The story we reported here Wednesday around Texas and Oklahoma leaving the Big 12 for the SEC appears to be gaining momentum. Here’s what we know:
Chip Brown of 247sports and Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman both reported Friday that the move of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC was seemingly immiment (subscription required).
The story reported that the talks had been going on for “six months, at a minimum.”
CBS’ Dennis Dodd also has a story on the move, with sources indicating, among other things:
“I’m not saying it’s 100%, but it’s close to it in terms of being a done deal,” a Big 12 source intimately involved in the process told CBS Sports.
“It could be as soon as 24-48 hours and as long as two weeks before we have any clarity in terms of timing,” said the source in reference to when Texas and Oklahoma would expect to formally join the SEC.
Reports indicate that both schools could owe between $76 million and $80 million to leave the conference at the beginning of the 2022 campaign — or any time before the media rights grant expires in 2025. This would be the schools’ share of the conference’s revenue distribution.
“As you can imagine, this stung,” the source said. “… [Commissioner Bob Bowlsby] feels absolutely betrayed.”
This may not be the last of the pillaging of the Big 12.
More details will be provided as they become available.
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First, the PAC-12 does not want schools with any religious affiliations (TCU with the Disciples of Christ and Baylor with the Baptists). So whichever of the Big 12 remnants would end up joining the PAC 12 – it won’t be TCU or Baylor.
Secondly, you are suggesting that the SEC is to get Texas and Oklahoma while the Big Ten's countermove is to get Kansas? Unless Notre Dame is coming along with them (and even then that would still be a relative downgrade): why would the B1G, knowingly engage in a purposeful and planned decline compared to their SEC rival (a rival they are currently financially leading)?
Third, why would the governors of Texas and Oklahoma condone the University of Texas and Oklahoma leaving Big 12, weakening or destroying the Big 12 Conference, leaving Texas Tech and Oklahoma State within the smoldering fiscal wreckage?
Clear there is more here to understand.
Big10 cares about TV households more than adding top flight football schools. Maryland and Rutgers bring nothing but media markets and easy conference wins for OSU, UM and PSU.
KU expands the footprint to Kansas City. It also makes Big 10 basketball a lot stronger (yeah, they play other sports too).
KSU might be the logical partner to come along and make it a 16-team league, but the gutsy move would be to take TCU to get the DFW media market, recruiting and another good but not great football school.
Just because TCU and Baylor had called the PAC doesn't mean the PAC is listening to them. Realistically, I would see PAC going Texas Tech and Iowa State or even Iowa State and Kansas State. However, I think the state of Texas is to good to pass up.
Kansas is the 3rd biggest revenue school in the BIG12 besides OK and Texas. Top 5 National power house in basketball. Plus a massive Kansas City market = huge money for the Big Ten. Kansas is really the only school I'd even think the Big Ten would want, after OK & TX, of course.
After Kansas is see the Big Ten going after a ACC school. Virginia makes the most sense. Good academics, top ter basketball, decent football, and mostly the Washington DC market.
Colfax - Big Ten will only enlist membership from AAU members. Kansas State is not an AAU member.
KU only plays 6 sports on the men's side---and I am counting CC and T&F as 2. They don't even soccer. Adding Kansas is a bad move for the B!G. Adding Pittsburgh and Notre Dame/Syracuse makes more sense, to me.
From Big 12 to Big Whoop.
First, the PAC-12 does not want schools with any religious affiliations (TCU with the Disciples of Christ and Baylor with the Baptists). So whichever of the Big 12 remnants would end up joining the PAC 12 – it won’t be TCU or Baylor.
Secondly, you are suggesting that the SEC is to get Texas and Oklahoma while the Big Ten's countermove is to get Kansas? Unless Notre Dame is coming along with them (and even then that would still be a relative downgrade): why would the B1G, knowingly engage in a purposeful and managed decline compared to the moves of their SEC rival (a rival they are currently financially leading)?
Third, why would the governors of Texas and Oklahoma condone the University of Texas and Oklahoma leaving Big 12, weakening or destroying the Big 12 Conference and leaving Texas Tech and Oklahoma State within the smoldering fiscal wreckage?
Clearly there is more here to learn and understand.
Wow you know nothing!
Such naivete is rarely seen
And of course.... the Big 10 goes for the football cupcake.
And right on cue.....Leave it to the Big 10 to go after yet another football cream puff team.
If Texas and Oklahoma left the Big 12 and join the sec. The conference divisions is East and West, but the teams will be alinement with Arkansas. Here is the East- Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Arkansas, South Carolina, and the new comer is Oklahoma. one the other side of the division is the West- Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Texas A@M, Tennessee, Louisiana State, and new comer Texas.
Yearly Games means the teams will play every year. Here they are Florida vs Louisiana, Georgia Vs Auburn, Kentucky vs Mississippi State, Vanderbilt vs Tennessee, Missouri vs Texas A@M, South Carolina vs Alabama, and the RED RIVER REVILY OKLAHOMA VS TEXAS.
East:
Florida
Georgia
South Carolina
Auburn
Alabama
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Kentucky
West:
Arkansas
Missouri
Ole Miss
Miss State
LSU
A&M
Oklahoma
Texas
I know the East as of now doesn’t want to take on Bama/Auburn, but they’ll move over, so be ready.
There would be a lot to unpack here if this goes down.
Say both OK and Texas go to the SEC (BIG I'm sure is going to make their case). Say it does happen and everyone else is forced to expand and pick up teams.
The next big deal would be ND. Do they finally join a conference? If so, ACC or BIG?
The only BIG12 team I see the BIG wanting is Kansas. Kansas was number 3 in the conference in revenue, pick up a massive Kansas City market, power house basketball program (BIG is already stacked there), and a AAU school. Easy pick for BIG.
After that I don't to many interesting teams there. BIG already has Iowa so Iowa State doesn't do much, same with KState if they get Kansas, OK State lacks academics and don't have much a market with OK there, I don't see them going all the way down to Texas for tech, WVU lacks academics and market since they are technically in the PIT market.
I can see them going after a ACC team. Virginia makes the most sense. Get the DC market, great basketball program, good enough football, creep into the south for recruits.
That leaves the ACC needed 3 teams. ND and Cincy seem like easy choices. No WVU for the same reasons above. Then who else? Uconn? I don't see them taking a team in the midwest like Baylor, unless they really want to get into the Texas market.
Then the who would the PAC want? They don't take religious schools. That leaves Tech, ISU, OSU, Kstate. I guess they take 2 of those 4? Texas Tech and Iowa State might make the most sense.
Big 12 would try to stay alive and grab whatever American/MWC teams they could get.
Memphis, Houston, SMU, Boise, UCF, Colorado State, Air Force?
They'll be lots of rumors going down.
As for WVU and academics are concerned, I think that ship sailed a long time ago (and I teach at a non-Power Five school). Money is what is driving the train now, particularly in light of the losses every university took last year as a result of the pandemic, not to mention the demographic cliff universities are facing over the next five years when the college-age recruiting pool will be much smaller than it is now. The university presidents and provosts are keenly aware of this fact if my school is an example.
IF Texas and Oklahoma left the big 12 to Join the SEC. The divisions is East and West. Here is the Division East- Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Arkansas, south Carolina, and New comers Oklahoma. other side is the West- Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Texas A@M, Tennessee, Louisiana, and new comer Texas.
Yearly games means they will play every year. Here They are Florida vs Louisiana, Georgia vs Auburn, Kentucky vs Mississippi state, Vanderbilt vs Tennessee, Missouri vs Texas A@M, Arkansas vs Alabama, South Carolina vs Mississippi, and the red river riverly Oklahoma vs TEXAS
No. It's already established that UA and AU will move to the east. Then no locked crossover games are necessary. UA-TN and AU-UGa are divisional this way.
.
Auburn never wanted to be in the West, its traditional recruiting was in Florida and Georgia... The only reason AU landed in the West was because UA couldn't have two locked games with AU and UT both.
The bigger deal would be you almost have to go to a nine game conference schedule with Oklahoma and Texas.
I would imagine they'd drop east and west and go with four team pods. It's a whole lot easier to schedule that way. Everyone could play every team at home at least once in a four year span.
I saw one proposal that said:
Pod A - Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky
Pod B - Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Pod C - LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M
Pod D - Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas
You play everyone in your pod every year, then two teams from each of the other pods.
So, while you lose classic rivalries like Auburn-Georgia, you could set it up to happen every other year. You could also tweak the teams a bit to make things work a bit better, maybe.
Of course, we don't know that it ends with just Oklahoma and Texas. So, who knows where this ends up.
John – In principle I agree with your opinion on Kansas. The Jayhawk’s athletic department currently generates the third most money in the Big 12 (with only a ~1.4% subside). While that number would be expected to increase, if they were playing within the Big Ten, their customary yearly Big 12 revenue still falls 14% below that of the average Big Ten school’s revenues. Could that type of percent increase be realistically expected to make B1G membership viable?
PAC-12: Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Baylor
BigTen: Kansas, Iowa State
SEC: Texas, Oklahoma
ACC: West Virginia (along with ND full member)
AAC: TCU