- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 87,343
- Reaction Score
- 325,399
Are Oklahoma and its fans happy in the Big 12? A Q&A with OU Pres.David Boren on state of the conf.
- Thread starter huskymedic
- Start date
ConnHuskBask
Shut Em Down!
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2011
- Messages
- 8,955
- Reaction Score
- 32,813
They better be, because I'm not sure where the hell they think they're going.
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2013
- Messages
- 1,990
- Reaction Score
- 7,827
From the article...
"Q: When you came in you had three priorities: a TV network, a championship game and expansion. One of those three got enacted. How do you feel about that?
Boren: "I think part of it is you have to deal with the world around you. One was taken off the table because of the marketplace and the dramatic shifts with cable and what's happening with the whole situation. It just wasn't a possibility anymore. In theory, I think, expansion should never be taken off the table as a possibility but finding the right place to expand, the right expansion candidates at the right time for various reasons, [last year] just didn't seem like the appropriate time to do that. There were various things that happened to various candidates but I would say kind of a perfect storm of events for various candidates that we were looking at it that made it better to continue where we are and build on the financial stability. ... I don't feel that I've been thwarted on any of those things or those things would have made me any more enthusiastic than I am about the Big 12. I'm well satisfied that all these things were considered carefully."
This quote supports what I personally think happened during the Big 12 expansion cluster**** last year. There was no perfect candidate with UConn's geography its big negative. Having said that, I think Boren had convinced enough members that they should expand, and after looking at all the candidates and a whole lot of horse trading and compromise, a consensus Formed around BYU, Cincy, Houston, and UConn. Then the public pressure to eliminate BYU from consideration because of their institutional stance regarding LGBTQ unraveled everything. BYU was out, the math for adding three wouldn't work, and no combination of two of the remaining three was palatable. If BYU had remained a viable candidate, the Big 12 would have added all four.
If only BYU would reconsider their LGBTQ policies. Oh well. I think we were THAT close.
"Q: When you came in you had three priorities: a TV network, a championship game and expansion. One of those three got enacted. How do you feel about that?
Boren: "I think part of it is you have to deal with the world around you. One was taken off the table because of the marketplace and the dramatic shifts with cable and what's happening with the whole situation. It just wasn't a possibility anymore. In theory, I think, expansion should never be taken off the table as a possibility but finding the right place to expand, the right expansion candidates at the right time for various reasons, [last year] just didn't seem like the appropriate time to do that. There were various things that happened to various candidates but I would say kind of a perfect storm of events for various candidates that we were looking at it that made it better to continue where we are and build on the financial stability. ... I don't feel that I've been thwarted on any of those things or those things would have made me any more enthusiastic than I am about the Big 12. I'm well satisfied that all these things were considered carefully."
This quote supports what I personally think happened during the Big 12 expansion cluster**** last year. There was no perfect candidate with UConn's geography its big negative. Having said that, I think Boren had convinced enough members that they should expand, and after looking at all the candidates and a whole lot of horse trading and compromise, a consensus Formed around BYU, Cincy, Houston, and UConn. Then the public pressure to eliminate BYU from consideration because of their institutional stance regarding LGBTQ unraveled everything. BYU was out, the math for adding three wouldn't work, and no combination of two of the remaining three was palatable. If BYU had remained a viable candidate, the Big 12 would have added all four.
If only BYU would reconsider their LGBTQ policies. Oh well. I think we were THAT close.