Regarding the XFL, I think it's hard to read one way or the other, as Luck's timing was quite unlucky.
It is curious though, as to me, it signals that someone feels the need for more firepower than just Bowlsby.
Oliver Luck Will Serve as a Consultant to the Big 12
- Thread starter psychlones
- Start date
Regarding the XFL, I think it's hard to read one way or the other, as Luck's timing was quite unlucky.
It is curious though, as to me, it signals that someone feels the need for more firepower than just Bowlsby.
Remember, with the potential lawsuit. This allows the big 12 and teams to have someone talk to all conferences, media companies, other teams about expansion, or whatever they dream up; without technically talking to them since they can say their consultants did that on their own.
What do consultants normally do in these matters? They meet and ask you would you are wanting done and what you would like to see and then do it. If we are looking to expand, it maybe good or bad. It may mean our options are shot, or it means we have found another media partner (like Amazon or such) that says they will keep us in a similar ballpark as now but need to be 16 teams or something.
What do consultants normally do in these matters? They meet and ask you would you are wanting done and what you would like to see and then do it. If we are looking to expand, it maybe good or bad. It may mean our options are shot, or it means we have found another media partner (like Amazon or such) that says they will keep us in a similar ballpark as now but need to be 16 teams or something.
Could be creating a transition plan once Bowlsby leaves due to retirement or being pushed out. But, I doubt they are looking that far ahead from a personnel standpoint.
IMO the Big12 is bringing on a seasoned college sport administrator whose FULL TIME responsibility is to navigate the Big12 through realignment. Determining if the Big12 is an adder of schools or if the 8 will have landing places elsewhere.
Just like schools hiring search firms when hiring a head coach, bringing on Luck provides the same advantages. He can probably contact people discreetly.
Also bringing on Luck allows Bowlsby to spend his workday leading the Big12, after all there is still a conference until 2025 if OU/UT honor their GOR.
Also if this becomes a litigation sheet show, my guess is Bowlsby will be pretty busy. And Luck might take on a day-to-day role.
Lastly with Luck's XFL experience he might have some new media approaches for Big12.
Just adding another person to the team with great contacts. No downside, IMO.
Let's be clear. Oliver is a consultant to the:
Time to dust this bad boy off again!
Time to dust this bad boy off again!
I love the idea, but we need at least ten teams to have a championship game, right? Otherwise we're leaving extra money on the table.
I've seen this shirt and would love some old school Big 8 gear, but I can't pull the trigger on green
Correct, we need either 10 teams with a round robin, or at least 12 teams with divisions, or we need to get the NCAA’s permission to have a CCG. For example the American got permission to have a CCG with 11 schools and 2 divisions after UConn bailed, but that permission is only a 2-year waiver and it might not be renewed.
Everyone is crapping on Bowlsby but what exactly could or or should he have done? Beebe is the one who completely effed things up and it seems like Bob has actually done a pretty good job keeping things together. He was never going to stop OU and UT from leaving.
This will be a tough balancing act for Bowlsby, Luck and the ADs and Presidents if some teams have opportunities and some do not. Not only how/if expansion is pursued, but the motivation to drag out any OU/UT/ESPN legal issues.
Bottom line is, what's best for some of the individual schools may not be best for the conference.
Bottom line is, what's best for some of the individual schools may not be best for the conference.
Any school who gets interest will be incentivized to keep it quiet or else the other Big 8 schools without interest could try to torpedo it. Especially in a KU/K-State situation if one has a potential lifeboat and the other’s best option is keeping the 8 together, as they answer to the same political leaders.
I don’t envy their jobs now but I’m sure they understand that if ISU and KU got B1G invites, we absolutely have to take those. There isn’t really any negotiation to be had at that point. Same with WVU and the ACC, and same with any of us and the Pac-12 honestly.
I would bet good money that the strategy isn't to drag out the OU and UT debacle. They are going to settle and it will probably happen sooner rather than later.
Bob isn't the bad guy here. Oklahoma, Texas, the SEC and ESPN can all **** themselves sideways with the money grab circle jerk
I still don't see how you can handcuff the remaining 8 institutions. Isn't their a legal argument to be made that they were basically forced to explore their options due to financial obligations etc? OU and UT will have to pay but I can't see anything against the remaining 8 holding up in court. At this point it's all posturing IMO.
Generally speaking I'm sure that's the case, but there's probably a tradeoff between dollars and time. Schools that feel like they have opportunities are going to be more willing to take less money and want to dissolve the conference. Schools that don't feel good about their prospects are going to want to drag it out, max the cash and maybe even enforce GoR for remaining teams that try to leave.
To me the ideal is to get it done quickly with enough cash to enable schools to leave and endure reduced media rights to make themselves more attractive to conferences. Obviously part of that needs to be no recourse for OU and UT if the conference dissolves shortly after, but that goes without saying.
The thing that doesn't get talked about enough is the possibility of individual schools going after OU and UT. Lets say Baylor or TCU gets left in the cold in this whole deal. They would have a really solid platform to go after both OU and UT for a crap ton of money. Just my two cents but this discussion doesn't just stop and start with the league as a whole.
I would assume it’s part of the negotiations with the potential landing spots. Everything will be in place when the conference dissolves.
But they have to get through the legal stuff first.
Then middle Tennessee and south Alabama can come in to the conference, and we can start playing in the new and improved big 12
I guess it depends if there is some sort of reset of GoR in a post-OU/UT world. It surely should not be punitive to remaining schools that leave, but again, if half or more of the schools feel like they don't have suitors and are best served sticking together and expanding you might see a push to handcuff schools from leaving.
