*****The Super, Mega, Huge Big 12 Expansion Thread*****

[ShopTalk]

I am sure this has been discussed before, however, I am not going to go through this massive thread to find it. Why not love for Houston? What does TCU bring to the table that Houston does not?

Don't know. I also think they'd be a natural fit, but I think if you compare them to BYU and Louisville, right now those two seem to have a better perception for FB and BB than Houston.

Maybe there's still some bad blood between Houston and Texas from the original split up of SWC, maybe the rest of the league doesn't want more Texas schools and felt Dallas area was a better fit for recruiting and academics...but this thing is far from over.

 

[megamanxzero35]

“@BlairKerkhoff: Talked to two Big 12 athletic dept. officials and they agree: League unsure about a 10- or 12-team future.â€￾

Probably because of their Tier 2 deal now right? More schools means splitting that money more ways above 10, which is what the deal was for.

 

[Cyclophile1]

Don't know. I also think they'd be a natural fit, but I think if you compare them to BYU and Louisville, right now those two seem to have a better perception for FB and BB than Houston.

Maybe there's still some bad blood between Houston and Texas from the original split up of SWC, maybe the rest of the league doesn't want more Texas schools and felt Dallas area was a better fit for recruiting and academics...but this thing is far from over.

1. They don't have any fans - according to the CommonCensus football fan analysis
2. They are dwarfed by the pro sports in Houston
3. TV market already owned by the BIGXII foorptrint - no new households
4. No recent success - adding a team "up" to the AQ league demands a proven high level of sucess in the lower level
5. Very bad blood with UT over a couple of different scandals in the 90s including 'Bleachergate' and some mutual recruiting fingerpointing that contributed to NCAA probes

 

[jbhtexas]

Probably because of their Tier 2 deal now right? More schools means splitting that money more ways above 10, which is what the deal was for.

I agree. The recently signed TV deal is for 10 schools. TCU was probably a readily available school that could easily plug in to the Big 12 for next year and get the number back to ten to keep the network partners happy.

ESPN has the rights to all of BYU's home FB games for the next 8 years (except for one game/year on the BYU network). I could easily see some issues developing between ESPN and FOX over Big 12 conference games if BYU joined the Big 12, and I wonder if this isn't some of the reason for the Big 12 cooling on BYU. Does BYU's ESPN contract require that BYU home games always have to air on ABC/ESPN? I could see the Big 12 schools not being too fond of that.

If MU goes, I think the Big 12 will have to add another school to fulfill the TV contracts, and it probably won't be BYU. In fact, I think there would have to be pretty big concessions made by both sides on the TV issues to get BYU into the Big 12.

 

[Al_4_State]

I think 12 is the future, but we might be at 10 for a year or two.

 

[cyman05]

Sounds like BYU fans are getting kind of antsy about not having a Big 12 invite...All of the sudden Big 12 perception can change in a hurry.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsbyusports/52687708-65/byu-list-missouri-source.html.csp

 

[cyman05]

I wonder what this statement means...Whatever info it was, it apparently put TCU over the top.

TCU Horned Frogs meeting to discuss Big 12 invite - ESPN Dallas
According to a Big 12 source, the conference got more "expert information about fit/value/enhancement to our league," late Wednesday. The Big 12 knew of TCU's keen interest.
"There wasn't any reason to wait if we knew it would be the right choice," said the source, who added that "additional expansion is still possible."

 

[bosco]

Sounds like BYU fans are getting kind of antsy about not having a Big 12 invite...All of the sudden Big 12 perception can change in a hurry.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsbyusports/52687708-65/byu-list-missouri-source.html.csp

It's nice to be on the other end for once but is the attention from a bunch of 9's or a bunch of 6's?

 

[mustangcy]

A 10-team conference absolutely kills us. We need that fourth non-conference game if we ever hope to make it to bowl games on a consistent basis. If we do settle at 10 teams can we at least, for God's sake, change the name of the conference?

This! Staying at 10 is devastating for ISU. We for sure lose the 4th non conference and we get OU and UT every single year. I can't see for the life of me how we get football turned around to where we all want it with the current schedule.

 

[EZpickins]

Any one else not excited about TCU joining the B12? Sure they have had recent success in football, but any success in other sports? I just think we could do better...IMO

 

[bluestarcyclone]

This! Staying at 10 is devastating for ISU. We for sure lose the 4th non conference and we get OU and UT every single year. I can't see for the life of me how we get football turned around to where we all want it with the current schedule.

Really its not the 10 that kills us then its the 9 conference games (and the blind assumption that we HAVE to play everyone because we can). We could go to 12 and still be stuck with 9 games. Or we could have 10 teams and skip a team a year. Worked alright for the big 10 to play 8 games with 11 teams for 20 years.

 

[gocubs2118]

I think it's fine if we go to 12 but if we stay at 10, I won't be happy.

 

[HoopsTournament]

Any one else not excited about TCU joining the B12? Sure they have had recent success in football, but any success in other sports? I just think we could do better...IMO

Questions to ponder:

1. Will they devalue our television contract?
2. Will we be able to beat them?

Those are the only two things I care about. As long as the answer to #1 is no and #2 is yes, then I am excited about the team coming in.

As for TCU, I think the answers are
1. No - I think that it won't devalue because it is a straight replacement for A&M and in the same markets.
2. Maybe - this is a bit tougher to answer. Some say that recruiting will be tougher because now there is another Texas team in a major conference, but TCU was already out recruiting us. And I think we still need that 4th team in Texas in order to have at least 1 game there a year for recruiting if we do go back to divisions.

 

[dbronco7sc]

My best guess with TCU is this:

If Event A occurs:
Big 12 adds Team X, Team Y and TCU

If Event B occurs:
Big 12 adds Team L, Team M, Team N, and TCU

If Event C occurs:
Big 12 adds Team X and Team L and TCU

If Event D occurs:
Big 12 adds Team X and TCU

If Event E occurs:
Big 12 adds Team L, Team M, Team N, Team X, Team Y and TCU

If Event F occurs:
Big 12 adds all non football sports for Team Z, and adds Team X, Team Y, and TCU



My Point: TCU may not be the first option... but they make sense to add no matter what we do... therefore why not add them now and show the public some sort of stability that the Big 12 is never going to fall apart no matter what happens.

 

[Doc]

It's nice to be on the other end for once but is the attention from a bunch of 9's or a bunch of 6's?

What do you have against 6's? It's about what we deserve, right?

 

[Mizzoulander]

Whoa! Mizzou has over a MILLION fans?! Is this for real? Don't spread this around...we'll feel even more "entitled."
:wink:
And KU spends MORE money on FB than ISU or Mizzou?! That athletic dept. ticket scandal must have been more lucrative than I thought...

 

[chuckd4735]

Whoa! Mizzou has over a MILLION fans?! Is this for real? Don't spread this around...we'll feel even more "entitled."
:wink:
And KU spends MORE money on FB than ISU or Mizzou?! That athletic dept. ticket scandal must have been more lucrative than I thought...

Is it embarrassing that you lose out on bowl games to school with less than half the amount of fans?

 

[Cyclone711]

Is it embarrassing that you lose out on bowl games to school with less than half the amount of fans?

Ha, classic.

 

[ISUcy08]

Any one else not excited about TCU joining the B12? Sure they have had recent success in football, but any success in other sports? I just think we could do better...IMO

I'm excited the Big 12 is finally moving forward with the addition of TCU and the 6 year agreement. But I'm only excited for TCU if we add Louisville and BYU/WVU. I want 12 teams!!! 10 teams and no championship game is kinda blah. Not to mention we would have to play UT and OU every year and only 3 noncons.

 

[bluestarcyclone]

Whoa! Mizzou has over a MILLION fans?! Is this for real? Don't spread this around...we'll feel even more "entitled."

The problem with those 'census' numbers is they dont show the degree of fandom. You call up any random group of people, and you'll probably hear 'yeah, im a fan of *local team here*'. What they dont show is how passionate that fandom is. For instance, many may answer they're a fan of Illinois, but be much more interested in the Bears. Or they may be a fan but by no means fan enough to be willing to drop the kind of cash needed for a bowl trip (or on season tickets). On the other hand, you may have a smaller number that identify themselves as fans of another school, but they may be on the whole more passionate fans of that school willing to put up the money for tickets and bowl trips.