You are hereTexas to Big Ten? Anything to avoid K-State
Texas to Big Ten? Anything to avoid K-State
Another round of Big 12 angst has been launched by a report in Lawrence Journal-World, citing an anonymous source, that Texas has had a conversation with Big Ten. This comes on the heels of internet reports suggesting the Longhorns could be a target of Pac-10 expansion.
Hey, maybe Texas can hold dual membership. Football in the Big Ten, basketball in the Pac-10, kind of like autumn and spring homes.
The Big Ten started the expansion craze in December with its announcement of an exploration process, and a new brushfire seems to ignite each day.
That’s not a bad thing. Reports from anonymous sources in print and rumors on the web at least provide a fleshing out of the subject.
And none of it looks good for the Big 12.
The reports make the conference seem ripe for picking because its current TV deals don’t measure up the Big Ten’s. When the Missouri governor preens for the Big Ten, and the message boards at Colorado and Texas blow up with fans certain the grass is greener elsewhere the Big 12 has public relations problem.
That greener grass, of course, is media dollars, which today are much more plentiful in the Big Ten. As The Star reported last month, Big Ten schools clear $9-10 million more annually from its television and media contracts than the Big 12.
The SEC also is a top-dollar conference, and all of this has happened in the past couple of years.
Commissioners in other conferences believe they’ll have more lucrative deals in the next few years.
“I don’t see any of us negotiating in the kind of favorable (economic) conditions that the Big Ten and SEC enjoyed, but I do believe the gap will be smaller than what it is right now,” ACC Commissioner John Swofford told me in January.
The Big Ten’s exploratory process is to take 12-18 months. The Pac-10 said it would work more quickly. Expansion isn’t guaranteed in either case.
Texas to the Big Ten doesn't make much sense. Yes, there’s more revenue for sports and academics. But has money ever been an issue with the Longhorns? Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds like to say, “We are the Joneses.” Everybody else keeps up with Texas.
The Longhorns have plenty going for it in the Big 12, including a revenue-sharing formula to their liking, the best regular-season game in college football (Oklahoma) and conference championship contenders in every sport. Texas already has some of the deepest pockets in all of college sports.
And there’s talk of the school starting its own TV network for its non-Big 12 contracted games. That wouldn’t happen in a conference with its own network.
But if the Longhorns left, they wouldn’t have to play the team it no longer seems to beat in football and men’s basketball: Kansas State.
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If the Big 12 moves quickly and picks up Utah, BYU, TCU, and Boise State, they can beat PAC-10 and Big-10 (both unbelievably arrogant) to the punch. The 16 teams in that conference would rival, maybe even surpass, the SEC in football dominance.
If we lose Texas, then this whole league will begin to fall apart. The SEC will likely grow(Oklahoma). The Big 10(Missouri). THen what.
We add TCU, Memphis, maybe Arkanas.
Don Beebe better protect the product that is the Big 12 better it falls apart.
Unfortunately college athletics have gotten to the point of it being all about producing revenue.
A couple of months ago most Missouri officials, media personnel and fans reacted with what could almost be described as euphoria at the prospect of leaving the Big 12 for the riches and ultimate success that the Big Ten would surely bring them.
After a few weeks had passed some in the media took the time to really evaluate the ever changing influence and importance of revenue generation. Missouri suddenly did not make so much sense and talk of Texas being the real prize in the Big 12 emerged.
Some still cling to the idea that geographically it does not make sense for the Big 10 or Pac 10 or whomever to want Texas. But again we are entering a new era of conference alignments and locations will not mean as much as in the past.
If Texas leaves the Big 12 the Big 12 will wither away to non BCS standards. If Texas leaves who really thinks that Oklahoma is not right behind them going to the SEC, Big Ten or wherever.
Our three local schools will most likely become part of a smaller and even less revenue producing conference. The matches, rivalries and traditions of the Big 8 and Big 12 will be just a memory and that I find really sad.
First off you must be a UT fan.
It is not just one win.
Basketball
2010 KSU 71 Texas 62 Win
2009 KSU 85 Texas 81 Win
2008 KSU 65 Texas 74 Loss
2007 KSU 73 Texas 72 WIN
Football
1998 KSU 48 Texas 7 WIN
1999 KSU 35 Texas 17 WIN
2002 KSU 14 Texas 14 LOSS
2003 KSU 20 Texas 24 LOSS
2006 KSU 45 Texas 42 WIN
2007 KSU 41 Texas 21 WIN
Not bad for a program that has a third of the revenue of Texas. I think I will crow a little, thank you very much. Also, your obviously the idiot. BK is very knowledgable on the big 12 as a whole and I enjoy ready his stuff.
Fear the beard
Good article till the end when you made the idiotic comment that UT fears K-State, get a life idiot! 1 win in basketball is nothing to crow about.
I truly think this was tongue in cheek. But it is funny that Texas cannot dominate little Ol' K-State these days. Ron Prince was 2-0 against the mighty Mack Brown.
So, it was a more than one single basketball game.
In football the K-State vs TU all time record is 5 and 5 or 6 and 5 K-State (conflicting sources).
In Men's BB the record is 11-9 K-State. This kind of success against TU is something no other Big 12 team and very few teams nation wide can claim.
So yes that is something to crow about.