Wednesday, September 7, 2011

The Big 12: Are Coroners Hovering to Perform Autopsies on the Conference Acting Prematurely?

  At this hour, the Big 12's future as a viable BCS conference appears to be on life support.  Every triple-digit-IQ investigative reporter believes this to be so, except the good folks at ESPN who might just have a conflict of interest in reporting on the issue (huge investments in Big 12 and Longhorn Network deals). It's easy to laugh at and pile on the University of Texas for its unabashed arrogance and greed. It's just as easy to laugh at and pile on beleaguered Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe as he frantically works behind the scenes to undo much of the damage he did in the summer of 2010 to placate Texas at the expense of conference semi-parity.
  Who can be a fan of a commissioner who genuflects in front of one of his school's athletic directors? Don't you wince when you see Big 10 Commissioner Jim Delaney refer to Ohio State A.D. Gene Smith in such fawning terms that he makes Bravo Channel gusher-host James Lipton of the Inside the Actors Studio interviews look like Andrew Dice Clay or Don Rickles? Where's the Maalox? 
 However, Commish Beebe goes below and beyond what Delaney does: he doesn't just consult with Texas A.D. DeLoss Dodds, he defers to him. Beebe knows who has the largest knife in buttering his bread. So does Dodds. Actually, it's rather sad to see Beebe assume such a servile position. Does the man have no dignity?
  Even with such shameless posturing and antics, there comes a time to quit throwing darts at the conference ogre, its near-30-years-at-the-helm athletic director, and the always-scrambling Big 12 commissioner. There comes a time to believe that brighter and more conscientious minds will prevail. There even comes a time to believe in the future of the Big 12, with or without Texas. The UT Board of Regents has to realize the Longhorns have overstepped their bounds with the Longhorn Network. The board has to realize the school must bite the bullet and share its revenues in a more equitable fashion with conference partners (whatever conference that may be) or take the leap into independence.
 There are reasons why the Big 12 should be preserved. First, it has a great legacy as the hybrid offspring of the vaunted Big 8 and Southwest Conference. More importantly, it's one of two BCS power conferences whose members reside west of the Mississippi. As you know, this blog focuses on and supports all sports of the West. While that usually means schools and teams of the Hawaiian, Alaskan, Pacific, and Mountain time zones, an exception is made for the Big 12. 
  We already know about East and Mideast bias in the mainstream sports media. Undefeated Boise State and Utah teams have a hard time getting into BCS title games not only because they are from non-BCS conferences, but because they are from the West. Do we really want a college football world where the only superconference west of the Mississippi (disregarding the few Midwest schools in the Big Ten that fit the description) is the Pac-12? If the Big 12 does collapse, elevate the Mountain West to superconference status. Dream on.
  At this time, all Big 12 schools are in the Central Time Zone. If the Big 12 survives, that could change. BYU, Boise State, Colorado State, Air Force, San Diego State, and New Mexico are candidates for conference expansion and replacement of departing members. Of course, other candidates, like Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Louisville, are farther east.
 If there are going to be four or five superconferences in the near future, it stands to reason that the Pac-12, the Big 10, and the SEC will be three of them. The ACC, after its grab of Big East powers Miami, Boston College, and Virginia Tech, is gloating like a stuffed pig over the Big 12's in-fighting and potential breakup.  The only way the ACC was going to become a BCS superconference is if there were going to be five such leviathans. Now, belonging to college football's pantheon in its next "evolutionary" stage appears to be a given for the regal basketball conference, whether there be four or five superconferences in number.
  With the recent developments in the Big 12, the Big East has suddenly become a player, ready to joust for expansion candidates with other conferences. Thus, Kansas and Kansas State are rumored to be joining them. At least one more Texas school (SMU, Baylor, or Houston) is expected to become a TCU travel-mate for the Big East basketball schedule. Will these changes occur? Everything is up in the air. If Oklahoma and Oklahoma State bolt to the Pac-12 as expected and Texas goes independent, the Big 12 could still survive, but it would be difficult. 
  Baylor announced it is considering the filing of a lawsuit to prevent Texas A&M from moving to the SEC. Why? Everybody says it's due to loss of revenue from the Big 12 television deal if they wind up in a lower profile conference like the Mountain West. The loss is estimated at $15 million per year. However, the damages are actually greater than that long-term, for Baylor would be banished to a non-BCS twilight zone conference for several years, perhaps forever. Baylor has apparently convinced its conference partners, particularly the equally endangered Iowa State, that legal action is the way to prevent or delay A&M's departure.
 Fortunately for Kansas State, the Kansas Legislature wishes to keep Kansas and K-State in the same conference, much like Oklahoma and Oklahoma State going as a package deal to wherever. Missouri is being wooed more by the Big East and SEC than by the Big 10 at this time. Texas Tech is highly desirable on its own and as a travel partner for Texas. 
  All of this bodes ill for Iowa State and Baylor. Hence, Baylor spearheads the charge to threaten litigation. It needs the Big 12 to survive in order to remain in the upper echelon of football schools. Still, who feels sorry for Baylor? After all, its inclusion in the Big 12 was highly political and questionable in the first place. Baylor alum and then-governor Ann Richards had a lot to do with the school receiving the bid. Sadly, equally if not more deserving schools like SMU, TCU, and Houston were left in the dust.    
  One rumor indicates the ACC or Big East are the only conferences that would accept UT and its Longhorn Network. The Pac-12 believes in total revenue sharing, as do the Big 10 and SEC. Texas may not go independent or elsewhere; it may remain the cornerstone of the Big 12. If so, it remains unlikely that Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will be saved. Missouri is a goner, too. That would leave the Kansas schools (likely since they will stick together and DeLoss Dodds is a K-State alum), Iowa State, Baylor, Texas Tech (willing to accept travel-partner status with UT), and Texas. That's a nice core to build on. 
 A healthy Big 12 with a more egalitarian revenue sharing program adopted by Texas could be a force in picking off Big East and Mountain West high-profile schools, as well as BYU. Don't laugh, but it would even have a chance at landing the big trophy fish, Notre Dame. 
  What else is working in the Big 12's favor? Most school presidents are tired of conference expansion and like things the way they are after the signing of huge recent long-term media deals. Colorado's president even went so far as to say he hopes Texas does not join the Pac-12, for Colorado would be relegated to a new Eastern Division, which would include four other Big 12 teams. His biggest complaint concerning Texas is not its Longhorn Network; instead, it's the $150 million annual athletic department budget. Thank to oil revenue and a huge, wealthy alumni base, UT has a gargantuan endowment. I wonder if he knows USC's operating budget. There are athletic heavyweights in the Pac-12, too.
  Even as this is written, conference and school scenarios and strategies are being discussed, rejected, or enacted. Anything is possible. Nobody knows how it will end. Nobody can precisely tell the winners from the losers, except for one thing. Where litigation is involved, the lawyers always win. 

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