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

[WallStreetHusky]

This is a link from the free paper Metro, the NEW YORK CITY edition....

UConn to the Big 12 - The latest on potential conference expansion – Metro

 

[MattMang23]

This is a link from the free paper Metro, the NEW YORK CITY edition....

UConn to the Big 12 - The latest on potential conference expansion – Metro

Why are they covering us there in NYC? We have no fans there.

 

[CL82]

This is a link from the free paper Metro, the NEW YORK CITY edition....

UConn to the Big 12 - The latest on potential conference expansion – Metro

Consider this: the flight time from Morgantown, West Virginia (currently the Eastern-most outpost in the Big 12) to Lubbock, Texas is three hours and four minutes. The flight time from Hartford to Lubbock is three hours and 52 minutes. Not much of a difference, all things considered.

Lubbock to WVU flight time : 3 hours 4 minutes
Drive time to campus: 1 hour 28 minutes
Lubbock to WVU - Total travel time: 4 hours 32 minutes

Lubbock to Hartford flight time : 3 hours 52 minutes
Drive time to the Rent: 20 minutes
Lubbock to UConn - Total travel time: 4 hours 22 minutes

Just sayin.

 

[Marty Jackson]

The thing is, if you are in ESPN's crosshairs you're screwed. IMO the B12 is going to be undervalued by ESPN, now that Big East is gone, with an eye toward consolidation to the P4. The play for the B12 is take the money now and start planning how to handle the next contract, possibly courting an all Fox deal.

BINGO.... if ESPN can shave off OU and UT into one of their other properties, huge win for them.
the other schools are just the growing list of school's that have been "Uconn'd" in the world of CR.

 

[sportsart]

Why are they covering us there in NYC? We have no fans there.

A UConn alum, based in Boston (say it ain't so) writing for a paper in NY. That about covers it.

 

[Adios]

At least we have the assurance we're going to land somewhere, some day.

 

[huskymedic]

At least he didn't go searching for a previous AD's thoughts again...

John Altavilla @ Courant: Oklahoma President: Big 12 Expansion Not A Certainty

 

[The Funster]

No one makes more "I told you so" posts about things pretty much everyone disagrees on than you. Scoreboard!

Wow. They really are two sides to the same coin, aren't they?

 

[huskymedic]

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Wow. They really are two sides to the same coin, aren't they?

Like a penny with a hole in it

 

[atom58]

Yet he led the charge for unequal revenue sharing, turned down a conference network, botched the PAC move, and now has been the single source of most of the Big 12 dysfunction and drama in recent history from his wallflower comments to his latest comments about no expansion. On top of that he has allowed OU to be in a conference with no long term plan with much of the blame on his shoulders because of short sighted decisions with long term consequences. He has watched the Big 12 go from the premier power conference that set trends with things like conference championship games to what it is now. Hopefully he can get this fixed before he dies or his legacy will be tarnished form what was otherwise a brilliant career.

If that is all true, he is certainly "batting 1000 now" - push for the CCG, 4 team expansion, and conference network. If he does not get it all done, that is likely the fault of the other presidents - and Texas which would always mark them as "does not play well with others". His recent comments could have been an Adlerian paradoxical intention, producing the desired positive result as a result of a negative invocation.

 

[atom58]

... a paradoxical intention ... or maybe just a veiled threat. I can see the SEC taking both OU and OK State at the same time easily as a package deal. Also, the Pac 12 go-it-alone network continues to struggle so adding another state or two could help. At present the Pac 12 can add two teams and the Big XII four teams and the P5 would be five 14 team conferences. Whether this will actually happen is unknown but the other players on the sidelines ("Big 10", SEC, ACC) are carefully (and perhaps fearfully) watching all of this unfold I am certain as it could affect their future if they have any thought of one day having 16 teams. The pool of "acceptable candidates" might be dwindling. We seem to be reaching a tipping point IMO.

 

[MountainMan]

If that is all true, he is certainly "batting 1000 now" - push for the CCG, 4 team expansion, and conference network. If he does not get it all done, that is likely the fault of the other presidents - and Texas which would always mark them as "does not play well with others". His recent comments could have been an Adlerian paradoxical intention, producing the desired positive result as a result of a negative invocation.

It would sure seem that way. This way his demands get met and he is the hero of the conference or he can say I tried everything I could but UT just wouldn't budge so now we have no choice but to look out for the states best interest and look for a better conference situation.

 

[gioff23]

Oh good grief, Boren's an idiot with a legacy hanging in the balance over CF realignment and the SEC and BIG are fearfully watching from the sidelines. When did the WV contingent take over this board?

 

[atom58]

The LHN is an albatross not only to the Big XII but also to Texas who cannot get into any other conference as a full member with that network still running. The other issue is you don't really see them wanting to take a back seat to Alabama in the SEC, Southern Cal, etc. in the Pac 12, Michigan and Ohio State in the "Big 10", or the NC schools in the ACC. When they come to their senses, they will support a 2 to 4 team expansion to keep their regional conference running - my thought anyway.

 

[CL82]

The LHN is an albatross not only to the Big XII but also to Texas who cannot get into any other conference as a full member with that network still running.

Uh, sign us up for that albatross please.

 

[huskymedic]

Consider source...

Geoff Ketchum ‏@gkketch 2h2 hours ago
Per Multiple sources: Big 12 expansion is gaining little ground. No school has six votes at this point, let alone the eight needed.

 

[sportsart]

Consider source...

Geoff Ketchum ‏@gkketch 2h2 hours ago
Per Multiple sources: Big 12 expansion is gaining little ground. No school has six votes at this point, let alone the eight needed.

It's pretty obvious that expansion is not going to happen. There isn't going to be this breakthrough where all of a sudden 2 or 4 teams magically get the votes.

So I'm going to go out on a limb and say no expansion. I'll be back for my victory lap in late October.

 

[huskymedic]

Pete Thamel@SIPeteThamel 2 hours ago
My Big 12 expansion update: Houston and Cincy surging. BYU crumbling. Everyone still laughing at Boren.
Big 12 expansion process drags on, with dysfunction only constant for league

Longer read but essentially:

• The Big 12 adds Cincinnati and Houston: 60%
• Nothing happens: 30%
• Something wacky happens: 10% - Always leave the Big 12 wiggle room for the unpredictable. Could there be four teams added for a money grab and an entrée into Florida? Sure. But the only school not yet mentioned that is still perceived to have a realistic chance in all this is Connecticut. Yet UConn's chances have dimmed as BYU's candidacy has crumbled, as both could have conceivably been added as football-only. UConn would have placed its other sports in the Big East. (UConn's candidacy really got hurt when the league decided against a television network, as UConn's Northeast market was a much better sell than its football program.) What else wacky could happen? Nothing should be left off the table. But for now, only Cincinnati, Houston, BYU and Connecticut have a reasonable chance. And it appears Cincinnati and Houston have pulled away. But this being the Big 12, we know there's a lot of time left for something strange to happen.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Unfortunately, I think Thamel's scenarios are closest to what is actually happening. With BYU's candidacy crumbling due to the Honor Code, so does ours. We never had a shot at getting in over UC, and the more press UH gets the slimmer the chance we get in over them.

 

[Exit 4]

Unfortunately, I think Thamel's scenarios are closest to what is actually happening. With BYU's candidacy crumbling due to the Honor Code, so does ours. We never had a shot at getting in over UC, and the more press UH gets the slimmer the chance we get in over them.

Perhaps only a nasty protest from Fox could save us now. Fox doesn't want Houston, it wants UConn. It wants something to make FS1 a legit channel east of the Mississippi.

 

[Kolumbo]

Anytime someone suggests the Big 12 and UConn football only, I just can't think of anything wackier. It is maddening I tell ya.

 

[CL82]

If I were in the room I'd argue:

1. ESPN has made it clear that it will prop up ACC and not the B12. There is a considerable rish that we not recieve as good a deal at the end of current TV contract.
2. We have the opportunity to add X million per school if add two schools from now to end of contact and 2X if we add 4. ESPN and FOX are contractually bound to pay us this increase.
3. Our GOR laspses in 2015. After that we are at risk of teams leaving. At 10 teams, we can't sustain a loss of one of more teams, but at 14 teams at least we have a chance.
4. If the Big 12 breaks up there is a risk that many schools in the conference now will not get into another P5 conference.
5. Between now and 2025, there will be no other schools to choose from.
6. Bringing in the best available schools allows them to grow in stature by 2025, helping to assure the conferences survival.
7. We have already publically committed to expansion.
8. Let pick the best 4 out there, maximize our revenue and position ourselves as well as possible for the future.

 

[businesslawyer]

It's pretty obvious that expansion is not going to happen. There isn't going to be this breakthrough where all of a sudden 2 or 4 teams magically get the votes.

So I'm going to go out on a limb and say no expansion. I'll be back for my victory lap in late October.

How can you find room on the track with the number of posters here who seem to be constantly taking victory laps?

 

[SubbaBub]

Consider source...

Geoff Ketchum ‏@gkketch 2h2 hours ago
Per Multiple sources: Big 12 expansion is gaining little ground. No school has six votes at this point, let alone the eight needed.

Of course not. They are still negotiating. Whichever schools they decide to expand with already have 10 votes.

That's how this works. The deciding faction is withholding their votes from anyone viable until they decided not to.

Six votes you say? Meaning four holdouts. UT, BU, TT, and TCU are 4 schools of one side. Hmmm.

Conversely OU, OSU, WVA, KU, KSU, and ISU are all presumably against Houston, until they aren't.

These med-iots (copyright pending) are trying to sell us that there has actually been a vote cast in the matter and said vote is somehow binding.

To quote a very funny commercial, "That's not how any of this works."