Really Spooky Action at a Greater Distance

Let’s spend just a little more time talking about Big 12 stability.

When I was a young lad growing up in the southern coalfields of West Virginia my grandfather raised championship quality Bluetick Coonhounds.

My Papaw had a vetting process where he would test the potential hunting prowess of the pups by dragging a raccoon’s tail on the ground and seeing which pups followed the scent.

Rarely one of the pups would have a dumb nose and wouldn’t take up the hunt. This pup was usually given away as a pet.

This is how Beauregard came into my life. Beauregard wasn’t my first dog but he was certainly one of the sweetest. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body. I once saw that dog snuggle with a duckling.

Normally Blueticks are intelligent dogs… Beauregard not so much.  He was especially clueless hunting and was always barking up the wrong tree.

And that’s exactly what those spreading rumors about the impending demise of the Big 12 are doing – barking up the wrong tree.

No matter how much they howl and bay, no matter the furious sound of their insistence, there’s nary a raccoon hiding in the branches.

Just as there’s nothing to the rumors of Oklahoma leaving.

Four years ago David Boren admitted Oklahoma had spoken to the Pac 12 and Big Ten. That was when the Big 12 teetered on the verge of collapse. Texas A&M and Missouri had left and the fear was that Texas was headed to the Pac 12. Naturally the remaining schools were desperately looking for a soft landing spot.

The Big Ten took a hard long look at Oklahoma and Kansas… and did nothing.

The Pac 12 took a hard long look at Oklahoma… and did nothing.

Then a funny thing happened. The 8 remaining Big 12 schools signed a six year grant of rights after Fox and ESPN promised their support for the conference.

In the press conference where Oklahoma President David Boren announced the decision to adopt  the initial 6 year  grant of rights Boren said:

“A six-year grant of rights — of our television rights, Tier 1 and Tier 2 — was agreed to by all the institutions' presidents  and will effectively end the upheaval.”

Boren went on to say “The GoR is an affirmation that we all intend to stay together.  That GoR really has teeth in it. Because, as all of you know, when you assign your rights to the conference it’s very unlikely you would ever receive an invitation from another conference. Because during the term of the GoR anything you earn in terms of TV revenue, does not go to the new conference you might have joined but instead back to the Big 12. These are very strong handcuffs. The GoR really does bind the conference together and shows that we fully intend to stay together.”

Strong words from David Boren fully showing the intent of the Big 12 GoR.

What does that history lesson tell us? We know that Texas backed away from the Pac 12 because of the Longhorn Network. We know that both the Big Ten and Pac 12 passed – for whatever reason – on Oklahoma.

We also know that Fox and ESPN wanted the Big 12 intact and paid for it by giving them a premium.

We also know that it was David Boren who championed the Grant of Rights and it’s intent was to stabilize the Big 12.

And that’s just what it’s done no matter how loudly the Beauregards of social media howl at the moon.

Later that GoR would be extended to 13 years when TCU and WVU were added to the Big 12 and now runs through the 2025 season.

So if Oklahoma or any Big 12 school wants to leave the conference they’ll just have to wait it out.

The Big Ten

Let’s talk about the Big Ten for a second. I get that Oklahoma is a prestige program with great fans and great history. But Oklahoma does nothing for the Big Ten – not really.

The Big Ten isn’t so concerned about great football as it is great profits. Sure it has Ohio State and certainly Michigan will be back. But the conference had the chance to add both Oklahoma and FSU and instead added Rutgers and Maryland.

Why? Because those two school have huge markets and thus huge carriage fees.

It doesn’t make sense for the business first Big Ten to add Oklahoma or Kansas when the real money (and southern exposure needed for recruiting) is in the south-east.

Think about why the Big Ten would turn away FSU (academics – non AAU status) and then turn around and go after Oklahoma (also non AAU) who has a much smaller market than FSU and isn’t anywhere close to being to being the recruiting hotbed that is Florida.

Doesn’t make dollars and cents does it?

Pandora’s Box

A few weeks ago I had a trusted source admit that the ACC GoR wasn’t legally binding because “due consideration” wasn’t received in exchange for the rights. But he made a point that it didn’t matter because nobody will challenge the GoR.

He said doing so would open Pandora’s Box and chaos would reign until congress decided to get involved and tax proceeds from college sports – and nobody wants that to happen – not the conferences – not the networks – not the schools.

Finally Big 12 Expansion

Nothing new on this front. The Big 12 is taking a hard long look at just about everyone available and nothing has been decided including how many they may add.

But I’ll write about the issues next week – if I have time. After I’ve spoken to a few contacts over the weekend. If they say anything important.

Ignore all rumors for now. This stuff can ebb and flow.

What’s for sure is that the Big 12 is looking for one of two factors to kick in expansion.

The first is the college football playoffs. Bill Hancock was at the Big 12’s media days and told anyone who could listen that the Big 12 was close to having both Baylor and TCU in the playoffs. It was Ohio State who played themselves into the playoffs (and Baylor and TCU out) by blasting Wisconsin.

The takeaway from that is that it wasn’t so much of the Big 12’s lack of a conference championship game but the opportunity Ohio State had to impress by playing in the Big Ten’s championship game.

Hancock made it clear that had Ohio State lost or not impressed that a Big 12 school would have made the playoffs.

It’s not hard to believe that Baylor and TCU would have made it in had Georgia Tech beaten FSU or Wisconsin shown a pulse.

This is a certainty. If the Big 12 misses the playoffs this season they will expand.

The Big 12 Network you know about. Exactly how does the Big 12 obtain rights to LHN… that’s the question.

A network means expansion and maybe to 14 or even 16. If the price tag on LHN is high enough then more schools equal more revenue….