This is not to diminish Louisville’s football accomplishments as a member of the Big East and its successor. The Cards finished tied for first in 2011 and 2012 and compiled a 12-1 record in placing as AAC runner-up in 2013. This is to demonstrate that the contention there are no quality candidates for Big 12 Conference expansion is a load of horsefeathers.
Yet given the Big 12’s football struggles this season, a win over Florida State and a berth somewhere in the Top 25 would get plenty of attention. USF and Houston don’t play in the regular season but could meet in the AAC title game with both ranked and maybe a lot at stake.
With Tom Herman at coach, UH could almost certainly help the Big 12 in the short term. If with a Power-5 boost UH can carry its remarkable progress from the previous 15 years onward for another decade, there is potentially a long-term for current Big 12 members.
The big midweek PAPN features Bill (Connelly) and (Steven) Godfrey on Louisville’s blueprint for success (without elite recruiting), North Dakota State’s potential FBS moves (if the Bison ever want one), and the Big 12 potentially passing on a national title contender.
Big 12 Expansion talk starts about 19 minutes in and the duo basically rip the Big 12 apart for 1) starting this expansion talk when they may not expand and 2) possibly not taking Houston with the state of the Big 12 now
Slept on this a bit because I wanted to come back to this. Assuming that Flugaur has a true “source” at OU, his tweets today show a pretty big shift (although fluge isn’t the brightest sometimes so I’m not sure he sees it).
His last tweets from the contact a week ago said that they were waiting on BYU to change the language, otherwise there was no chance. UC & UH were DOA in his words (same for UC & UCONN). The idea was that OU wanted 14 if anything was going to happen.
So if it was DOA, why is the word now that they will vote “no” on UC/UH? Boren leads the presidents; if he doesn’t want to hold a vote because there is no consensus…why would he hold one just to vote “no?” Is it because UH&UC have the votes they need now to bring to a vote? Why no mention of a “No” vote for other pairs? Will the Big 12 expand without a unanimous vote to show they are united? Is that why Dan Patrick specifically called out OU this week and no one else?
May just be reading too much into this, maybe I’ve been doing this too long. Maybe I’m just trying to spin this because of my own biases. I don’t know.
Yepp …OU/UT starting to look like the Jolie/Pitt debacle.
No expansion and the horns and sooners split the sheets and head in different directions … it only takes 3 to tango or destroy the Big12 … the horns take TT forgets TCU and Baylor and OU forgets OkLite regardless of their legislature.
It will be difficult for Texas since they have baggage … LHN … which they need budget-wise … ESPECIALLY since the Charlie Tuna baggage is also up in the air should they turn him into a canned Starkist delicacy
I suspect and would hope the other seven in the conference realize this and if they are smart will go with whoever keeps the conference intact just to save their patooties.
I think OU would still try to take OSU. They’ve been methodical in this process but just have a bit more powerful adversary in UT. Why does UT take Tech instead of Houston?
Once again notice it is OU sources and the lack of Austin or Houston sources tell us one thing: OU is getting rolled.
At this point, everything hinges on Texas. If Texas is sincere and digs its heels in, I don’t think OU has the cajones to blow the B12 up. A no expansion vote at this point pretty much is a death knell, and I although other conferences may want OU, I don’t think any P5s want OSU.
Its more clear now that the Lt. Gov was talking to OU in his comments and that’s why the dig was put in there. I don’t know how the OK government controls the state schools, but my guess is that the OK gov will get a call soon from Gov Abbott about where he stands and a potential compromise.
If OU is cool on BYU though, and apparently he is cool to Cincy, what the hell exactly does (did) Boren want? Nebraska back? Looking at the available candidates I just don’t see where his endgame was. UConn?
Because UH is not a member of the Big12. I was referring to exiting the Big12 and nullifying the GORs because seven maybe good for those Magnificent fellas but its not enough to constitute a P5 conference.
Where they go is anyone’s guess … I am certain like American Express they won’t leave without knowing where they are going and who they will be taking with them … UH will fit in the picture somewhere.
From our aggie poster …
I’m old enough to remember when you’d attack people who suggested that the Big 12 might get torn apart.
Yepp and I have been in hurricane seas on the bridge where the ship’s heading can change depending on the wind and size of the waves ahead … this drama hasn’t exactly been very consistent and if you have such thinned skin then go back to your own board …
Correct. Whining=losing the battle. OU did it when they weren’t getting expansion. Now they are doing it when they aren’t getting the expansion they want. Boo Hoo.
Endgame was OU having more control and NYC. Boren thought UT was weak and figured he could shape this to come out on top. BYU’s “issues” and TV networks balking looks to have killed the “4” school expansion plan and Boren doesn’t want to give in on UH.
Basically, Boren made a power play and lost and now may be losing his only trump card which is no expansion. Boren could have tabled the idea and brought up down the road when OU threatens to leave which would scare the other northern schools. Instead, it seems (in my opinion) that the other schools want expansion now as a buffer for down the road, know UT wants UH, and is taking the least offensive other option (UC). If OU leaves, so be it; they were probably leaving anyway. Let’s make UT happy for now and hope they stick around a decade from now while getting more money now. If you’re the northern schools, it makes the most sense if your choice is no expansion and both leave 10 years from now or UH/UC expansion, more money, and only OU leaves 10 years from now.
Hope it works out this way. We’ll see. Big 12 is a strange beast.
I’m not super connected to the powers that be, but I heard this rumor a number of times as well, that Boren and T. Boone Pickens have been pushing for us for years.
T. Boone, I guess at least did confirm himself.
OU may have been true at one time, or it may have been a compromise to get UT on board, or maybe they thought we’d be against UT and since UT took our side they switched. Or, it could be OU doesn’t care either way but is using us against UT to get something they want because they know UT has to have us now.
Or Boren is bipolar. Could go either way.
Doesn’t seem like there’s enough support for UCONN. Not an easy place to get to for non-revenue sports which increases costs quite a bit. Think that’s why they were being pitched as football-only, but who wants UCONN as football only. Throw in that they really don’t bring the NYC market, even a little bit, nor do they bring the Boston market and they just aren’t a strong candidate for the Big12. ACC or B1G…sure, but not the Big12.
Same concept for the Florida schools. It would be nice to get in there, but you’re forcing your non-revenue students to travel a lot. Also think USF would have a better case with an on-campus stadium. UCF basically lost out with last season. They just aren’t very good at any sport.
I guess it gets back to Boren then. Early on, I thought he was some kind of wizard at 3D chess.
If UConn isn’t that attractive, and he doesn’t want Cincy, what other school could there be for the B12 north that he could want? What was the point of all this? I mean, he looks like the dog that caught the car. He’s a guy that bet the house with a pair of twos in his hand.
Basically, this. He made a play, got greedy, and is about to lose big. Thought he saw an opening that would lead to glory but miscalculated the strength of his opponent and looks like a fool.
100% my thoughts exactly.
Have you noticed how these so called insiders flip their reporting?
I mentioned it before like so many others. The only ones that ALREADY know are the small12 members. Remember that an announcement is to come in early to mid October. Mr.Boren NEVER said that he was against us. In case he did I would believe it. That’s all I need to know.
The small12 does not invite us? The entire conference will look like fools (they already are) and AFRAID of US. How is that for promoting your conference? Can you imagine how the AAC marketing arm could turn this around? Moreover the small12 is having a disastrous season. This could actually help us.
What we need to do is to WIN EVERY GAME and not worry about the rest.
My personal thought is that the small12 has no choice but to invite us…like the SWC did many moons ago. Again, history repeats itself…ALWAYS.