1. Bob Bowlsby remains very mum about the process that could lead to Big 12 expansion, but one Big 12 school official said 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has called power brokers, including Oklahoma State’s T. Boone Pickens, lobbying for support for BYU to join the conference. Romney is a BYU grad. Bowlsby said there are fewer than 20 interested candidates as has been reported, but declined to say if any Power 5 conference schools have expressed interest. He’s almost done going through applicants’ one-hour video presentations and has had “several calls” with Big 12 presidents to update them. Asked how the presidents are feeling about the process, Bowlsby said, “It depends on who you ask. I think there continues to be an open mindedness about it. I think some have developed their positions and probably aren’t sharing it. If it was a clear path, it wouldn’t have taken so long.”
Kansas State interim president Gen. Richard Myers was appointed in April. Baylor interim president David Garland was appointed in May. Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec was appointed July 8.
That’s some weighty decisions for men either not long for the job or men who just assumed the role.
NIU is being mentioned in discussions about Big 12 expansion.
“We have done a good job of putting ourselves in a national conversation that says, ‘You know what. Why not NIU? They’re in the third largest media market in the country. They’ve been able to do things academically and athletically’, and I think the conference conversation it’s a badge of respect that NIU has, and it’s about NIU and the body of work over the years that NIU has put themselves in the conversation that warrants this level of respect.”
How can another conference get excited about NIU when their own fans don’t get excited?
After making the Orange Bowl in 2013, they sold a record 4,243 season tickets the next season. They sold, on average, 3,466 season tickets from 2008-12 when they won 46 games in 5 years.
Speaking of the Orange Bowl, they had to return thousands of unsold tickets to that game, which they lost badly to Florida St.
They’ve played 12 home games in the last two seasons, and have averaged less than 14,000 in ANNOUNCED attendance. I’m sure it’s less than 10,000 actual.
This shows up in their financials. According to USAToday, on a $25M average budget over the last 5 years, their fans generate $2.9M per year in combined ticket purchases and athletic contributions/donations.
With all the wins they’ve had on the field, there is no excuse for their fan support.
Oh and DeKalb is 65 miles from Chicago by the way. That would be like saying a school in Livingston brought the Houston market.
Not only is NIU not a candidate for the Big 12, they aren’t a candidate for the American either.
I would guess that casting a wide net helps the B12 in part by putting pressure on their real targets such as UH and Cincinnati. But c’mon, NIU is not much of a threat. If the B12 told UH, “Look, if you don’t accept our offer of a 1/4 share, UConn has indicated that they’ll take it” that is a credible threat. If the B12 said the same thing about NIU, UH would tell the B12, “Come back when you’re serious about negotiating”.
I do enjoy your tales from the beyond and wild embellishments … its beating this dry summer of reruns now that the new season of series favorites are starting up again …
Actually starting out at a 1/4 is about right … I suspect TCU was even less … WVA a bit more maybe …
