just about anywhere in the country).

This isn’t just about football recruiting, it’s Texas trying to become a national brand for recruiting any kid to go to school there.

Texas is and always has been arguably the most coveted school in the conference power plays over time. Location/tv markets/alumni base, they can join any conference they want. If they went independent and decided at any time it wasn’t for them, every power conference would take them in a heartbeat.

Notre Dame joined the ACC in part because they had trouble scheduling quality football opponents.

[Pakuni]

I’d argue respectfully, does Notre Dame have a difficult time scheduling? Would a lessened Big 12 school still want to schedule Texas (answer: Yes). Heck, a ND/Texas game every year would probably happen (and would be played just about anywhere in the country).

This isn’t just about football recruiting, it’s Texas trying to become a national brand for recruiting any kid to go to school there.

Texas is and always has been arguably the most coveted school in the conference power plays over time. Location/tv markets/alumni base, they can join any conference they want. If they went independent and decided at any time it wasn’t for them, every power conference would take them in a heartbeat.

1. As Fluffy noted, one of the reasons Notre Dame agreed to play five ACC games every year - along with getting their other teams into the ACC - was that they knew that with the last round realignment, it would be harder for them to fill a full schedule with decent opponents.


2. Notre Dame has the benefit of a lot of longstanding traditional rivalry games (USC, Purdue, etc.) plus the service academies to fill up dates on the schedule. Who does Texas got? I can't imagine the Big 12 schools are going to play them if they leave. A&M might, but probably not after September. Houston? Rice? SMU? How's that an upgrade from the Big 12? I just don't think programs like Alabama or Clemson or Ohio State are going to take a week in the middle of their conference schedule to travel to Austin. What's the upside for them?

Going independent won't make Texas a national brand for recruiting. Winning will.

[shoothoops]

Notre Dame has scheduled games in NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago in the same season, 9 times. No other school has done it once.

They move their games around for the benefit of alums/donors, and recruiting. They want the freedom to do so.

They get a good landing spot for their Olympic sports. Some of the other Power 5 Leagues don’t have as many Olympic sport offerings as the ACC. They also don’t want to be in a Midwest only league just as they don’t want to have a regional only ACC schedule. They prefer part ACC and the rest National. If they join a league permanently m, it will be the ACC.

NBC money, plus ACC money, plus CBF playoff money, plus other combined makes ND’s current situation just fine for them.

They are still a big road attendance draw and tv draw. Their recent game vs Georgia a couple of seasons ago was 2nd highest tv rating of the season for CFB.

[Scoop Snoop]

Over on the holyland site, there is some discussion on how this could eventually affect the BE. I was confident that we would be insulated but now I'm a little worried. Obviously FB is front and center in this circus but I would like to know your thoughts (after reading the holyland comments) on this eventually spilling over into basketball.

As big of a success that the Big Dance is, is it immune from being threatened by a "post NCAA" environment? Could it be replicated by super conferences working in unison and if so, would the BE be on the outside looking in or vice versa?

[shoothoops]

Kirk Bohls is now reporting it is pretty much a done deal. Pete Thamel has been saying as much.

Discussions began more than six months ago, and, Texas A&M was left out of the discussions.

[DegenerateDish]

If this indeed has been talked about for 6 months, Chris Beard had to have known and Shaka had to have known.

[shoothoops]

If this indeed has been talked about for 6 months, Chris Beard had to have known and Shaka had to have known.

It’s now being reported that SEC talks with Texas/OU have gone on for more than a year. Other leagues, ACC, etc have reached out to Texas/OU as well but they believe SEC has the votes and perhaps as soon as a week will announce they are joining. We’ll see.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

TAMU was never going to be the reason that TU didn't get added to the SEC

[MUBurrow]

So assuming this is a #donedeal where does the B12 go from here?  This would bring them to 8, so do they try to expand all the way back up to 12?  Houston immediately pops to mind.  UCF/USF? Tulsa?  Tulane for the New Orleans presence?  I haven't been following BYU closely enough to know if gong independent and the BYU network have been profitable, but maybe there is a deal to be made there?

[Hards Alumni]

Over on the holyland site, there is some discussion on how this could eventually affect the BE. I was confident that we would be insulated but now I'm a little worried. Obviously FB is front and center in this circus but I would like to know your thoughts (after reading the holyland comments) on this eventually spilling over into basketball.

As big of a success that the Big Dance is, is it immune from being threatened by a "post NCAA" environment? Could it be replicated by super conferences working in unison and if so, would the BE be on the outside looking in or vice versa?

The 2 billion dollar question

[cheebs09]

Is this where we discuss putting together a football team to go into the Big12? Figured we are due for a MU Football thread.