Bowlsby Stepping Down Later This Year
- Thread starter theshadow
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Arkansas left in 1991, 5 years before the SWC imploded and the Big8 became the Big12. Maybe could have been the "Big9" though...
That said, potentially interesting alternative history fiction there - what is the world look like if the Big8 took Arkansas and maybe BYU when Arky got sick of Texas?
Alternately, what if the Big12 had booted UT over the LHN, and kept TAMU and Nebby? Maybe Colorado and Mizzou stay, you grab BYU to replace UT. UT would have gone independent or to the SEC, and maybe the Big12 is more stable.
You can always play those hypothetical situations, I'm not sure where it gets you. What if the Big 8 took Arkansas? What if the Big 12 would've grabbed Utah and Louisville when they were in the Mountain West and Big East? What if the Southern Conference never split up? What if Michigan would've gotten their way and booted Northwestern from the Big Ten? What if Nebraska would've beaten Texas in 2009? What if Iowa State would've put everything into football for the last century?
The reality is there's over a trillion timelines of things that could've happened if different things would've occurred (honestly, probably a low ball). But in our reality, we're in a conference that has lost 50% of its members in a 15 year timespan and we better hope to god another P5 conference takes us (not holding my breath) or the Big 12 stays viable and maintains their position with the Pac-12 and ACC in revenue.
Colorado was never staying. Academically and culture-wise they fit perfectly in the PAC8/10/12 and that was always going to be the move as soon as the invite came.
While I agree with your overall premise, the actual “fit” hasn’t been all that great.
I completely agree. The PAC should have stayed at 8. The Arizona schools are an odd fit as well.
They had their little exclusive club and that is exactly where they should have stayed. They would have had enough cache with SC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon to get a decent TV deal and maybe the network would have worked better.
My ideal scenario would be the R8 (minus WV) going rogue and forming a new 10 team conference with CU, BYU and Utah (after getting their Exit/GOR fees from OU and UT).
Why would we hope to god we go the Pac12 and ACC? That makes no sense.
A recent projection that was optimistic for the ACC and Pac12 had them right by the Big 12 in the little P3 club. That's without them losing any programs and those two conferences getting a CFP bump that the Big 12 didn't. Becoming an orphan or satellite to those conferences while still being in the same general revenue tier makes no sense.
What you hope for is the P2 invite, or the Big 12 sticking together, as it will become 3 in P3, albeit far behind the other two in revenue.
The Big 10 is actually almost in the same situation the Big 12 was in 1998. Top heavy with a lot of dead weight, minus the instability. Plus all their top teams stacked in one division. Just like we were. I think for everything that has been thrown our way, we are in a lot better shape than people realize.
Assuming FB content is offloaded from PACN, the new P12 deal will exceed that of the B12's with the currently projected twelve B12 schools. That gap will be bigger IMO that what was projected by Navigate in the Athletic.
Those payouts for P12 schools would increase even more with expansion of B12 Central Time zone schools. The key would be how many of those B12 schools to expand with.
Eight potential candidates to replace Bob Bowlsby as the next Big 12 commissioner
On Tuesday the Big 12 announced commissioner Bob Bowlsby would step down from his role at some point this year. Here are eight possible candidates to become...
www.dallasnews.com
I never really had an issue with Bowlsby. There have been a lot worse conference commissioners out there than him. Given what is at stake with the next TV deal I think they would be smart to think outside of the box a little and bring in someone not currently involved with the Big 12 to bring in a fresh perspective. Hiring any of the Big 12 AD's right now with all that is going on would be a bad move as they are too emotionally involved with what has happened over the years.
That's very optimistic, and still doesn't solve the stability issues of the Pac12 or reconcile the fact the Big 12 has leverage from the top brands making more coming to the Big 12. Which is easier if the football content is unloaded from Pac12N.
The Pac 12 has a problem that it can't solve itself, and it is on the clock first. It would be ridiculous for the R8 to not exploit that and instead jump to become orphans without an appreciable change in the revenue hierarchy.
We should be talking about whether USC or CU or one of the Arizona schools are going to make it so that the Pac12 doesn't even sign a deal. If they do, I am guessing 5-6 years in which they'll be losing schools by Year 4.
Let's revisit that gap. It likely won't be a gap- it was based on the Pac12 maintaining its schools for the next 11 years, networks being willing to go long on a conference in which a decade of metrics suggest is dying, and shortchanging the Big 12 CFP compared to the other 2 little P5s.
The P12 becomes more stable with expansion into the CT zone and the resulting increase in per school payouts and the accompanying GOR tied to their new TV deal(s). So they wouldn't be losing schools mid-term of that deal as you're suggesting.
And the B12 doesn't gain leverage over the P12 with what you're calling "top brand" schools they're adding. 3 out of 4 being added are urban commuter schools with a high % of their alumni bases more interested in the flagship school athletic programs of the states they're located in.
1.) There are no Big 12 leftovers that will stabilize the Pac12 with respect to the P2. If there were, those Big 12 schools would wait for a P2 offer. You're on a fool's errand, chasing marginal gains at the risk of becoming the WVUs in the non-P2 leftover conference. The P2 will be making so much more per year halfway through that deal that it will be a repeat of OuT.
The Pac12 needs to become the West division of the Big 12. The Big 12 doesn't need to orphan themselves
2.)What are you talking about? No one mentioned or alluded to the schools the Big 12 added last summer. "That's very optimistic, and still doesn't solve the stability issues of the Pac12 or reconcile the fact the Big 12 has leverage from the top brands making more coming to the Big 12." That means the top brands in the Pac12 make more cutting their west coast fat, and joining the Big 12. But we're getting closer, at one point they would have never considered adding Big 12 bloc without OUT. The fact they're doing that should tell you we're not far off from some manner of joining of the BIG.