Key tweets, and it's all gone to Hell.

[The Viking]

The real question is where they invited to send the letter or was it unsolicited?

The letter starts "We appreciate the opportunity..." so I'm thinking they were invited to send a letter, share their hopes and dreams, etc.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Are they even the 2nd or 3rd most popular team in their own town?

I would not be surprised is U Texas, A&M and LSU are all ahead of Houston in Houston with the monied folks backing Rice.

 

[huskymedic]

The real question is where they invited to send the letter or was it unsolicited?

The letter starts "We appreciate the opportunity..." so I'm thinking they were invited to send a letter, share their hopes and dreams, etc.

USF Passes Note to Big XII, OMG Will They Check Yes or No??

 

[Adios]

I would not be surprised is U Texas, A&M and LSU are all ahead of Houston in Houston with the monied folks backing Rice.

UH would be so stupid to let UT expand operations in their own city. They can fit in the ACC, easily.

 

[jostar1]

Beverly Davenport ‏@UCPrezDav 7h7 hours ago
We might need to install some additional

for this one. The original Cincinnati Oscar Robertson jersey. #Bearcats

Beverly Davenport
@UCPrezDav
Interim President University of Cincinnati

 

[superjohn]

Beverly Davenport ‏@UCPrezDav 7h7 hours ago
We might need to install some additional

for this one. The original Cincinnati Oscar Robertson jersey. #Bearcats

Beverly Davenport
@UCPrezDav
Interim President University of Cincinnati

That seems about as official as it gets. Are we days away from hearing the Big news?

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Oh rightttt Cincy had that one guy 50 years ago. Kinda like what people will say about Cuse in 40 years

 

[CL82]

The letter starts "We appreciate the opportunity..." so I'm thinking they were invited to send a letter, share their hopes and dreams, etc.

"Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh....Um so you think you'd be a good candidate? Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh..well, tell you what, why don't you send me a letter outlining all that. Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh..Well, thank you for your interest. Uh huh, ... right....buh- bye now."

 

[UConnNick]

I would not be surprised is U Texas, A&M and LSU are all ahead of Houston in Houston with the monied folks backing Rice.

Nobody in Houston cares about Rice anymore, except for their baseball program, which is nationally prominent. They get crowds of less than 5,000 for football in a 75,000 seat stadium. Their BB arena is a 1950's era glorified HS gym. They have one of the best stadiums in all of college baseball.

UH has some major donors. John Moores, who used to own the SD Padres, donated 51 million to UH, part of which for construction of their athletics building. Tillman Fertitta is worth about 3.5 billion and can write them a check anytime he wants. They aren't lacking for financial support from big donors.

As for their fanbase, they've always lagged behind the other Texas schools locally because it's a gigantic commuter school. They're trying to change that by building more dorms on campus, but I think they only have about four big ones. Most UH students graduate and are never seen again on campus or attending games. In the old SWC days, crowds for games in Houston vs A&M or UT would result in 50/50 crowds, and they'd jack up the ticket prices for those games. Even Arkansas would have a lot of their fans at games in Houston.

Houston is like Boston and NYC. It's a pro sports city.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Oh rightttt Cincy had that one guy 50 years ago. Kinda like what people will say about Cuse in 40 years

50 years from now no one will be comparing Carmelo to the Big O or their impact on their respective universities.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Nobody in Houston cares about Rice anymore, except for their baseball program, which is nationally prominent. They get crowds of less than 5,000 for football in a 75,000 seat stadium. Their BB arena is a 1950's era glorified HS gym. They have one of the best stadiums in all of college baseball.

Let me clarify, there are a small number of folks who will be loyal to Rice because its Rice and it has nothing to do with football. Just like the certain segment in MA, CT, NY, NJ, PA, etc. who are fans of Harvard/Yale/Columbia/Cornell/Princeton/UPenn football regardless if those Ivy's haven't beaten the local State U in the football field in decades and all talk about the glory days of Ivy League football like it was yesterday, even if those fans graduated in 2010.

 

[huskymedic]

Matt Schonvisky ‏@MattSchonvisky 4m4 minutes ago
"Oklahoma does not want to be in a league with Memphis" @BerryTramel of @TheOklahoman on #Big12Expansion - full interview up shortly

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Matt Schonvisky ‏@MattSchonvisky 4m4 minutes ago
"Oklahoma does not want to be in a league with Memphis" @BerryTramel of @TheOklahoman on #Big12Expansion - full interview up shortly

Woah. That might be the best thing I've heard during this entire process.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Matt Schonvisky ‏@MattSchonvisky 4m4 minutes ago
"Oklahoma does not want to be in a league with Memphis" @BerryTramel of @TheOklahoman on #Big12Expansion - full interview up shortly

PLATINUM TOP SHELF TWEET?

 

[Sea Goat]

PLATINUM TOP SHELF TWEET?

God love them - some e-f-f-i-n-g sensibility!

 

[WestHartHusk]

Hell yeah! You need at least one of UT/OU to want you, and neither to object to you. If true, this is fatal.

 

[huskymedic]

Roller Coaster ride continues...

Mark Blaudschun@blauds 3 mins ago
News from the Big 12? Well....There is movement. Check it out on
Big 12 focusing on adding only 2 schools

Essentially: >>According to sources familiar with the process, the Big 12 is now focusing on adding two–not four– schools .. And while multiple schools will receive consideration, the front runners appear to be BYU–but probably in a football only scenario–and either Connecticut or Cincinnati.<<

There is a post in one of the three Key/non-key/premium threads that talks about adding 3 schools. Who knows...

 

[WestHartHusk]

Roller Coaster ride continues...

Mark Blaudschun@blauds 3 mins ago
News from the Big 12? Well....There is movement. Check it out on
Big 12 focusing on adding only 2 schools

Essentially: >>According to sources familiar with the process, the Big 12 is now focusing on adding two–not four– schools .. And while multiple schools will receive consideration, the front runners appear to be BYU–but probably in a football only scenario–and either Connecticut or Cincinnati.<<

There is a post in one of the three Key/non-key/premium threads that talks about adding 3 schools. Who knows...

So when it is 4 schools we are #5, and when it is 2 schools we are #3. Optimistically, maybe we are just being negotiated at? Maybe it helps that both ESPN and Fox have Ohio sports programming.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Roller Coaster ride continues...

Mark Blaudschun@blauds 3 mins ago
News from the Big 12? Well....There is movement. Check it out on
Big 12 focusing on adding only 2 schools

Essentially: >>According to sources familiar with the process, the Big 12 is now focusing on adding two–not four– schools .. And while multiple schools will receive consideration, the front runners appear to be BYU–but probably in a football only scenario–and either Connecticut or Cincinnati.<<

There is a post in one of the three Key/non-key/premium threads that talks about adding 3 schools. Who knows...

Not buying that Big12 adds one school in Mountain Time Zone.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Blauds article + Boren/Tramel quote this morning sounds to me like there's a LOT of negotiations going on right now both between the schools and between the conference and Fox/ESPN.

Another interesting nugget is the timeline Blauds puts out that they're pegging the end of the month as a soft deadline. That indicates to me that no votes have been taken, as some message board insiders/tweeters have indicated, and no formal invitations have been extended. Certainly, there appears to be some schools and factions with strong preferences and they may have been approaching a decision earlier, but the TV networks appear to have thrown a stake into this and thus caused some of the factions within the conference to renegotiate with one another about the 2-school and 4-school scenarios. The end of the month timeline given by Blauds makes it seem to me that there's more than a few steps between now and a decision.

 

[CL82]

Roller Coaster ride continues...

Mark Blaudschun@blauds 3 mins ago
News from the Big 12? Well....There is movement. Check it out on
Big 12 focusing on adding only 2 schools

Essentially: >>According to sources familiar with the process, the Big 12 is now focusing on adding two–not four– schools .. And while multiple schools will receive consideration, the front runners appear to be BYU–but probably in a football only scenario–and either Connecticut or Cincinnati.<<

There is a post in one of the three Key/non-key/premium threads that talks about adding 3 schools. Who knows...

As full members it is regarded as a close race.
The switch in sentiment from four new schools to two, is driven largely by the lack of enthusiasm of the Big 12’s television partners (Fox and ESPN) to pay more money for what most people consider less than premier additions.​

Does that mean that UConn, BYU and Cinci are view by television partners to have the most value? That makes sense to me.

If AAC commissioner Mike Aresco loses only one school, and it isn’t Houston, he would regard that as a major victory.
​

I'd rather lose Houston than Cinci. Of course I think that the loss of UConn is the biggest hit to the conference. A loss of just Houston is a pretty decent result in my view.

And if that school is Cincinnati, the AAC could easily just replace the Bearcats with UMass, creating a natural New England rivalry in football and basketball with UConn which could blossom.
​

Oh that would be just a wonderful rivalry. UConn would bury them in every sport. Still, I get Blauds point. In a hypothetical world where UMass gets state support and upgrades facilities and competes at a higher level, having them as a rival would be great. I don't see it happening, however.

 

[upstater]

Cincy and UConn.... that was my prediction days ago.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

Now we have to beat out Cincy? Why is the B12 looking at BYU at all if TV partners want Eastern additions? B12 should just take Cincy and UCONN for the 2. Cincy and UCONN will make the conference more Eastern. With WVU, it would be a good Eastern pot.

Nothing B12 does make any sense. For us, we just need to get it, and worry about the future later.

 

[huskymedic]

Matt Schonvisky ‏@MattSchonvisky 4m4 minutes ago
"Oklahoma does not want to be in a league with Memphis" @BerryTramel of @TheOklahoman on #Big12Expansion - full interview up shortly

8 minute mark if you have limited time.

 

[businesslawyer]

Blauds article + Boren/Tramel quote this morning sounds to me like there's a LOT of negotiations going on right now both between the schools and between the conference and Fox/ESPN.

Not only negotiations, but negotiations through the press and tweets.

Look at how different the interests of Fox and ESPN are for UConn going to the XII in all sports versus football only. Us going in football only is a win-win for Fox, who uses us to try to increase their visibility in Big East hoops specifically and college basketball generally, and then ties Big East audiences to Big XII audiences through our participation. For ESPN, it's a total lose-lose. Pay big money for our football only, which has relatively little value, and then loses their almost free acquisition of our basketball rights to Fox.

So at the same time that league versus networks war is going in, network versus network war may be going on as well. (Although if we went to XII for football only, would ESPN move us to ACC for everything else, giving them an even number in both football and all sports?)

I said a week ago why would anyone pay for the cow when they were going to have to give the milk away for free. But if one of the networks will get the milk by moving it to a major basketball league that they have sole TV rights for, that is an entirely different equation. Especially as the XII would presumably deduct from our share the basketball revenues we'd get from the Big East or ACC.

So if there are two football only members taken, I can see the XII saying BYU and Cincy, but one of the networks pushing them to take BYU and UConn.

Crap. Just more scenarios and complications.