I guess he believes that "bold Big 12 thinking" is for Texas to exercise clout and say No to expansion.
By Kirk Bohls - American-Statesman Staff
Personally, I just don’t get Boren’s insatiable need for expansion. Sure, he’s still peeved the Big 12 didn’t reach out to Louisville in the last round of expansion. Not asking Louisville to join was a clear mistake.
Are there really “six or seven” attractive schools that Boren suggests would be appealing to the Big 12? BYU makes sense with its huge Mormon audience and national brand, but many consider BYU a Texas 2.0 in terms of arrogance and high maintenance. Plus, there’s the no playing on Sundays and the BYU Network problem that, much like the Longhorn Network, would stand in the way of a Big 12 Network, although one source told me the LHN could be folded into a B12 Network if Texas agreed. (Not likely.) And you just know West Virginia is licking its chops over even more distant travel from Morgantown to Provo, Utah. Yeah, right.
UConn would be a West Virginia travel partner and a basketball giant, and its location is so close to Bristol. Lots of opportunities for showcasing the Big 12 there.
Houston has had its hands up in the air forever. And it’s 2010 West Virginia-hot at the moment. But does the rest of the Big 12 really want to give the Cougars that Big 12 cachet and allow Tom Herman to go into living rooms and tell five-star prospects they can play at Houston and in a Power Five conference? I’m guessing a hearty no. But adding Houston wouldn’t bankrupt other Big 12 members’ travel budgets and is mildly enticing.
Either South Florida or rapidly growing Central Florida would allow Big 12 schools to foray into the fertile recruiting of the Sunshine State as Cincinnati would get the Big 12 into the Big Ten’s backyard and another large-city market. Something to be said for that.
But none of these makes perfect sense, or it would have happened already. Besides, each conference member cashed a check for about $25 million last year, so do they want a smaller slice of that pie? TV revenue seems to be going south, not north.
http://www.mystatesman.com/news/spo...s-clout-bold-big-12-thinking-essential/np6YY/
By Kirk Bohls - American-Statesman Staff
Personally, I just don’t get Boren’s insatiable need for expansion. Sure, he’s still peeved the Big 12 didn’t reach out to Louisville in the last round of expansion. Not asking Louisville to join was a clear mistake.
Are there really “six or seven” attractive schools that Boren suggests would be appealing to the Big 12? BYU makes sense with its huge Mormon audience and national brand, but many consider BYU a Texas 2.0 in terms of arrogance and high maintenance. Plus, there’s the no playing on Sundays and the BYU Network problem that, much like the Longhorn Network, would stand in the way of a Big 12 Network, although one source told me the LHN could be folded into a B12 Network if Texas agreed. (Not likely.) And you just know West Virginia is licking its chops over even more distant travel from Morgantown to Provo, Utah. Yeah, right.
UConn would be a West Virginia travel partner and a basketball giant, and its location is so close to Bristol. Lots of opportunities for showcasing the Big 12 there.
Houston has had its hands up in the air forever. And it’s 2010 West Virginia-hot at the moment. But does the rest of the Big 12 really want to give the Cougars that Big 12 cachet and allow Tom Herman to go into living rooms and tell five-star prospects they can play at Houston and in a Power Five conference? I’m guessing a hearty no. But adding Houston wouldn’t bankrupt other Big 12 members’ travel budgets and is mildly enticing.
Either South Florida or rapidly growing Central Florida would allow Big 12 schools to foray into the fertile recruiting of the Sunshine State as Cincinnati would get the Big 12 into the Big Ten’s backyard and another large-city market. Something to be said for that.
But none of these makes perfect sense, or it would have happened already. Besides, each conference member cashed a check for about $25 million last year, so do they want a smaller slice of that pie? TV revenue seems to be going south, not north.
http://www.mystatesman.com/news/spo...s-clout-bold-big-12-thinking-essential/np6YY/