The Dude - Chris Lambert says he is dead wrong and his ācontactsā are wrong.
So the misfit toys who donāt have much chance of going to the SEC, ACC, Big 10 or Pac 12 are going to let OU & Texas out of the GOR early in exchange for:
- Preservation of the Big12 with the TV networks and the CFP through 2035
- Expansion of the league to fill the holes of whoever leaves
Our future might be in a league with Baylor, Iowa St, Kansas St, BYU and other lesser Big 12 schools plus ābest of the restā MWC and AAC schools.
Iāve seen this movie before and I didnāt much care for it.
On the other hand, our future might be in the Pac 12 with
Texas
Tech
TCU or Kansas
Houston
in a division with the Arizona schools and either 1) the LA schools or 2) Colo/Utah.
Geezā¦with all that being said, Iām not sure if I want us in the Big 12. Talk about dysfunctional. I know, I knowā¦go where the money and āprestigeā is, but man, this whole dog and pony show has to end already.
I donāt know, money wise, how the networks accept this. No way the left overs get P5 money. I donāt care how big a chip letting OU and UT out of the GOR is.
This.
So ESPN/FOX are going to pay for a league, that on paper, will be equal to or worse than the AAC? Why would other 4 conferences accept them as a power conference?
Agreed. This is a great plan except for the fact that there is no reason for the networks to ever do this.
The networks buy in because they will likely only pay 20 million per school for the remaining 8 through 2035. That could turn out to be a bargain for inventory, when other conferences will be getting 40 to 50 million per school.
The AAC gets a bump to say 8-10 million also through 2035, more value.
Most importantly for the Playoff, would the Sugar Bowl maintain its contract with such a depleted big 12? Would they continue supporting a Contract Conference without the opportunity to get UT or OU in years that they play well?
If the Sugar Bowlās best team they can put against the SEC is TCU, OSU, or KSU, how long are they supposed to play along? Before the TV networks get fed up with such a deal, Iād bet the Sugar Bowl would drop them, leaving them outside the Contract Conference framework of the College Football Playoff, and maybe looking for a conference with better football teams, closer to the Sugar Bowl in footprint, with better market appeal to the fans.
Why would they pay $20M per school when they pay the AAC schools less than $5M right now? Without OU/UT/KU, the Big12 has no value and its not like there will be competition to pay them that much. Much like the Big East, that type of conference is dead in the water.
I just donāt get the Flugaur line of thinking that allowing OU out early will work out in the conferenceās favor. The other 4 conferences, the Sugar Bowl (h/t @jtdees), and the networks donāt care what deal OU and UT make with the conference to stay P5; why would any of them go along with that? What do any of those entities get from that deal?
No, but itās good for OU and the B1G which is where is info is coming from.
I have never believed anything Flugaur has said in the past and this doesnāt change my mind at all.
Agree with you there.
We have to wait until the small12 meeting(s) That is in seven days I believe. At the same time there is complete silence from OUR leaders. Thatās all I need to know. I 100% believe we are in. There is not one so called expert that is going to change my mind.
At this point in time THAT would seem the only logical recourse to follow ā¦
OTHERWISE ā¦
It feels like we have followed Alice down not just one rabbit hole ā¦ but several with Boren Monty and Flugyville all vying to be the Mad Hatter ā¦
Meanwhile in the small12 world.