it begins...

[SaveOD238]

http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1092612

Nebraska is gone, Mizzou should be next.

Someone on ESPN just said that the 6 teams offered by the Pac-10 are all on their way out too.

[SaveOD238]

chip brown from orangebloods.com "The Big 12 is dead"

[goodgreatgrand]

wow! ...and...f&ck!!

if the pac10 expands (which if highly likely now), look for the SEC to expand. If the ACC can stay intact, the BE should be relatively ok, I think.

Jeez, I thought Tagliubue was being proactive? I bet a penny on the idea the BE would make the first move....

[ChicosBailBonds]

wow! ...and...f&ck!!

if the pac10 expands (which if highly likely now), look for the SEC to expand. If the ACC can stay intact, the BE should be relatively ok, I think.

Jeez, I thought Tagliubue was being proactive? I bet a penny on the idea the BE would make the first move....

Dominos.  If the SEC expands, they have to expand from the Big East and the ACC.  South Florida, for example.  Louisville, WVU.   The ACC would likely take Syracuse, Pitt or Rutgers (if the Big Ten doesn't).

[texaswarrior74]

I fear that this is not good for MU.....not having a football team is going to kill us in the long run....

and just when things looked like they were heading the right way........damn.....

[79Warrior]

wow! ...and...f&ck!!

if the pac10 expands (which if highly likely now), look for the SEC to expand. If the ACC can stay intact, the BE should be relatively ok, I think.

Jeez, I thought Tagliubue was being proactive? I bet a penny on the idea the BE would make the first move....

there is nothing the BE could do. This is a football driven issue and the BE is the weakest football conference in the BCS.

[ChicosBailBonds]

The Big 12 appears to be dead.

A source close to the Nebraska Board of Regents told Orangebloods.com the regents informally agreed Wednesday to move to the Big Ten and that a formal announcement Nebraska is leaving will come Friday.

Sources close to Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech have suggested to Orangebloods.com over the last week that if Nebraska leaves, the Big 12 can't be saved.

Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds and president Williams Powers gathered UT coaches today at 2 p.m. CT to tell them they did everything they could to save the Big 12 but that they were unsuccessful.

Just as Orangebloods.com was first to report last Thursday, the Pac-10 will invite Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Colorado.

And it appears those invitations will be accepted.

According to sources, Colorado will also opt out of the Big 12 and accept an invitation to the Pac-10.

[NersEllenson]

The Big 12 appears to be dead.

A source close to the Nebraska Board of Regents told Orangebloods.com the regents informally agreed Wednesday to move to the Big Ten and that a formal announcement Nebraska is leaving will come Friday.

Sources close to Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech have suggested to Orangebloods.com over the last week that if Nebraska leaves, the Big 12 can't be saved.

Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds and president Williams Powers gathered UT coaches today at 2 p.m. CT to tell them they did everything they could to save the Big 12 but that they were unsuccessful.

Just as Orangebloods.com was first to report last Thursday, the Pac-10 will invite Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Colorado.

And it appears those invitations will be accepted.

According to sources, Colorado will also opt out of the Big 12 and accept an invitation to the Pac-10.

By all accounts on the "ground" here, Texas really didn't want to save the Big 12..but didn't want to be the one's blamed for the break up of the Big  12...rather..Texas can appear that it was the victim of Nebraska leaving.  If you really stop to think about it:  How could the loss of Nebraska (and Missouri possibly) really undermine the whole Big 12.  You add TCU to the Big 12 and they've had a higher football profile for the last 10 years than either NEB or Mizzou....

[Husker4MU]

"By all accounts on the "ground" here, Texas really didn't want to save the Big 12..but didn't want to be the one's blamed for the break up of the Big  12...rather..Texas can appear that it was the victim of Nebraska leaving.  If you really stop to think about it:  How could the loss of Nebraska (and Missouri possibly) really undermine the whole Big 12.  You add TCU to the Big 12 and they've had a higher football profile for the last 10 years than either NEB or Mizzou...."

You are dead on until the last sentence, which is absolutely false.  It looks to me like Orangebloods is the house organ for UT these days and was shifting blame around to paint UT in a good light.  TCU has been very good at football and would have beaten NU & MU in a couple of those years, but a team with a seldom full 44,000 seat stadium hardly pulls a higher profile than MU & NU.

[NersEllenson]

You are dead on until the last sentence, which is absolutely false.  It looks to me like Orangebloods is the house organ for UT these days and was shifting blame around to paint UT in a good light.  TCU has been very good at football and would have beaten NU & MU in a couple of those years, but a team with a seldom full 44,000 seat stadium hardly pulls a higher profile than MU & NU.

Nebraska definitely will capture more eyeballs for the Big 10 Network which is critical for BTN, but from a BCS Bowl perspective, TCU has established itself as a Top 10-15 program nationally over the last decade, while Nebraska has struggled ever since Osborne resigned as coach.  Nebraska has a rich tradition for sure, but the tracjectory of the two programs over the last decade (TCU and Nebraska) has been going the opposite direction - though it seems Pellini has it turning back around.  But..ultiamtely..Texas could have prevented the dissolution of the Big 12 if it wanted.  Period.  End of story.

[GGGG]

Nebraska definitely will capture more eyeballs for the Big 10 Network which is critical for BTN, but from a BCS Bowl perspective, TCU has established itself as a Top 10-15 program nationally over the last decade, while Nebraska has struggled ever since Osborne resigned as coach.  Nebraska has a rich tradition for sure, but the tracjectory of the two programs over the last decade (TCU and Nebraska) has been going the opposite direction - though it seems Pellini has it turning back around.  But..ultiamtely..Texas could have prevented the dissolution of the Big 12 if it wanted.  Period.  End of story.

Put TCU in the Big 12 North and they don't fare better than Nebraska has.  Let's not extrapolate a couple of good seasons over decades of tradition and success.

[GGGG]

wow! ...and...f&ck!!

if the pac10 expands (which if highly likely now), look for the SEC to expand. If the ACC can stay intact, the BE should be relatively ok, I think.

Why do people think that the SEC would need to expand?  If they can't find schools that really add value, no conference is going to expand.

[Ron Paul]

It seems to me that Marquette should be looking at forming a basketball conference, Butler, Xavier, Dayton, Memphis...anyone have any other ideas?

[Blackhat]

How soon until congress sticks it's nose into alignment?

[goodgreatgrand]

How soon until congress sticks it's nose into alignment?

Are you F@cking kidding me? So these D-Bags dont have anything better to do than to stick their noses into college sports? Hmmmm....unemployment, oil spil, afghanistan, iran, iraq, north korea....and on and on.... College conferences shouldnt be at the top of their agenda. Just sayin. Let's prioritize. College sports should be whatever the national deficit is on the list of things to do...so....maybe [negative] 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000. Politicians are better off trying to figure out what to do with the dbag in the oval office than worry about the b12, b10, BE...blah, blah, blah

[AZWarrior]

Are you F@cking kidding me? So these D-Bags dont have anything better to do than to stick their noses into college sports? Hmmmm....unemployment, oil spil, afghanistan, iran, iraq, north korea....and on and on.... College conferences shouldnt be at the top of their agenda. Just sayin. Let's prioritize. College sports should be whatever the national deficit is on the list of things to do...so....maybe [negative] 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000. Politicians are better off trying to figure out what to do with the dbag in the oval office than worry about the b12, b10, BE...blah, blah, blah

That said, we're back to Stone's question.  How long till congress....

[GGGG]

It seems to me that Marquette should be looking at forming a basketball conference, Butler, Xavier, Dayton, Memphis...anyone have any other ideas?

It wouldn't do them any harm to start conversations with some people, but this potentially could end very badly for MU.  If you have the four, 16 team "superconference" idea, why would these conferences even need the NCAA any longer?  Sharing a conference with schools like Dayton and St. Louis would be the least of our worries.

[chapman]

wow! ...and...f&ck!!

if the pac10 expands (which if highly likely now), look for the SEC to expand. If the ACC can stay intact, the BE should be relatively ok, I think.

Jeez, I thought Tagliubue was being proactive? I bet a penny on the idea the BE would make the first move....

As far as being proactive, what is the Big East supposed to do?  It probably has to ask Kansas, K-State, Iowa State and UCF to be its 17-20th members to get to 12 football schools.  If Providence, Seton Hall, and DePaul magically disappeared and Notre Dame was all in or all out maybe they would be in a position to try for the previous group or even more elusive candidates like BC or Maryland, but even then it's doubtful: schools are unlikely to join a conference on a gamble that they will have their act together and get a good television deal, and television is not going to gamble a conference can make a haul in expansion by awarding it a good deal beforehand.  Bowl revenue and NCAA tournament revenue will go up, but still not enough to compete with other conferences.  

Kansas might be too good to pass up, but if the Big Ten, ACC, or SEC invites they win.  The Big East has one thing going over the Mountain West for these schools - they currently own a BCS bid, the Mountain West would still have to obtain one - they could likely get the Big 12's, but adding Boise State to the current group isn't a lock with the way the BCS works.    

If the BE can't dismiss some dead weight, taking a leap, inviting these schools, and hoping to win them over the Mountain West and others and sorting out the excessive size issue later might be the best option for survival.  But if the Big Ten or ACC comes calling for any of the current members it'll further ruin the conference when it starts looking for Memphis to replace Syracuse, Temple to replace Pitt, and Marshall to replace Rutgers, and find that the basketball-only school that was most desirable to keep in Georgetown is the one that heads out while the current free-riders continue to do nothing since that'll always be the best option for them.  After all, 20 members will help the football situation, but it'll still be the worst of the BCS conferences, basketball might be the best, but it'll still not be close to maxmizing revenue capacity when you have some appealing matchups to lure a television deal and still many unappealing ones.


The BCS bid is key.  Invite Kansas, K-State, Iowa State, and one more (likely Memphis or UCF), and do it NOW.  Get to that 12 team level for championship game revenue.  If one or two football schools leave, replace them.  Yes, it's 19 or 20 teams for basketball.  Make every attempt to keep the BCS bid now.  Worry about the fat later. 

[77ncaachamps]

Are you F@cking kidding me? So these D-Bags dont have anything better to do than to stick their noses into college sports? Hmmmm....unemployment, oil spil, afghanistan, iran, iraq, north korea....and on and on.... College conferences shouldnt be at the top of their agenda. Just sayin. Let's prioritize. College sports should be whatever the national deficit is on the list of things to do...so....maybe [negative] 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000. Politicians are better off trying to figure out what to do with the dbag in the oval office than worry about the b12, b10, BE...blah, blah, blah

I hope they do.

I'd hate for Marquette to be stuck in a horrible league.

That'd suck.

[SaveOD238]

Mark Schlabach seems to think that the SEC and ACC are going to stand pat because (basically) splitting Florida between the two conferences is actually good for both.  http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=5268212 (check out the bottom)

even if we lose a few teams to the Big "Ten", KU, KSU, ISU, and UCF are all out there for the taking...the Big East as we know it might still be all right.  Lets not assume the worst until it happens.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Why do people think that the SEC would need to expand?  If they can't find schools that really add value, no conference is going to expand.

Because this is about dollars and eyeballs.  More schools equals more dollars and more eyeballs.  The SEC won't sit around (most likely) and let the Big Ten be bigger than they are.  They might let the Pac Ten be bigger, but not the Big Ten. IMO.  Now, maybe short term they do, but long term I don't see how they can and command the dollars they want in TV revenue. 

[marquette99]

This is is the lesser of many possible evils.  They went west first, so the chance of losing 5 be teams to the big 10 is gone. Now we can't have four 16 team conferences with mu in another conference.

1. If the big 10 stops short of 16 teams, we could be fine, or

2. The reports that rthe big 10 has soured on missouri leaves kansas, kstate and missouri as a great trio that is a lot closer to the big east than the acc if we are in the battle with the acc as the 4th of the 16-team conferences and they can go with nova and gtown.all the talk down here in sec country is about picking up acc teams.  Its been ga tech and clemson as the extra schools, rather than wvu and louisville.

Yes, I'm nervous, but I'm relieved we aren't reading about rutgers, pitt, syracuse or uconn as the first move.

[GGGG]

Because this is about dollars and eyeballs.  More schools equals more dollars and more eyeballs.  The SEC won't sit around (most likely) and let the Big Ten be bigger than they are.  They might let the Pac Ten be bigger, but not the Big Ten. IMO.  Now, maybe short term they do, but long term I don't see how they can and command the dollars they want in TV revenue. 

But what schools out there will deliver those eyeballs?

[LON]

I think Delaney (or someone higher-up in all this for the Big Ten) basically said they'd stop at 12 so they weren't viewed as "responsible for creating college football Armageddon"...

Um, isn't that exactly what they did?

EDIT:  Is it now the Big 11?

[Skatastrophy]

It will be interesting for us, as MU fans, to see what happens with Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor and Iowa State.  They aren't football powerhouses and they aren't from the biggest markets in the country.  Their situations aren't exactly like ours, but we'll likely be facing many of the same challenges in the near future.