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

[CL82]

Kirk Bohls Verified account 
‏@kbohls

Bohls: Standing pat, not expanding, is best for the Big 12

"The talent pool for expansion is shallow and unimpressive. The Big 12 would be better served to stand pat and maybe just add a football championship game because it would retain the round-robin format, the one true championship format that is fair and conclusive. By sticking at 10, the current members do not get smaller slices of the pie than they would with 12 or 14 schools, and a title game adds the apparently precious 13th data point and helps the league’s College Football Playoff chances. … Still not sure of the viability of a Big 12 Network because the consumer seems in no mood to shell out extra dinero for, say, a Kansas-Iowa State football game. You have noticed the downsizing at ESPN, right?"

Dan Wolken ‏@DanWolken · 3h3 hours ago
Adding two schools does nothing to fix the Big 12

Impressive head fake but according the Yard's crack investigative team, he met with SH earlier today.

 

[UConn Dan]

Everyone is getting in on the action. There is a reason why we are quiet.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Didn't Boren specifically warn everyone to [apparently you can't type S-T-F-U together] about trying to get into the B12?

Sounds like everyone banging the table may be SOL. The Big12 wants a network and Memphis is advertising that they may try to be a college and UCF wants to bring in some metal bleachers.

 

[Dooley]

Everyone is getting in on the action. There is a reason why we are quiet.

This is exactly the kind of quick little "did you know?" press release I'd LOVE UConn to do. Sure would save us fans the trouble of debating all these fools when they say UConn's small stadium is one of the reasons why we are stuck in the AAC. Educating the public. UConn PSA, if you will.

 

[WestHartHusk]

This is exactly the kind of quick little "did you know?" press release I'd LOVE UConn to do. Sure would save us fans the trouble of debating all these fools when they say UConn's small stadium is one of the reasons why we are stuck in the AAC. Educating the public. UConn PSA, if you will.

"Hitt said he would make sure the committee knows about their interest in any expansion plans for the Big 12 Conference and that he would lobby for full consideration based on accurate data."

Sounds like the data didn't turn out so well for them.

 

[UConn Dan]

This is exactly the kind of quick little "did you know?" press release I'd LOVE UConn to do. Sure would save us fans the trouble of debating all these fools when they say UConn's small stadium is one of the reasons why we are stuck in the AAC. Educating the public. UConn PSA, if you will.

The key players have what they need from us. I think we have interest from more than one conference - I don't think B1G is one at this time but I don't know that for sure. So all our talk has to be back channel.

 

[huskypantz]

This is exactly the kind of quick little "did you know?" press release I'd LOVE UConn to do. Sure would save us fans the trouble of debating all these fools when they say UConn's small stadium is one of the reasons why we are stuck in the AAC. Educating the public. UConn PSA, if you will.

But wait - there's more from UCF..........

 

[jostar1]

Chuck Carlton, Big 12 football beat writer for SportsDayDFW.com and The Dallas Morning News, answered your questions about the league in an online chat Wednesday afternoon.

SportsDayDFW moderator1 day ago
From a reader: Is FedEx's promise of some sweet cash enough to tip the hands of some in the room for Big 12 expansion talks?

ChuckCarltonDMN moderator6 hours ago
@SportsDayDFW It certainly doesn't hurt. One of the driving factors for the Big 12 in exploring its options is closing a growing revenue gap with the SEC and Big Ten. And having a Fortune 500 company step up in a big way for a school will get attention. Can it put Memphis over the top? We'll see. Memphis has some facility concerns in football (although it's pledging to upgrade facilities). Also, how much does the school bring outside the Memphis market?

SportsDayDFW moderator1 day ago
From a reader: If the Big 12 expands, what percent of the decision will be based on a team's current football strength, and what percent will be based on its TV market?

ChuckCarltonDMN moderator6 hours ago
@SportsDayDFW Great question. I think a school has to at least show recent signs of competitiveness in football to have a chance. That said, with expansion and a TV network apparently linked, TV markets are going to be a key. Expect the presidents to listen intently to the update from Big 12 TV consultants Bevilacqua Helfant Ventures about the appetite for a network and what expansion candidates could contribute the most.

SportsDayDFW moderator1 day ago
From a reader: How concerning is it for the Big 12 each time an OU official goes off message?

ChuckCarltonDMN moderator7 hours ago
@SportsDayDFW At the very least, it's not a good look. One of the Big 12's biggest problems is the idea that it's the most unstable of the five power conferences. Every time someone goes off message, it contributes to that image. Conferences like the Pac-12 and ACC have their disagreements too but manage to keep them internal for the most part -- Larry Scott and the satellite camps vote notwithstanding.

ChuckCarltonDMN moderator6 hours ago
We had to rush through this in a little bit of a hurry. Regarding expansion, still trying to figure out how much FedEx will boost Memphis. Another possibility is a combo situation, I'm told of Central Florida and South Florida, especially if the Big 12 expands beyond just two teams. Right now, it's still a fluid situation and probably will be for a while. Stay tuned. Thanks for joining me.

Replay: Chuck Carlton answers college football questions (May 11) | SportsDay

 

[FluxTZ]

Chuck Carlton, Big 12 football beat writer for SportsDayDFW.com and The Dallas Morning News, answered your questions about the league in an online chat Wednesday afternoon.

SportsDayDFW moderator1 day ago
From a reader: Is FedEx's promise of some sweet cash enough to tip the hands of some in the room for Big 12 expansion talks?

ChuckCarltonDMN moderator6 hours ago
@SportsDayDFW It certainly doesn't hurt. One of the driving factors for the Big 12 in exploring its options is closing a growing revenue gap with the SEC and Big Ten. And having a Fortune 500 company step up in a big way for a school will get attention. Can it put Memphis over the top? We'll see. Memphis has some facility concerns in football (although it's pledging to upgrade facilities). Also, how much does the school bring outside the Memphis market?

SportsDayDFW moderator1 day ago
From a reader: If the Big 12 expands, what percent of the decision will be based on a team's current football strength, and what percent will be based on its TV market?

ChuckCarltonDMN moderator6 hours ago
@SportsDayDFW Great question. I think a school has to at least show recent signs of competitiveness in football to have a chance. That said, with expansion and a TV network apparently linked, TV markets are going to be a key. Expect the presidents to listen intently to the update from Big 12 TV consultants Bevilacqua Helfant Ventures about the appetite for a network and what expansion candidates could contribute the most.

SportsDayDFW moderator1 day ago
From a reader: How concerning is it for the Big 12 each time an OU official goes off message?

ChuckCarltonDMN moderator7 hours ago
@SportsDayDFW At the very least, it's not a good look. One of the Big 12's biggest problems is the idea that it's the most unstable of the five power conferences. Every time someone goes off message, it contributes to that image. Conferences like the Pac-12 and ACC have their disagreements too but manage to keep them internal for the most part -- Larry Scott and the satellite camps vote notwithstanding.

ChuckCarltonDMN moderator6 hours ago
We had to rush through this in a little bit of a hurry. Regarding expansion, still trying to figure out how much FedEx will boost Memphis. Another possibility is a combo situation, I'm told of Central Florida and South Florida, especially if the Big 12 expands beyond just two teams. Right now, it's still a fluid situation and probably will be for a while. Stay tuned. Thanks for joining me.

Replay: Chuck Carlton answers college football questions (May 11) | SportsDay

Get outtttta here with that UCF and USF talk. Hilarious.

 

[The Viking]

So Dodd has a tweet out there saying Boren wants to get a network first and then focus on expansion and a CCG if it makes sense.

Yikes

I was talking to someone in the past few days who is in the know and was told as of now it is Big 12 or nothing. No ACC or B1G on the front or back burner. Obviously things change any given day but there u go

Hopefully we keep our football program afloat until the B1G rips the crap out of the ACC

 

[jostar1]

John E. HooverVerified account
@johnehoover
Co-host of Further Review w Hoover & Rew on The Franchise Tulsa ... Columnist at http://TheFranchiseOK.com ...

Wescott Eberts ‏@SBN_Wescott
One industry insider believes that ESPN and FOX may not even want to pay for a Big 12 Network. So, yeah.
Television companies may not want to pay for a Big 12 Network

John E. Hoover ‏@johnehoover · 1h1 hour ago
Aw, crap.

Joey Helmer‏@joeyhelmer247
Boren said there's "no distance" between he and the Board of Regents.

John E. Hoover ‏@johnehoover · 45m45 minutes ago
Only the distance between the Big 12 and whatever expansion candidates Boren favors (he does have his favorites)

Guerin Emig Verified account 
‏@GuerinEmig
Boren believes $$ is there to make a go of Big 12 Network, but wants to hear research firm presentations at June mtg in Dallas.

John E. Hoover ‏@johnehoover · 44m44 minutes ago
Boren may be having a piece of pie in the sky here. League communities outside Texas are just so disconnected.

John Shinn‏@john_shinn
Boren: If there's not going to be a network, there's no need for expansion. If there is a network, there almost has to be expansion.

John E. Hoover ‏@johnehoover · 43m43 minutes ago
Same with conference championship game. Boren ultimately will push hard for all three.

Eddie Radosevich‏@Eddie_Rado
Boren says they are currently in a 'fact finding' stage, not a decision making stage.

John E. Hoover ‏@johnehoover · 42m42 minutes ago
I fear the fact finding stage may never end, which ironically will be the end of the Big 12.

John E. Hoover ‏@johnehoover · 38m38 minutes ago
Re LHN: Boren told me in Jan. B12 schools would get $4-6m from network. Go to 12, give $1m each to Texas for length of LHN contract. Solved.

Eddie Radosevich ‏@Eddie_Rado · 1h1 hour ago
.@Big12Conference decisions needed to be made (in order, acc. to @President_Boren):
1.) Conf. Network
2.) Expansion
3.) Championship game

John E. Hoover ‏@johnehoover · 38m38 minutes ago
And Big 12 won't work without all three.

Dennis Dodd Verified account 
‏@dennisdoddcbs
Boren confirms he will vote the wishes of regents but says can’t remember last time he and the board haven’t been unanimous.

John E. Hoover ‏@johnehoover · 39m39 minutes ago
Does anyone buy either one of these?

George Schroeder Verified account 
‏@GeorgeSchroeder
.@UofOklahoma's David Boren: “We’re a member of the Big 12. We don’t plan on going anywhere…We want to help strengthen this whatever way."

John E. Hoover Verified account 
‏@johnehoover
#SerenityNow

George Schroeder Verified account 
‏@GeorgeSchroeder
Boren also noted: no Big 12 school can be forced to drop its 3rd-tier media rights.

John E. Hoover ‏@johnehoover · 36m36 minutes ago
This is very, very important. Right now. But ... rules can be voted on and thus changed.

Dennis Dodd Verified account 
‏@dennisdoddcbs
Boren expands date of final decision. Largely thought to be Labor Day, Boren says, “by the end of the year.”

John E. Hoover ‏@johnehoover · 36m36 minutes ago
And...we wait.

Dennis Dodd Verified account 
‏@dennisdoddcbs
Boren with biggest bomb of the day. Asked voting ratio to expand etc. “In practicality I think it means everybody.”

John E. Hoover ‏@johnehoover · 35m35 minutes ago
How big decisions are made. "This is the way it is. Will you vote with us & look smart or against us & look dumb?"

John E. Hoover ‏@johnehoover · 20m20 minutes ago
If Big 12 network = profit, does that mean TV market? Houston 10th, Tampa 13, Denver 18, Orlando 19, Hartford 30, SLC 33, Cincy 34, Memp 48

Kevin Heath‏@okieproud76
@johnehoover If the B12N doesn't materialize, the conference dies sending KSU, ISU, TCU, BU, TTU, and possibly OSU to Gof5 hell.

John E. Hoover ‏@johnehoover · 6m6 minutes ago
Yep.

 

[junglehusky]

So Dodd has a tweet out there saying Boren wants to get a network first and then focus on expansion and a CCG if it makes sense.

Yikes

I was talking to someone in the past few days who is in the know and was told as of now it is Big 12 or nothing. No ACC or B1G on the front or back burner. Obviously things change any given day but there u go

Hopefully we keep our football program afloat until the B1G rips the crap out of the ACC

It makes sense to figure out how to proceed with the network (LHN stuff) by talking to partners with a small number of candidates in mind. They will go over data from the other consulting firm which will likely model different membership configurations versus what they can expect for network contracts....

 

[jostar1]

Jake Trotter ‏@Jake_Trotter · 2h2 hours ago
Boren: “If you’re going to have a network, you’re probably going to have 12 or 14 members” to have enough content.

Jake Trotter ‏@Jake_Trotter · 2h2 hours ago
Boren says he’s received materials form 25 schools regarding expansion. “There’s a lot of interest in this conference."

Jake Trotter ‏@Jake_Trotter · 2h2 hours ago
Boren: "I personally don’t have any (expansion) candidates."

Jake Trotter ‏@Jake_Trotter · 1h1 hour ago
Boren: "You have to devise a revenue distribution that lets (Texas) get paid back” for giving up the $ in the LHN.

Jake Trotter ‏@Jake_Trotter · 1h1 hour ago
Boren: "In practicality, you need everybody” on board in order to more forward on these big issues. “The consensus could be to do nothing."

Jake Trotter ‏@Jake_Trotter · 1h1 hour ago
"This has to be the kind of decision that has to be reached by consensus.” Boren suggesting it will have to be a 10-0 vote.

Jake Trotter ‏@Jake_Trotter · 1h1 hour ago
Boren says he’d ideally like to see a vote on expansion, network “by the end of the year.” A timeline echoed by others.

Jake Trotter ‏@Jake_Trotter · 1h1 hour ago
Boren: "My hunch is that a Big 12 network might be very advantageous to the entire conference. But my hunch might be wrong."

Jake Trotter ‏@Jake_Trotter · 1h1 hour ago
Big takeaway here: Boren pinning a lot on a conference network being lucrative for the Big 12, hoping it can solve LHN issue. We’ll see...

Jake Trotter Retweeted
Bo Mattingly ‏@SportsTalkwBo · 42m42 minutes ago
Switzer: We don’t have the population numbers in the Big 12 to have a big TV network.

 

[Exit 4]

Seems to me it all boils down to the first one to take UConn wins. Put UConn in either the B1G or the ACC and the B12 pipe dream takes a mortal blow. Nothing lucrative can been devised from the remaining chess pieces, particularly if UConn to the ACC cements an ACC tv network (sealing in Clemson & Florida State). Its become so obvious. And I think Texas will dicker around forever on this, giving Swofford the time he needs to make the ACCnetwork happen.

 

[jostar1]

Brian DavisVerified account
@BDavisAAS
Covers the Texas Longhorns for the Austin American-Statesman

Brian Davis ‏@BDavisAAS · 2h2 hours ago
Texas Chancellor Bill McRaven said he's not getting into Big 12 talk: "The fact of the matter is, these are the presidents decisions."

Brian Davis ‏@BDavisAAS · 2h2 hours ago
Asked about LHN, McRaven said, "(Fenves) gotta work through these. When he comes up to me and makes recommendations, I'll consider them."

Jake Trotter Verified account 
‏@Jake_Trotter
Boren: "You have to devise a revenue distribution that lets (Texas) get paid back” for giving up the $ in the LHN.

Brian Davis ‏@BDavisAAS · 2h2 hours ago
See, here's the issue. Why does Boren assume Texas will just roll over and give up LHN?

Brian Davis ‏@BDavisAAS · 1h1 hour ago
Most (all?) affiliated with Texas believe Horns will be good/great again. That's why it'd be tough to let LHN go.

 

[nd73]

End of the year till any movement happens. The Big 12 is a dysfunctional conference.

 

[upstater]

Did ESPN really make the suggestions as to which teams the ACC should pick, or was that just BC's AD lying?

 

[caw]

End of the year till any movement happens. The Big 12 is a dysfunctional conference.

Neither the ACC nor the B12 have handled expansion well compared to the other three.

 

[upstater]

When you read these tweets from Boren, you realize that he is right: John Shinn (@john_shinn) | Twitter

He isn't kooky on this issue. They need the extra revs of a network to compete. Which means they need to expand.

Can it happen given Texas? Well, Oklahoma is hurting and will be looking to leave, so the question is, how much does Texas really like being in the B12 with Oklahoma? If this isn't a big deal for Texas, then yeah they probably shouldn't give up the LHN.

 

[djct1999]

When you read these tweets from Boren, you realize that he is right: John Shinn (@john_shinn) | Twitter

He isn't kooky on this issue. They need the extra revs of a network to compete. Which means they need to expand.

Can it happen given Texas? Well, Oklahoma is hurting and will be looking to leave, so the question is, how much does Texas really like being in the B12 with Oklahoma? If this isn't a big deal for Texas, then yeah they probably shouldn't give up the LHN.

I think the question is deeper than that. Sure, Texas can land with at least 3 of the other conferences but at what cost? If they join the Big, they lose some of their identity and a lot of their power. By joining either coast they can become second fiddle in their state or region. The only place Texas can remain as King is in the Big 12.

 

[Matrim55]

 

[Matrim55]

 

[CoastAtlantic]

Big 12 Expansion - The Beginning Of The End?

Adding two more schools would help Chairman Boren wrest democratic control of the conference away from Texas. But, there’s a funny catch-22 there because it will take a Texas vote to let anyone else in the conference. A 75 percent super majority (eight schools) must vote in favor of expansion and it’s believed both Texas Tech and TCU will follow Texas’ lead. If OU, OSU, Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and West Virginia favor conference expansion, that still won’t be enough to get it done. Could this eventually lead to the Big 12’s demise?

One former member of Oklahoma State’s athletic oversight committee suggested the Power 5 conferences could realign into four 16-school conferences instead.

“To me, I think the Big 12 just needs to die. I think we’re going to see four 16-team conferences and the Big 12 ends up on the chopping block. It’s the most easily poached. Look at our history. We’re the easiest to split up, easiest to divvy out.”

 

[jlarson]

Has to be related to TV rights or conference realignment. Could be FSU announcing their departure of the ACC for the B1G?

If that happened, there is no doubt UCONN would be in the short list for the ACC.

 

[Dooley]

And here goes the B1G, taking their mammoth battleships out of hyperdrive right at the last second to snatch up whoever they want. Ambush style.