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Message: [QUOTE="Ldandy, post: 950678, member: 4584"] I understand that it must feel like a life or death version of musical chairs for UCONN, especially with all of this new P5 subdivision crap being thrown around in the media. I sympathize with you guys, as IMO you should already have been safely in. That said TY is possibly the worst of all CR Bloggers. He has been pimping Big 12 expansion longer than anybody, despite the obvious distaste for it by those in positions of power in the Big 12 conference and in TV. In order for his plan to be relevant one would have to believe that: 1)ESPN and Fox would be willing to raise the financial package of The Big 12 so that the per team payout for 14 teams matches what it did for 10. In reality current teams may want even more money to make up the difference for increased travel expenses to Provo, Storrs, and Orlando. When you take into account the fact that ESPN already owns the media rights to all four of these teams as an independent(BYU) and as members of The AAC (UCF, UC, UCONN) why would they be motivated to pay between 5-10X more for something they already own? 2)BYU. What's changed? They've flirted with Big 8 and Big 12 Membership in the past but have bowed out each time for "personal" reasons. Media deals are definitely driving change in the landscape, but at BYU? I'm not convinced. As the last remaining big football brand available, they are attractive. That said are they valuable enough to accept the concessions they will request from any conference? 3)Texas recruiting. The schools of the North hold on to the promise of mining Texas Talent as a means to keep their programs afloat. While IMO the effects are exaggerated on schools like KU or ISU, they believe it is vital for their survival. How would these talent deficient schools react to potential less exposure for their programs in Texas? Even with the potential of recruiting in FL or Ohio more regularly, I think they would object fervently. 4)UT. They are the 800 lb Gorilla in the room. As they go so does the conference. If they are not interested in building something like this(which I believe to be the case)it won't happen. If it did come together and later on they decided they wanted to do something else, no GOR or potential law suit would hold them. They will do what they want with their program. As long as their conference arrangement benefits them they will be quiet. If something changes... If UCONN were to join this conference It could potentially become another AAC should UT, OU, and KU decide to look elsewhere in a few years. Hold out for better. [/QUOTE]

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