One Year Later: The Big 12 Missile Crisis revisited

**Frak** · 06-06-2011, 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by weR138

Not everyone in the nation had a hard-on for ISU's "imminent demise" though, just Giggles and Wolfman Jack.

I wonder how many times Jon Miller has had to reset the "Big 12 Death Clock" now. Perrault probably still believes that ISU will be in the MAC in 5 years...he never admitted he was wrong or apologized for the glee he was taking in the whole thing.

Sad to say, but I STILL prefer Perrault to Jim Brinson. That guy is terrible. He keeps saying "I don't start getting into college football until August". Does he know what state he's in?

**fatkid1974** · 06-06-2011, 10:49 AM

You can't understand Texas unless you lived there. They could put a internet message board site together with a small studio and have a 2 hour show everyday on nothing but football year round & it would probably be the top rated show on the channel. As long as it is football related people will watch. It's not about the other sports they are covering. It's about a 24/7 channel that they can create football programming for to fill the non sport times. That's what ESPN is buying I believe.

**im4cyclones** · 06-06-2011, 12:27 PM

But we would later learn that Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds was feeling out Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick about possibly joining the Big 12. Notre Dame knew it had options, and stayed put.

Didn't know that Texas was courting Notre Dame. Wow!! If only they would come...

**cykadelic2** · 06-06-2011, 12:38 PM

Originally Posted by im4cyclones

Didn't know that Texas was courting Notre Dame. Wow!! If only they would come...

That courtship is probably still in progress and could be consumated during the Tier 1 TV negotiations.

**Stormin** · 06-06-2011, 01:04 PM

My Winners and Losers in the whole Big 12 Missile Crisis.

Winners: The Forgotten Five (or Orphan Five), were by far the Biggest Winners. From possible banishment to a MWC or a MAC or whatever conference, to a financial windfall. More money and more TV exposure has to be good news for a team like ISU.

The Rest of the Big 12. Strong conference remains and incredible money now split up among only 10 teams and not 12. And these stronger teams still control their rights to their own TV networks.

Dan Beebe. Goes from Mr. Irrelevant to the saviour of the Big 12 Conference.

Losers: Colorado. By far the biggest loser. They panicked. They are still in a good conference but have no rivalries. No tradition. I am sure they regret jumping ship and getting less money on top of it.

The Big Ten: Yes. I call them losers in this whole deal. They picked up Nebraska. But IMO, Nebraska is a One Trick Pony. Unless you count Women's Volleyball. Their football team has not been elite in the last several years. They add very few new TV sets to the Big Ten. The argument that they have a national following may be somewhat true. But not really. They have been pretty mediocre for over a decade now. And to top it all off, they embarrass the Big Ten by being the first university to be booted from the prestigious American Association of Universities.

The Pac 12. Picked up Colorado and added a couple teams so that now each team gets less than what they got before along with increased travel expenses for their athletic teams. Freaking brilliant.

**Arkansas** · 06-06-2011, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by cykadelic2

That courtship is probably still in progress and could be consumated during the Tier 1 TV negotiations.

I was skeptical at first but I'm starting to believe that now more than ever. ND in my mind must have at least one eye on what's happening with the Longhorn's network especially when Dodds states that he thought they'd make maybe 3 to 5 million and instead ends up being 15 per year.

**CyBroncos** · 06-06-2011, 01:26 PM

That was a good read. It was cool to get an insider behind the scenes perspective from the guy who was in the middle of it all. It's crazy to think what would have unfolded or how insanely different the college football landscape would be this fall if Larry Scott had achieved his goal of getting the Big 12 south minus Baylor

**CyBroncos** · 06-06-2011, 01:42 PM

Originally Posted by Stormin

My Winners and Losers in the whole Big 12 Missile Crisis.

Winners: The Forgotten Five (or Orphan Five), were by far the Biggest Winners. From possible banishment to a MWC or a MAC or whatever conference, to a financial windfall. More money and more TV exposure has to be good news for a team like ISU.

The Rest of the Big 12. Strong conference remains and incredible money now split up among only 10 teams and not 12. And these stronger teams still control their rights to their own TV networks.

Dan Beebe. Goes from Mr. Irrelevant to the saviour of the Big 12 Conference.

Don't forget about Utah. They were a huge winner in all of this. They go from being stuck in a conference with limited exposure and a pathetic TV contract and not being part of Scott's initial expansion plans to joining a BCS league that just signed large TV deals. Not only do they make big financial gains but also become way more of a player in California's rich recruiting grounds

**weR138** · 06-06-2011, 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by CyBroncos

Don't forget about Utah. They were a huge winner in all of this. They go from being stuck in a conference with limited exposure and a pathetic TV contract and not being part of Scott's initial expansion plans to joining a BCS league that just signed large TV deals. Not only do they make big financial gains but also become way more of a player in California's rich recruiting grounds

They deserve it. They have great fans.

**MNCyGuy** · 06-06-2011, 02:13 PM

Also big losers: The MWC, WAC, and the upper-tier programs in those conferences not called Utah or TCU. It's hard to believe now that the Mountain West was once on the verge of becoming a BCS conference. Now they've exhausted most of their best expansion options just to maintain their current level of relevance (at best). The WAC was always kind of a one-trick pony with Boise, but now they are basically on the same level as the Sunbelt Conference. Boise got completely screwed and will continue to struggle to be accepted as true contender. The only player in that scenario that the jury is still out on is BYU, but I think they really shot themselves in the foot with their reaction to the situation.

**CyBroncos** · 06-06-2011, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by MNCyGuy

The only player in that scenario that the jury is still out on is BYU, but I think they really shot themselves in the foot with their reaction to the situation.

Yeah I'm still not sold on going independent as being this smart successful venture for BYU. They have no bowl tie-in's so if they don't get into the BCS they're stuck in crap bowls. They are not Notre Dame so they're not going to have the same pull when trying to schedule teams (especially in October and November when conference play has started).

Their home schedule this year is Utah, Utah State, Central Florida, Idaho State, New Mexico State, Idaho and San Jose State. Take away Utah and that is an embarassing schedule...makes me want to run out and buy a season ticket

**drednot57** · 06-06-2011, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by weR138

Not everyone in the nation had a hard-on for ISU's "imminent demise" though, just Giggles and Wolfman Jack.

I know who "Giggles" is, but who's "Wolfman Jack" around here? If you're talking about "The Mouth", i don't envision him as a "Wolfman Jack" type -- doesn't have that distinct gravely voice that's often imitated on radio.

**jbhtexas** · 06-06-2011, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by cykadelic2

That courtship is probably still in progress and could be consumated during the Tier 1 TV negotiations.

Nothing may come of it, but I sure hope the Big 12 stays in contact with ND. Seems like something OrangeBlood Chip should be able to get some info on...

**VeloClone** · 06-06-2011, 02:37 PM

Originally Posted by Arkansas

I was skeptical at first but I'm starting to believe that now more than ever. ND in my mind must have at least one eye on what's happening with the Longhorn's network especially when Dodds states that he thought they'd make maybe 3 to 5 million and instead ends up being 15 per year.

I'm pretty sure Notre Dame already has its own network. It's called NBC.

**drednot57** · 06-06-2011, 02:42 PM

Originally Posted by Frak

I personally still do not understand the reasoning for this. ESPN is going to pay UT $15M a year for a nonconference FB game, some MBB games and then non-revenue sports? Makes no sense to me. Either they are/were setting up to go independent (unlikely now) or it was basically a payment to keep the Big 12 together. Because you'd think that that network would lose money hand over fist...unless they think they can force Dallas and Houston to put the network on basic cable. I just don't see Longhorn sports outside of football having that big of a following.

Football may be religion in Texas, but to the best my knowledge (which ain't much to be honest), baseball is not far behind. My guess the 4-letter network paid to bring Texas baseball to its expanding college baseball coverage. The only other sport that would bring any kind of serious interest would be track and field IMO.