OT - Trouble in the New B12 Already?
Apparently, the $20 million per year Beebe guaranteed TX, OK and A&M to stay in the B12 might not be so "guaranteed" after all and A&M is pissed. Maybe we should set up an MGoPool to wager on how long the New B12 lasts.
http://www.thebatt.com/conference-realignment-debate-continues-1.1501503
...funny as hell. Beebe's house of cards is already falling apart.
Really, after dealing with TX for decades and watching all the backstabbing that has gone on in the B12 since its creation, what in the world was A&M thinking in trusting a verbal promise from Beebe in the first place?
with A&M admin for not joining the SEC when they had the chance, this is their way of deflecting the anger and saving face by showing some balls.
If A&M is having second thoughts about not taking the offer to join the SEC, the B12 better not screw around with the guaranteed money. I am pretty sure the substantial increase in money was the only thing that kept A&M in the B12 in the first place (A&M has some serious money problems and needs this far more than TX or OK). If the B12 is not careful, it will give A&M a perfect excuse to reconsider its decision and leave for the SEC while being able to blame it on the B12 for not honoring the deal that was made to keep the conference together. A&M might even be able to leverage that argument to avoid paying any exit fee.
Ask any MSU fan, they know how this feels.
Stud NFL Linebacker, on Hard Knocks TV, and writes articles about the problems with the new Big 12 - impressive!
I'm shocked, SHOCKED! that Dan Beebe can't conjure an extra $13 million per year out of his butt
the croupier says under his breath to Captain Renault (aka Deloss Dodds Texas AD)
I thought that conference was renamed "Texas and the Nine Dwarfs".
TX, with all their shenanigans trying to use the Pac 10 to get a better deal for themselves in the B12, might have created a monster in A&M. This is the first time A&M has ever stood up to TX and it won. Good luck controlling A&M from now on. Instead of TX threatening to take its marbles and go home if it doesn't get its way, from now on it will be A&M. Priceless.
Personally, I love this - seeing a potential implosion of the B12.
to a nicer conference. Can't wait for A&M to file the lawsuit & begin taking depositions...
What an Amazing conference the Big 12 is ! Everything a conference should NOT be !!!
No doubt, I bet Nebraska is happy to be getting out.
I bet Osborne would hand pack the moving vans himself if necessary.
What does this mean?
Well, at Big 12 Media Days, Beebe seemed to dismiss the notion, basically stating that both Texas and Oklahoma had rejected the offer and that they'd get around to talking to A&M about this "hidden" money.
Rejected what offer? Who is "they" getting around to talking to A&M?
that the dwarfs (Kansas, KState, Iowa State, Baylor, Missouri) agreed to give their share of the NU and Colorado's early exit penalty $$$ to their overlords, Texas, TAMU, and OK.
Really, I'm not kidding.
Beebe stated that TX and OK already had agreed to give up their $20 million guarantees and that the three of them (TX, OK and B12) were planning to meet with A&M to persuade them to do the same. I believe the smaller schools had agreed to forgoe their share of the penalty fees that CO and NE will be paying to the extent that money was needed to reach the $20 million minimums for the three larger schools.
I also understood this agreement the same way. However where and when did Texas and Oklahoma ever agree to forgo there share and why would A&M ever agree? So according to Beebe has texas and Ok agreed to split the $$$? Sorry being as this has never been news I am aware of I can't follow the logic if their is any.
none of the talk about the various Texas teams joining the BT happened. They made a mess of the Southwest Conference and a mess of the Big Eight/Big XII. Same would happen here. The bottom line: name one prestigous school that would accept an invitation to join up with the Big XII.
Saying Nebraska is happy to get out is an understatement, as a NU fan and native Nebraskan now living in Chicago, I'd judge the sentiment by our fanbase close to unamimous and the switch can't happen soon enough, we'd just like to win the conference title as a parting gift.
On the other hand, politics BS aside, joining the BT won't be any bed of roses (pun intended). I expect NU's farewell tour in the BXII will have eveyone gunning for us and our 1st year "welcome" on the playing fields of the Big Ten to be brutal.
I live in Omaha, a lot of people are happy, but they're scared that their recruiting pipeling to texas is going to diminish and they count on texas for most of the talent that they bring in.
I don't think they have to worry too much. With the spread of the Big Ten Network, added to our conference's deals with ABC/ESPN, most of their games will be on the air in Texas. Playing games in faraway regions was a bigger deal back when fewer games were televised and a recruit's family might legitimately never see him play if his team didn't have a game in the area.
in TX probably, and for sure nationwide. Being a small state with few TVs, joining the BT and getting on BTN is HUGE for us, and recruiting will be better from that standpoint not worse.
You know I'm pretty sure Nebraska did okay in the 8 or 9 decades it played major college football without an annual trip or two to Texas. Just sayin...
Fearing the loss of Texas recruiting means, like everyone elts, taking the table scraps after Texas, Oklahoma, and TAMU are finished. Now granted, those table scraps are still pretty good, but they are not irreplaceable.
And I love the perception that Nebraska all the sudden has like 75 guys from Texas on their roster. Not so, and not even close. Nebraska has long been a major national recruiter (Tommy Frazier, anybody?), and they get, surprisingly, a pretty good infusion of talent from the state of Nebraska.
It seems not many people notice that since the creation of the Big 12 (along with this so called Texas Pipeline to Nebraska), the Corn has won just a couple B12 titles, hasn't challenged for the NC at all (excepting that ersatz Miami game), and WHOA! Jumped out of that conference at the first chance (imagine, Tom Osborne knowing something more than Message Board Recruiting Debby Downer Guy).
As the new kid on the block, you will definitely have to earn your respect in the B10. It is a tougher conference top to bottom than many people think and, you are correct, we look forward to crushing you on the field every chance we get. But, unlike in the B12, you will not have to worry about getting stabbed in the back.
P.S. Also, in case you haven't heard, we are still pissed that you crashed our '97 national championship party. Please tell Coaches Osborne and Pelini we are looking forward to playing you as soon as possible to once and for all consolidate our title.
I really think playing for each other's 1/2 NC would be a fantastic new rivalry game. Why not have NU gives up our Sears crystal when we lose and UM hands over the AP trophy when you get beat? I'm sure that arrangement would be pretty sweet for the winner, and unique in the BT.
Don't think many NU fans expect an easy road on the BT. I'm sure as hell coach Pellini doesn't. Go Big Red!
Except the Alamo Bowl with Mountain West referees.
along with the NC trophies whenever we play---even better. I see a lot of "friendly" asskicking in our school's future games.
we just throw the Alamo Bowl trophy away.
I think you owe the Mountain West officials an apology.
The 2005 Alamo Bowl refs were Sun Belt officials.
We don't have anything to consolidate. Lloyd Carr won a National Title with that team in 1997...Tom Osborne kissed a bunch of coaches asses for votes. Everyone knows who the champion is...
A Michigan fan angry at someone today.
Maybe we could call this game the "WIll Michigan Fan Find Something New to Whine About" trophy game?
100 percent
So much for "Savior of the Big XII".
I love A&M's "threat" to leave the Big 12/10 for the SEC. Sounds like great logic - go from being irrelevant in one conference to irrelevant in a neighboring conference.
This was pure Texas politics, which is played for blood. UT certainly has its share of political muscle in Austin, but so does A&M. In fact, Texas Governor Rick Perry is an A&M alum. A&M was reminding its neighbor in Austin that it has as much pull with the Texas legislature, and could rattle as many cages.
Any rational fan, athletic director or university president could read between the lines that this arrangement was a non-starter earlier in the summer. Beebe comes up with a smoke and mirrors design built around alleged increased revenues to hold Texas A&M in the Big 12 and, I am certain, just expected them to acquiesce when the distribution returned to the usual amounts or marginally increased. The fact is that outside of Texas and Oklahoma there is only marginal interest in the remainder of the conference at a national level. The idea that revenues will change to reflect the promises made in the Big 12 is delusional at best and fraudulent at worst.
But, good luck with that Commissioner Beebe. Jackass.
Beebe spent all day today backing down.
The crappy thing is that Texas and Oklahoma both offered to give up the "guarantee" of $20 million knowing full well that their cut of the pie will likely exceed that number anyway. Then, they turn around and pressure A&M to take less money "for the good of the conference."
I sort of wish A&M would just demand that the money be split equally 10 ways and be done with it. This however, would likely lead to the launch of the Longhorn Network, placing Texas firmly back atop the Big XII in TV revenues...
A conference cannot remain viable when its members are fighting each other for money. This type of squabbling will tear it apart when the teams that are fighting each other get offers from other conferences because eventually, one of the other conferences will offer a superior arrangement. Also, fighting each other for dollars destroys loyalty to the conference.
Is that there is only ONE team anybody even remotely cares about: Texas. Oklahoma? Yes, lots of tradition and all, but even they aren't the least bit bashful about admitting they will ride the coat tails of Texas for eternity.
The rest of the conference is absolute fodder for Texas and to a lesser extent, Oklahoma. IMO, Texas and Oklahoma are doint these other guys a favor by playing them at all--giving them ANY bit of exposure is more than the KU, KSU, ISU, Baylor and the rest deserve.
TAMU will come around--they HAVE to. They'd be a doormat in the SEC. The rest? They ought to PAY Texas and OU for the privilege of playing in the Longhorns' and Sooners' sandbox.
The launching of the Longhorn Network is the primary reason TX needs to keep the B12 together a little while longer. Once the LHN is up and running, it will be easier for TX to insist that it be accepted by any other conference that it joins. At that point, TX will no longer have a need for the B12 and will engineer its collapse.
TX will probably end up in the Pac 10. The Pac 10 balked at making an exception for the LHN this time around, but it desperately needs more East and Central Time Zone eyeballs to start its own Pac 10 Network. TX, OK, TTU and OK St. will provide the Pac 10 with those eyeballs and, for that reason, the Pac 10 will likely cave and allow TX to retain the LHN to get a deal done. Alternatively, should the Pac 10 continue to say "no" to the LHN, TX could go to the SEC, but that is not TX's first choice. TX considers itself "above" the SEC academically and culturally and also probably does not want to have to fight its way through the difficult SEC year in and year out. The B10, which has its own network, is highly unlikely to make an exception for the LHN and also will never accept OK, OK St. and TTU just to get TX. TX could try to go independent, but that would be extremely difficult (especially for sports other than football) with all of the other major teams in megaconferences.
Thus, as soon as TX gets the LHN up and running (probably 2-3 years), we will see the final demise of the B12. A&M will go to the SEC and TX, TTU, OK and OK St. all will go to the Pac 10 in an arrangement similar to the one that was proposed this year.
...And the barbecue contests and the chili cook-offs, I just don't know how much programming that a LHN can muster up. That means a lot fewer eyeballs watching long term, which is tracked by the cable companies. In turn, the cable companies will start dropping the LHN at the first chance they get. Sure, it may take 5-10 years, but I can't imagine a finer ending to this story.
this conference realignment assploded in the news I just assumed that all schools shared pretty much evenly, but that is not the case. That said Texas and the others that take a bigger share of the pie have finally killed the golden goose as it were. Mr. Bebee appears to have written a check he can't cash.
How is A&M a power broker in this whole scenario? I don't understand.
Texas has no motivation to stay in the Big 12 without A&M. They could just go to the Pac 10 with Oklahoma or hightail to the Big Ten (which could well mean that Notre Dame would join too). Staying in the Big 12 only made sense when it allowed for strong geographic links, increased influence over conference policy, and rivalries without costing much of anything financially.
That is true... The B12 isn't getting as good of tv/radio deals as the B10, SEC and Pac10. How can this improve when the B12 loses 3 teams with huge fan bases? Not to mention Forbes list of team value places Nebraska 4th nationally and Texas AM 18th.
The B12 just lost Nebraska and Colorado. Nebraska is their 2nd most profitable school. If the B12 were to lose Texas AM, well it might trigger other schools to leave, it would devalue the conference's TV and radio deals with the loss of those 3 schools.
Aren't they the old Big 12?
I honestly thought this might be about acrimony in the division alignment process.