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

[UNIGuy4Cy]

Sure. What happened to the remainders of the SWC. Some are just now finding their way back into BCS level conferences 20 years later.

Comparing college football today as apposed to 20 years ago?

[HoopsTournament]

Football is the driving force towards super conferences. So explain to me why football won't be the one driving the bus when all of this goes down? You don't need super conferences for track or soccer or academics.

If you take football off the table, Iowa State, Mizzou, or Pitt all would seem like a more natural fit for the Big Ten then Nebraska. Guess who go the invite?

When all this super conference talk came up last time, nothing else mattered. Okie State and Texas Tech seemed to have Pac 10 offers despite having the academics of a community college. KU was stuck with us in the forgotten four despite having a top basketball program. Football started this mess, and I see no reason why football won't end it.

But there will be other forces that prevent the utopian super conferences that the media is getting a you know what about. Government intervention is one. NCAA Tournament is other. These conferences/teams just can't break off from the NCAA without consequences. The other is just the natural course of time. The fact that there is no overall body that can just move teams into 4 16 team conferences all at once, so as they are evolving, more teams will join the BCS party (more than likely to the Big 12 or Big East) which makes the chance of both of those conferences folding slim. Just because super conferences form, that surviving conference is not all of the sudden going to say "Oh the super conferences are here. We are going to disband now."

[Cyclonestate78]

IF the expansion goes well, the conference of demise will ship rapidly to the BE and away from the B12.

The only reason the BE has survived this long is simply because they don't have any teams that other conferences want. As of today 25% of the teams in the Big XII have been taken and if the Pac 12, SEC, or Big Ten have their way you can take Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech, and Mizzou off of the board as well. Interesting... isn't it that 8 teams out of the Big XII are the most desired teams in the entire country since all of this realignment talk started last summer? Raiding the Big XII and killing it off accomplishes 1 extremely vital thing for the SEC, Pac 12, and Big Ten... it kills off the league that had the opportunity to become the most powerful and wealthy conference anyone has ever seen and a league that those conferences eventually would not have been able to compete with.

People have always tried to knock on the Big XII as a somehow inferior league yet shockingly when conference expansion rolls around what conference has all of the schools that EVERBODY wants? The Big XII.

[UNIGuy4Cy]

Yeah... just ask Texas A&M about that. The state legislature set up a meeting to address the A&M to the SEC issue so A&M just goes ahead and reschedules their BOR meeting in advance of the state legislatures meeting to beat them to the punch. A&M didn't even attempt to hide the fact that they have absolutely no regard for the government in the state of Texas or anyone.

I know that was the case, but A&M was not falling off the map and their move did not impact anyone. The Big 12 let them walk and gave a vote of confidence for the other 9 members. This situation is not the same as conference realignment pulling the rug out from under at least a handful of teams and telling them they do not belong. Again this is not semi pro football.

[everyyard]

Comparing college football today as apposed to 20 years ago?

Those teams in the old SWC had A LOT more tradition than we have ever had. And it didn't help them. The NCAA didn't help them. The government didn't help them. Sure it was 20 years ago, but the precedent is easily visable to anyone with a brain that being part of a BCS conference when things go south is certainly not a right or a guarantee.

[HoopsTournament]

Thank you for your respect.

Ok, I should have said that you lack judgement thinking that the government won't intervene because these are public universities that use taxpayer dollars and they stand to lose lots of money.

[cyman05]

Ok, I should have said that you lack judgement thinking that the government won't intervene because these are public universities that use taxpayer dollars and they stand to lose lots of money.

I'm not saying they won't intervene. I'm just saying that I'll believe it when it happens. Case in point as just mentioned with the SW conference. No gov't intervention there as long as the Big Boys are taken are of...I know that 20 years ago the TV money was a non-factor, so I'm hoping I'm wrong.

If you could just point me to some precedents that have been set to show me I'm wrong I'd appreciate it.

[HoopsTournament]

Those teams in the old SWC had A LOT more tradition than we have ever had. And it didn't help them. The NCAA didn't help them. The government didn't help them. Sure it was 20 years ago, but the precedent is easily visable to anyone with a brain that being part of a BCS conference when things go south is certainly not a right or a guarantee.

SWC was NOT a BCS conference in 1996. There was no BCS. The bowl alliance was barely started when the SWC ended. There was one season of the bowl alliance in 1995. It was not like it is today and the money is not like it is today. Times are different than when the SWC ended, so this is not a good example.

[Cyclonestate78]

I know that was the case, but A&M was not falling off the map and their move did not impact anyone. The Big 12 let them walk and gave a vote of confidence for the other 9 members. This situation is not the same as conference realignment pulling the rug out from under at least a handful of teams and telling them they do not belong. Again this is not semi pro football.

If A&M's move brings on the collapse of the Big XII and the formation of super-conferences then schools like ISU, KSU, KU, and Baylor could suffer irreparable damage not just in regard to athletics but on the academic side as well. The problem is that if the US Govt. was going to do something to block this from happening then they should have done something about it already. They haven't and just like with anything else the govt does you can count on it being too little and far too late.

[mustangcy]

Those teams in the old SWC had A LOT more tradition than we have ever had. And it didn't help them. The NCAA didn't help them. The government didn't help them. Sure it was 20 years ago, but the precedent is easily visable to anyone with a brain that being part of a BCS conference when things go south is certainly not a right or a guarantee.

Apples and oranges...those teams got screwed for several reasons. They were complete cheats for one. They were also not state schools...Rice, SMU, Houston, TCU...small private schools. Iowa State is a state school. That means something. We have a large enrollment..a large Alumni base. Some of those schools have less than 10K students..we are talking William Penn numbers for some of them. We can at least say the state of Iowa cheers for or at least pays attention to ISU. Who in Texas cares about Rice but people who work for Rice or went to school there?

[CycloneErik]

CW is on Miller and Deace and just said this is the 2nd biggest thread ever on CF. WTF? Give credit where credit is due man. I demand an apology!

I want clarification on that. What double-secret thread could be longer?

I smell something akin to the continuing conspiracy to deprive CFers of coupons!



On another note, I never imagined that we'd be invaded by East Carolina posters, but I think that's been fun. It's a unique contribution that we've never had before.

If there are any BYU fans out there looking for a 2nd message board home, come on aboard!

[Clonefan94]

Those teams in the old SWC had A LOT more tradition than we have ever had. And it didn't help them. The NCAA didn't help them. The government didn't help them. Sure it was 20 years ago, but the precedent is easily visable to anyone with a brain that being part of a BCS conference when things go south is certainly not a right or a guarantee.

The BCS wasn't around when that went down either. Yeah, there were confrences that had a better road to the NC than others, but the face of college football is very very different now than it was 20 years ago. There is a huge disparity between BCS conferences and non BCS conferences that really didn't exist 20 years ago like it does today. Back then, not being in a conference didn't mean the end of your program as you know it. I don't think most people back then saw at all how the landscape of college football would look today. Hell, the BCS didn't even come about until a few years after the deformation of the SWC.

[cyman05]

Apples and oranges...those teams got screwed for several reasons. They were complete cheats for one. They were also not state schools...Rice, SMU, Houston, TCU...small private schools. Iowa State is a state school. That means something. We have a large enrollment..a large Alumni base. Some of those schools have less than 10K students..we are talking William Penn numbers for some of them. We can at least say the state of Iowa cheers for or at least pays attention to ISU. Who in Texas cares about Rice but people who work for Rice or went to school there?

I was following with you until you listed Houston with the rest

Public state school
Enrollment: 39k

[cyatheart]

SWC was NOT a BCS conference in 1996. There was no BCS. The bowl alliance was barely started when the SWC ended. There was one season of the bowl alliance in 1995. It was not like it is today and the money is not like it is today. Times are different than when the SWC ended, so this is not a good example.

Other thing is, working with some of this DC stuff and knowing how it works...a lot of Senators are going to be on board with taxing these entities if push comes to shove so it will at least get some debate, it is not a crazy idea. Few examples....Wyoming, Montana, maybe Iowa, maybe Utah if BYU is left out, some of the more liberal senators as well would be on board if it raised revenue. Clearly some would not (Oklahoma, Neb senators for instance). Would probably take some time to play out and would depend on many many things including timing, house of reps, who is president. But it will come up if we really go to 4-16 team conferences.

[mustangcy]

I was following with you until you listed Houston with the rest

Public state school
Enrollment: 39k

Ok, throw out Houston and the point remains.