Big 12 ended bad week with another dumb decision By Pat Forde:
The Big 12 doesn’t know what it wants to be when it grows up.
If it grows up. If it survives.
The least stable of the Power 5 conferences concluded its annual spring meetings Friday in a state of flux, which is also the way it started the annual spring meetings. That shouldn’t have been a surprise, given the presence of three interim school presidents and one school (Baylor) embroiled in a crippling scandal that culminated last week in mass leadership change.
But even by the Big 12’s customary crackpot standards, this was a weird week…
Expansion still in play for the bold Big 12, and it could affect the Big Ten by Dennis Dodd:
IRVING, Texas – The question now is how bad-ass the Big 12 wants to be.
Suddenly, Conference Conflict has swagger and leverage. Please, no more jokes about being on life support and other leagues picking over the Big 12 for used parts like an old wreck.
More importantly, the conference has a future. It all centers around a decision that is one of the more significant in college sports in recent years.
That was evident Friday after the conclusion of the Big 12 Spring Meetings.
Sure, the league added a championship game at the same time it announced record revenue distribution ($30.4 million per team). But it also suddenly holds the near-term outlook of Fox, ESPN and the Big Ten in its hands.
Big 12 presidents know this. It was explained to them this week as consultants laid out various options. It’s up to them to swing their swords as hard as they can.
To summarize …
More:
(Stewart Mandel - FoxSports)
Take a victory lap, Big 12, you got this one right
Adding a conference championship game, despite the challenges, is the right move for a conference in need of some good moves.
(David Ubben - Sports on Earth)
ADDING A TITLE GAME BOOSTS BIG 12
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/181923216/big-12-adds-conference-championship-game
(Alex Kirshner - SBNation)
Big 12 adding a football title game and potentially splitting into 2 5-team divisions
(Kirk Bohls - Austin American Statesman)
Bohls: What did Friday tell us? That the Big 12 is alive, well and well off
The criteria for the expansion candidates may have changed overnight. Less important might be new television markets. More valuable could be the fortunes of a candidate’s football and basketball programs, improving academics and proximity with less travel expenses.Hello, Houston. Bad time for Paxton Lynch to leave Memphis. Cincinnati, whatcha got? Expansion may be more about selling tickets when these teams come to Big 12 stadiums than what their ranking as a national TV market. As Boren put it, “Our fans don’t want to see us play lesser or mediocre teams.”
(Jimmy Burch - Ft Worth Star Telegram)
Big 12 adds championship game in football for 2017 season
-Chance for CFP inclusion rises by 14 percent with title game, per analysts
-Conference network idea dead, expansion talk shifted to back burner
-TCU collects its largest payday as Big 12 member, with $30.4 million share
(Paul Doyle - Hartford Courant)
Nothing new on potential Big 12 expansion
(Mike Bianchi - Orlando Sentinel)
For UCF, Big 12 might as well be Big Tease
(Joey Knight - Tampa Bay Times)
Big 12 to add title game, no decision on expansion
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/bulls/big-12-to-add-title-game-no-decision-on-expansion/2280230
(Martin Fennelly - Tampa Bay Times)
Fennelly: For USF, Big 12 expansion spot seems long shot
http://web.tampabay.com/sports/college/fennelly-for-usf-big-12-expansion-spot-seems-long-shot/2280236
(Vanquish the Foe - SBNation’s BYU site)
Big 12 adds a championship game, BYU football’s expansion chances take a hit
On Bohl’s article … one has to gleen through all the bevo manure to eventually come up with some nuggets …
"The criteria for the expansion candidates may have changed overnight. Less important might be new television markets. More valuable could be the fortunes of a candidate’s football and basketball programs, improving academics and proximity with less travel expenses.
Hello, Houston. Bad time for Paxton Lynch to leave Memphis. Cincinnati, whatcha got? Expansion may be more about selling tickets when these teams come to Big 12 stadiums than what their ranking as a national TV market. As Boren put it, “Our fans don’t want to see us play lesser or mediocre teams.”
Winning the Peach Bowl over a nationally ranked team PLUS having CTH is paying dividends more and more.