[Husker] Big 12 discord could accelerate Big Ten expansion

[Rod Wellman]

McKewon sums up the current situation nicely:  

http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2010/06/04/4c0899a648938

Feels to me like it's now a game between NU and Texas to see who blinks first.

It seems like at this point if either of them would say:  "If you don't go anywhere, we won't either." The Big 12 might survive.  If Texas doesn't go to the Pac 10, neither will any of the other Oklahoma and Texas schools, and I doubt CU gets an invite on their own.  If the Big 10 musters to add ND (who we all know is there top choice, still), then do they really even care if they get Mizzou or any of the Eastern schools?  If they don't get ND, do they add only Mizzou, or Mizzou and 2 more eastern schools?  

I think there's a good chance that this thing blows over completely.  Texas and the other 5 B12 schools say "thanks but no thanks" to the Pac 10 overtures.  Texas is never going to the SEC.  They get (if only somewhat verbal) commitments from the other B12 schools to stick together, and in return they give up the Longhorn Network TV plans in favor of a Big 12 Network TV plan.  

What does Mizzou gain by going to the B10?  A few million dollars and the chance to remain a mediocre competitor in nearly every major sport, just in a different conference, one that will require them to travel way out to the East coast regularly?  If anyone at Mizzou is smart they will see that the B10 might not be in their best interest.  There are lot of Texas athletes on their rosters, and I don't know how Mizzou will recruit B10 country very successfully.

The colossal shifts everyone is talking about are almost too colossal to fathom and might be too colossal to actually pull off.  But now that they are in the media, everyone is looking to play their cards. Even Texas. Texas has a really strong hand and will probably dictate a lot in how this eventually goes down.  And if what they WANT is to keep the B12 together, all they really need to do is assure Nebraska that things in the B12 are good and can and will get better in the future.  Oh, and that will rotate the Big 12 championship game between Jerry's world and St. Louis every other year :)

Rod


On Jun 4, 2010, at 1:39 PM, Mike Nolan wrote:

>> Sounds sensible to me. I hope the whole things gets done by football season
>> (who knows?).
> 
> I still believe the key is Notre Dame.  If they said tomorrow that they'd
> be willing to join the Big Ten, then the conferences and schools would 
> begin a mad dash for each other, which may wind up looking something 
> like pirhannas after a steer.  
> 
> However, under the best of circumstances it will take several years for 
> the changes to take effect, as schedules will have to be redrawn, contracts 
> for non-conference games revised or broken, TV contracts renegotiated, etc.  
> 
> And then there are the nearly inevitable lawsuits, from a variety of 
> sources, possibly including the schools that are left standing after
> the music stops.  
> 
> (I think--or is that pray?--that Nebraska will not be one of those, I'm 
> less sure of the future for schools like Iowa State, Kansas State and 
> Baylor, and maybe even Kansas and Texas Tech.)
> --
> Mike Nolan
> 
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