While it appears athletic conference re-alignment is taking a break in 2011 after a raucous 2010 (although several moves are only just happening in 2011-12 and 2012-13 based on 2010 agreements), don't be so sure everything is settled in the nation's midlands.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs might have been a monster hit for Disney in the '30s and '40s, and there might be two "reboots" in the works for release in 2012, but the theme and the image remain no fun if you're one of the dwarfs.
The Big 12 Conference had always been Texas and the Eleven Dwarfs, much to Oklahoma's, Nebraska's, and A&M's displeasure. The other schools weren't happy, either, but they didn't have the power to sulk vocally on a big stage. When the Big 12 was formed in early 1994, for play to begin in the 1996-97 academic year, Texas immediately started flexing its muscle.
First, they successfully lobbied for former Southwest Conference commish Steve Hatchell to become the first Big 12 commissioner. Nebraska and Oklahoma had supported Kansas athletic director Bob Frederick for the position.
Second, the Big 12 office was placed in a Dallas suburb, not in Kansas City as the Big 8 schools preferred. Third, the conference's split into two divisions followed a Texas plan, which ruined the huge annual Nebraska-Oklahoma rivalry. New schedules dictated that the schools would meet only two out of every four years, since they were placed in different divisions.
Fourth and not least, Nebraska lost a struggle over academic standards. These Big 8 losses and Texas victories were not lost on Nebraska legend Tom Osborne. Lest you think I'm somehow pro-Cornhusker in this argument, it has to be admitted that Nebraska was never in favor of revenue sharing. Boo.
Worst of all was the perspective on the superconference in 1996. Incredibly enough, the victorious official view of Big 12 conference history was that a brand new conference had been created, and that the Big 12 was not an expansion of the Big 8 (which it obviously was). Are you serious? Is the Texas ego that big that it cannot admit the Southwest Conference had failed? Apparently, that is the case.
Blame also goes to the self-serving Texas Legislature, which arbitrarily decided that Baylor should be the sole private school included in the Big 12. Baylor won out over TCU, SMU, and Rice, some of which had greater athletic legacies. Why? There were more Baylor alums in the Legislature. Also, Oklahoma, Texas, and A&M didn't want competition from those Dallas- and Houston-based schools for the star recruits from all of the high schools in those regions. Baylor sits out in Waco. TCU administrators never forgot about the unjust slight.
Flash-forward to June of 2010: After years of playing in the shadow of the Longhorns, Nebraska and Osborne bolted to the Big 10, where revenue sharing and lucrative network deals (including revenues generated from their own Big 10 Conference Network) were the norm. Now, Nebraska has to deal with new monsters who cast giant shadows of their own by the names of Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan. However, at least they wear smaller hats and don't treat their conference rivals as dwarfs.
Meanwhile, new Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott and his assistant, former Big 12 commissioner from 1998 to 2007 Kevin Weiberg, were busy wooing five teams (Texas, A&M, OU, OSU, Tech) to join a proposed superconference Pac-16, with Utah. While well received in Lubbock, Scott and Weiberg felt the temperature drop in College Station and Austin. Why? A&M preferred joining the SEC if they had to find greener pastures, and Texas was secretly negotiating with ESPN to develop their own network. Repeat: the Longhorns were working on creating a Longhorn Network, not a Big 12 Conference Network, with the help and financing from ESPN.
Texas was not impressed with the Pac-10's proposal of fairness and total revenue sharing in all future deals, nor with its plan for a Pac-16 Conference Network. Texas enjoyed its stature and fame as Snow White. Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe was willing to do anything to keep Texas from moving. The result? ABC/ESPN kept its deal with the Big 12 intact while giving Texas its own $300 million, 20-year deal to launch the Longhorn Network on August 26, 2011.
The new network, in and of itself a recruiting tool of the most impressionable kind, tantamount to Notre Dame's exclusive NBC deal for football, keeps Texas way ahead of the Big 12 pack in revenue streams, even as the conference presidents agreed to greater revenue sharing of television money in the other contracts with Fox and ABC/ESPN. The new arrangement calls for the league to split 76% of its television revenue evenly, up from 57%.
What is another source for athletic funding? Try endowments. Here again, Texas has a huge advantage, with an endowment of $12.2 billion. A&M is second with an impressive $5.738 billion, Baylor third with $1.1 billion, and Kansas fourth with $955 million. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State has a $454 million endowment, Iowa State $452 million, and Kansas State $259 million at the lower end of the scale.
What impresses recruits? Winning traditions and professional athlete alumni. What else? Flashy things: weight rooms, locker rooms, equipment rooms, equipment, dorm rooms, cafeterias, cafeteria menus, tutoring centers, ipods, ipads, MacBooks, smartphones, football stadiums, basketball arenas, and attractive co-eds. Who has flashier things, Texas or Kansas State?
How does one keep a winning tradition? Give the head coach raises, bonuses, and perks to retain him. Have a large budget so the coach can have a quality support staff of assistant coaches and trainers. How does one create a winning tradition? Have the resources to hire the big name and the resources to give the big name the quality staff, equipment, and facilities he needs to stay and develop the program.
Sounds easy enough. But not if you're one of the dwarfs contending with Snow White for all of the prized recruits.
It does not take a rocket scientist to see that the Big 12 did not have a level playing field at its inception, during its first fifteen years, and does not now entering its sixteenth year. The playing field remains tilted for the foreseeable future, as long as the Longhorn Network is around.
What does the future hold for the Big 12? Mind you, the following are just rumors found on the Internet, but where there's smoke, there's fire. Some scenarios are more credible than others. First, schools that have voiced displeasure with Texas and flirted with other conferences include Oklahoma and Texas A&M (SEC), Texas Tech and Oklahoma State (Pac-10/12), and Missouri (Big 10). What does that mean? Core members of any future Big 12 include stalwarts Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Baylor. Notice I did not include Texas. Many scenarios have the Longhorns going independent (to better fit their own TV network) or creating a superconference with Notre Dame, BYU, and USC, among others. It is difficult to conceive of them joining the SEC, Big 10, or Pac 12 without wishing to consider it a whole new league upon expansion with their inclusion (as they did with the Big 8 in 1994). Those leagues, dealing from strength, wouldn't take kindly to such an interpretation.
The following are logical scenarios for Big 12 expansion back to 12 teams. ESPN wouldn't mind seeing the Big 12 recapture the Denver media market with a get of Colorado State or Air Force. Also, the Salt Lake City market beats Omaha, so BYU would be another good get.
Farther east, Arkansas, Louisville, Memphis, and Cincinnati are possibilities. Memphis would be the easiest get since they are the only one in a non-BCS conference at present. The others would need a sweeter pot to bolt their current leagues.
Many casual observers laugh when Notre Dame is mentioned as a possible school for the Big 12. Geographically, it doesn't make sense. Economically, it probably doesn't make sense. But hold on! Didn't TCU recently join the Big East with all of its sports? Geographical convenience is almost a non-factor in 2011. Economically, ABC/ESPN and Fox could sweeten their already extant TV contracts with the Big 12, ensuring Notre Dame a competitive figure and the other schools taking no reductions. In that case, BYU and Notre Dame would be high-profile additions, and secure the Big 12 a prosperous future.
Most logical would be for other fine Texas schools like SMU, Rice, or Houston to join the Big 12. However, that won't happen for the recruiting-disadvantage and network-influence reasons discussed above unless other Texas schools leave. The conference office is probably fine with a maximum of four Texas universities in the league. If A&M bolts to the SEC and Tech bolts to the Pac-12, that leaves room for a Rice or Houston (not both) and SMU to join up.
However, television networks have most of the power. What they say goes. They want the league to be as attractive as possible, with the best chance for the highest ratings on national and local levels. They do not want the Big 12 to lose any of the Big Three: Texas, Oklahoma, and A&M. They would be happy if Snow White and the Nine Dwarfs remains the story of the Big 12 for as long as their contracts run.
Unfortunately, they also have to perform pre-emptive strikes to keep the other major brand schools in the conference content and not escaping to the Big 10, Pac-12, or SEC. That means the Longhorn Network will probably not be airing high school football games. Even if Texas Coach Mack Brown sees no advantage for Texas recruiting in them.
Prophetically enough, Big 12 television specialist Joel Lulla said the following in June of 2010: "We didn't think we were being played by Texas because we were getting a lot of encouraging signs from Austin." Mr. Lulla is either incredibly stupid or incredibly naive. Note to Lulla and the rest of the Big 12 conference members: you were and still are being played.
As this wraps up, news from the West Coast indicates that the Pac-12 will be creating its own national conference network and several regional conference networks to debut in August of 2012 on local cable carriers such as Cox, Comcast, and Time-Warner. One would imagine that those revenues would be equitably shared as well, following the Big 10 and not the Big 12 model.
Thanks to Wendell Barnhouse at Big12Sports.com for much of the information contained herein.
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