Pac 10 Getting Serious About Expansion

I don’t pine for very many things, oh Lord, but please let us join the Pac 10. Please? Man I would love that.

Also, for the first idiot that posts about time zones and travel, this is 2010 you twit. These newfangled things called Jet Airplanes have recently been added to the air travel scene. They seem to help. Oh, and getting to Seattle is less of an issue than getting to Ames and Manhattan, KS. Now go drink some hemlock and go to sleep.

Thanks for the post, srr50.

THIS- Please be Texas and CU.

What about when the networks realize they’ll lose the TTech v Texas ratings bonanza?

If Texas bolts the Big 12 what happens to academic requirements in the Big 12? Does it becomes SEC 2.0?

If Texas bolts the Big 12 what happens to academic requirements in the Big 12? Does it becomes SEC 2.0?

If Texas and/or Missouri-Colorado bolt the Big 12 it becomes Conference USA 2.0

We do not need to let the PAC 10 schools into Texas to recruit our players. We own the state and the conference. We have an annual leg up on getting to the BCS and the MNC. Our program is awash in money. Why screw it all up?

1. USC would be the only school with the ability to really hurt us in Texas, and they would only be doing a small portion of their recruiting in the state. Elite Texas recruits aren’t going to start choosing UCLA or Cal en masse just because we move to the Pac-10.

2. Texas’ presence in California would be greatly increased, affording us better opportunities in that state.

One more thing about geography- TCU happily left C-USA, with a ton of regional rivalries, for a slightly better Mountain West conference, and all of the travel it entailed. TCU has less than half of Texas’ revenue, and if the Big East asked them to join, they would jump on it like a hobo on a ham sandwich. Getting in the right conference is more important than geography.

Steers and queers?

If Texas joins the PAC-10, how will the TV time slotting work? In football, Texas will not be able to host any 11 am local kickoffs against west coast teams. Will Pac-10 teams be able to host 7 pm local kickoffs against Texas on a regular basis? I would think not since that would carve out a large chunk of the eastern and central time zone people who normally tune in to see Texas.

The easy solution appears to be 8 central/6 pacific, but I wonder if the other PAC-10 teams will sour on Texas getting premium time slots on a regular basis.

What about in basketball? Will we see 8 central/6 pacific approach or will Texas basketball fans have to endure 9 central tips during the week?

Another thought…

The Big 10 is considering expansion. What could they gain? A conference championship game, worth a few million dollars, to share among 12 or more schools. If the added school(s) is a Notre Dame or Texas, they might add to the per-school TV take. What would they lose? They would dilute their traditional rivalries, as they would not play the traditional members as often. The championship game might lose them money, if it knocks a team out of the BCS CG.

What can the Pac-10 gain from expansion? Well, if they do it right, they could make a lot more TV money, maybe $10 million extra for each school per year, if they set up a Pac-10 network and get enough cable companies to adopt it. That is a much more compelling argument for expansion.

Looking at it, it seems more likely that the Pac-10 might expand. CU and Texas are natural offers. I think Texas feels it can’t leave the Big 12, for political reasons, until it is obvious the Big 12 is doomed. If CU and/or Mizzou are peeled off, the Big 12 is doomed.

I do think the Big 12 can be saved, if the member institutions decide they want to. If the Big 12 were to more actively regulate recruiting (i.e. ban street agents) to mollify the big schools, and share media receipts evenly to satisfy the little schools, it would become a closer alliance. I don’t think Beebe is the guy to work that out, though.

I always dread these UT to Pac10 discussions. I immediately think about how we’d be the backwards country cousins, at least in the eyes of our new brethren. When UT played Michigan in the Rose Bowl the local press went right for the obligatory “TX is full of hootin’ hillbillies” angle. Our academics might make us a good fit but we’d still be viewed as the uninivited Randy Quaid horning in at the Thanksgiving table. I also wonder if we then don’t somehow create a vacuum leaving room for the OU’s of the world to gain entrance for more recruiting success. Then there’s always the ghost of Bill Cunningham lurking. What if our next UT president isn’t as football friendly as Powers and decides that it isn’t in the school’s best interest to be competitive and we hire Mackovic II because it fits a polished image.

No thanks to Pac-10.

The Big Ten has the CIC membership, an already intact badass tv contract that includes the Big Ten Network that they could put on basic cable in Texas, and doesn’t have the time zone issues the PAC 10 would have. I think it makes just as much if not more sense for Texas to move there.

It seems the next round of conference realignment will soon be upon us, and the magic number is 12 teams per conference to allow for a conference championship. Listed below are the conferences that do not have 12 teams. The first number is current number of teams. For ease of comparison, the "+x" number is the difference needed to get to 12:

=Eastern US=
BigTen 11+1
Big East 8+4
Ivy 8+4
MAC 13-1

=Western US=
MWC: 9+3
Sunbelt: 9+3
WAC: 9+3
Pac10: 10+2

Proposal:
+ The western half of the US has too many small conferences. Either the MWC, Sunbelt, or WAC needs to be dissolved or these teams distributed to the other two remaining conferences.

+ Boise State and one of the schools in Utah (BYU, Utah, or Utah State) goes to the Pac-10.

+ Ivy League almost seems like a special case. Unsure I want to change that.

+ Big East needs to grow, and MAC has one too many. Move one team from MAC to Big East. Find three more teams somewhere to grow the Big East.

+ Obviously, the other big change to consider is to redistribute teams from the Big12, Pac10, etc. (i.e Missouri to Big10, Texas to PacTen, etc). This seems less likely.

Comments? How would you re-distribute?

Sorry.

I’ meant to say BigSky 9+3 for Western US. Instead, add Sunbelt 9+3 to Eastern US.

I doubt that UT gets invited to the Big 10 or Pac-10 initially. It’s like this Junior Day at Texas- no offers get made without tacit assurances that they will be accepted. Texas, politically, can’t be the team that busts the Big 12. I see the breakdown as a result of the Big 10 peeling Missouri away, or the Pac-10 peeling Colorado away. When that happens, and the Big 12 is faced with adding a Utah or dropping the divisions, I would expect TAMU and OU to begin developing exit strategies, to be followed by Texas finding a new conference home, either in the Big 10 or Pac-10.

Or maybe the Big 12 will pull it together and strengthen the alliance.

From a SMU alum, who cheers for the horns, that had to suffer thru the WAC, you do not want UT in the PAC-10. Football starting times would be ok for the most part, nothing beats going to Pullman! But get ready for 9 and 9:30 pm tip offs in basketball. Those are killers.

Best case scenario IMO is going to the Pac-10, keeping the OU game, and dropping aggy. Maybe play them twice a decade like we do Arkansas now. Or not. It doesn’t really matter. So much of their existence revolves around Texas, it would be curious to see what would happen to them if we suddenly vanished.

Boise St and BYU will never be invited to the PAC-10 due to academic and cultural differences, respectively.
I honestly like both the Big Televen and PAC-10 for Texas. For an awesome set of blogposts and commentary, and to save me butchering the paraphrase, check out FrankTheTanks slant on Big Ten expansion (sorry no link). Very long, very thorough, very good read.

Texas, politically, can’t be the team that busts the Big 12.

Probably true. It bugs me that high D-I is intended to be a money-making marketing machine, but that the school presidents would rather look down their noses at the athletes from the sky boxes.

I would be concerned that Texas would not get its best choice in that scenario, but, on the other hand, they will not be left out.

It doesn’t really matter. So much of their existence revolves around Texas, it would be curious to see what would happen to them if we suddenly vanished.

So you guys will be dropping A&M from your fight song when you move to the PAC-10? Hex rally? Hook ‘em? Changing Bevo’s name?

A&M would certainly look stupid if all that happened to them when you guys go out to the PAC-10.

Well, since I don’t know anybody who ever sings “good bye to A&M”, hook ‘em has nothing to do with the Ags, and Bevo was named after a near-beer in the early teens, I don’t think any of them have to change.

From an emotional/traditionalist standpoint I hate the idea of leaving the Big 12. Our rivalries there are part of what makes watching Texas football fun. From an economic standpoint exchanging our current match-ups with those in the PAC-10 will probably be a boon for ratings.

Pac10 folk dont view UT as hillbilly-esque…well maybe in LA but they are just as bad as Parisians…I’d love to add UT and CU if we have to go to 12 teams…either that or UC San Diego and SDSU to consolidate the state of California in the Pac10…

TxReigns I’m with you…we rule the roost here and money is not the object with us…it is setting us up to compete for the NC. Keeping the Texas recruits closely held is hugely important and we don’t need to go to the Pacific Northwest to improve our stakes in recruiting. The Pac 10 has everything to gain competitively and monetarily.

We already work our way through a competetive schedule with our sights set on two games all year. It doesn’t matter who we play to get there as long as we get to the Big 12 Championship and the schedule is competitive enought to BCS us into the MNC.

“A&M would certainly look stupid if all that happened to them when you guys go out to the PAC-10.”

You already look stupid. But like I said, your university revolves around Texas. Your AD can’t even bring himself to say our name. So yeah, I’d be curious to see what would happen to you if you suddenly stopped playing us.

regarding pac10 vs big10:

• pac10 would call for significantly more travel
• pac10 would have mostly 2 hour time change problem vs big10 at most 1 hour problem
• pac10 mixed bag academically. roughly half well thought of and half not so much at all
• big10 schools pretty uniformly well thought of – very similar academically to texas
• pac10 research schools snooty – look down on us country cousins
• big10 offers membership in research-sharing committee on institutional cooperation (big ten schools plus uchicago) – big plus for ut academics/research
• pac10 looks other way and whistles for blatant cheaters (usc and oregon lately!) no better than big12 – do you really think we want another situation like we are in?
• big10 won’t put up with a blatant cheater

for me, open and shut case.

Forget Pac-10…

Super Conference

Don’t worry little aggies, we’re just going to the corner for some cigarettes. We’ll be right back…..

Hook em was invented for the sole reason that A&M had a hand sign and y’all wanted one.

Thestory that Bevo is named for a near beer is revisionist history.

It’s hilarious to see you guys scurry to defend how much you “don’t care” about A&M.

It’s hilarious to see you guys scurry to defend how much you "don’t care" about A&M.
After the years and years of hilarity you’ve provided us, it’s good to be able to bring a little joy your way… you’re welcome!

And speaking of “scurry”, have you guys made your plans yet? Or are you going to become the flagship of the “Not Quite as Big 12”?

Maybe the “We Used to be a Lot Bigger 12”…

“It’s hilarious to see you guys scurry to defend how much you "don’t care" about A&M.”

We don’t. Seriously. In fact, my whole point was that I’d prefer that we never play you again in any sport. A century’s worth of domination and putting up with you crazy fucks is enough for me.

Geography aside, as a Big Ten fan I think Texas would fit in well with either the Big Ten or Pac 10.

I don’t see it happening though. I would imagine that the State would step in and prevent any such move.

It’s no secret the the old SWC and Big 8 teams share no love for one another. Let’s face it, the only thing holding the Big 12 together is Texas. If Texas leaves, there is great potential for the Big 12 to implode, with the old Big 8 teams leaving the old SWC teams standing in the cold. The Big 8 teams would be more than happy to ditch the SWC teams and join up with a few select MWC teams… this would leave Tech, A&M, and Baylor without a viable home. At best, they could go crawling back to the SWC members they abandoned in the 90s and reform the SWC, minus Texas/Arkansas, and pick up a few extra teams like La Tech and Tulsa, but it would be a huge downgrade.

Texas’ position in the Big 12 is a security blanket for Tech, A&M, and Baylor. If Texas leaves, it leaves the future of three other programs in jeopardy… the other programs would lose far more than UT would gain, and Texas Legislature would be sure to prevent that from happening.

“We don’t. Seriously. In fact, my whole point was that I’d prefer that we never play you again in any sport. A century’s worth of domination and putting up with you crazy fucks is enough for me.”

I believe this 100%. In fact, I am sure the rest of longhorn fans and the administration at texas-austin agrees and is in the process of forming a committee to leave A&M in the Big XII and change all your traditions associated with A&M. I’ll bet this is happening right now and this is what most longhorn fans and graduates want.

I mean, you guys REALLY don’t care about them. Seriously. You should see how much it looks like you don’t care. I am in awe of your indifference towards A&M.

I will get some lighter fluid ready and burn my diploma as soon as texas-austin does this, because my existence revolves around that school so much. In fact the wallpaper on my desktop is of Colt (I mean Cart) getting splattered in the MNC game. Man I hate that guy we played to an even 2-2 tie with. I wonder if he gets drafted higher than Stephen McGee? That would really be the end of my life if that happened.

Keep replying, it just proves your point more that you don’t care. It really hammers it home. Actually, that’s what I need to convince me, more longhorns telling me how much they don’t care.

3…..2……1………..GO!

ND, I like how you’re telling me how I think, even though we’ve never met. So I’ll tell you again: A century’s worth of dominating you crazy fucks is enough. I’d prefer to never see or hear from you ever again. Is that clear?

How dare you talk to your father that way?!?!

Could you repeat it more forcefully? I’m not sure it’s clear yet.