like the methodical and brilliant decision to add Rutgers and Maryland? How’s THAT working out for the B1G? Kansas is spending money on their facilities because they are sick of going 1-11 every year in FB…
No more than that…
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That stadium looks the same as when Gale Sayers was running on that field.
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All I can say is that the leaders of the B1G have made moves to put them inside the top 2 most valuable P5 Conferences from both a media compensation standpoint and from a stability standpoint so they seem to know what is working.
Performance on the field/court is only part of the criteria. For the B1G, Academics and flagship level institution status are also important.
Rutgers is the flagship public University in the state of New Jersey (NY/ NJ area).
Marland is the flagship public University in the state of Maryland (DC/ MD area).
Kansas is the public flagship University in the state of Kansas but unlike the two above, is a power in one of the 2 $$ sports.
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But football is the main driver in this whole realignment thing, and Kansas’ football brand is far too weak for the B1G to touch it.
Again, with football as the main driver of realignment/expansion in mind: which brands will be the most valuable to the B1G should it want to add teams?
NOT Kansas.
But rather, ND, UVa, UNC, GaTech; three of which are AAU, the fourth of which has Ivy League admission standards; all four of which have strong basketball brands/histories as well, and, most importantly, are either located within, or are adjacent to, or are close enough to the B1G’s existing geographic footprint to make travel and logistics not too onerous; a factor that has ALWAYS mattered to the B1G in expansion.
To me, KU is upgrading their facilities because it’s about time they do it.
lol to any hidden agenda theories.
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That’s how I feel.
There are some people that seem to be obsessed with the idea that either a) the Big 12 will soon be falling apart, with mass migration of its teams to other conferences imminent, or b) that the Big 12 will not even be recognized as a “power” conference, but instead, will be AAC 2.0.
b) has been discussed ad nauseum here. It is unlikely that the Big 12 will lose its statutory autonomy status, and thus, its “power” status presumption in the NCAA by-laws. In terms of quality of competition, there’s no comparing the Big East/AAC with the future Big 12, as the future Big 12 will clearly be a Top 3 conference in football and men’s basketball; a factor NOT enjoyed by the Big East/AAC. Moreover, the football brands in the Future Big 12 are, from top to bottom, significantly better on average than those in the Big East/AAC are/were.
Regarding a) if a big move of Big 12 schools to other conferences were going to happen, then it undoubtedly would have happened when such a “raid” would have been easiest. Things have settled down now, other conferences have taken the teams that they wanted, and no one else appears to be calling or is even interested. I realize that the situation can always change and is always fluid, but as I said, some situations, while fluid, are viscous enough to be unlikely to move or change quickly.
This is one of them.
No one in the Big 12 is likely to move anytime soon, though God only knows what the future might hold.
In any event, it’s really annoying that some people here seem to interpret every piece of news regarding a Big 12 member (upgrades, discussions on scheduling, speculation by talking heads on the internet, etc) as evidence that the Big 12 will soon be raided and fall apart, and, even more incredulously, that we should move to a lesser conference on the West Coast to ensure that we have landing spot when that happens.
Sorry folks. STOP seeing everything as a conspiracy and proof of Big 12 instability when it isn’t. STOP suggesting that we’d be better off in the #5/#5 conference (PAC-12) rather than the #1/#3 conference (Big 12) closer to home with more traditional rivalries and easier travel. And STOP wishing that we should go to such a conference, and use every completely unrelated event involving a Big 12 team as bogus proof as to why your wish should be fulfilled ASAP.
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If Kansas upgrades football to the likes of other basketball schools like Duke or Kentucky, they could be a player in realignment. Long way to go, but hey, they can already beat Texas.
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That’s a pretty HUGE “if” given how bad Kansas has long been known to be in football.
Merely upgrading its stadium won’t be enough to turn it around.
Their brand is a historically LOSING one, with a .470 all-time winning percentage.
It’s doubtful that they’ll ever be appealing in that regard.
It would not have to be much, they are the “flagship” school in Kansas. Granted that is not saying much, Kansas City, KS is about the size of the Woodlands. (Missouri is where most of Kansas City resides).
Their football brand would have to get A LOT better.
Even as a state flagship, AAU member, and basketball national champion, their football brand is bad enough to scare the B1G off.
On top of that, it’s going to be hard for Kansas to recruit high quality football players from Texas now that UH is a P5 and you have BYU, UCF and Cincy also dipping their hands in Texas and have better football programs.
I don’t see Kansas getting any better in football any time soon even with better facilities.
Consider this.
The B1G already has enough bad football brands:
Rutgers, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Northwestern (historically anyway) and now, it appears, modern Nebraska.
The LAST thing in the world they want to do if they are trying to keep up with the SEC in football is to add another such bad football brand.
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They are clearly expanding in anticipation of how many UH fans will start traveling to road games in the new conference… Especially one so easy to drive to as Kansas.
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This means they’re acknowledging that they’ve been a laughing stock in football and they finally realize the value of winning.
Kansas is our first home game this season. Can’t wait to be there playing a new future conf mate. It should sell well.
We need to make a statement. Beat Kansas so senselessly that UT will know just how bad the Whorns really were to lose to the likes of them!
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This is the college sports equivalent of an ugly girl who says she is getting a boob job.
I had friends at KANSAS when i went to UH, i drove up there twice. It’s really nice and Lawrence is a perfect college town. Just watch out in Oklahoma they love to ticket cars with Texas plates.
Kansas may lose its AAU membership. Some of their metrics are low, low enough that UC, UCF, USF and UH are passing them. Membership in the National Academies is one of the AAU top metrics. Kansas has 5, UH has 14. UH may have added more since that report was produced. UH will add more.
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There’s far more interest and viewers in Maryland and New Jersey than there is in Kansas, unless you’re counting livestock. Even if KU becomes competitive in football, they can’t compete with the media market challenge.
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