WVU gone from BE...Slive ( SEC commish) authorized to negotiate with WVU

[zls44]

not so fast....everyone's favorite mouthpiece chip brown is reporting that part of a&m's acceptance to the sec is contingent on every big 12 school signing a waiver saying they will never sue the sec for this move.

Now why on Earth would they ever sign that?

 

[mattp]

WVU would fit in fine with the SEC, but if you were them, would you rather be an average SEC team or the more often than not BE champion? in the SEC they would do fine, but over the long run they'll trail schools like Florida and Alabama, and overall they'll likely be around the 5-8 out of 14 or 16 or whatever size they settle at.

from the SEC's perspective i don't think WVU adds a whole lot in terms of TV viewership so i doubt they'd invite them. from an athletic and competitive perspective it'd be a great fit, but unfortunately those two things don't seem to drive these decisions anymore

 

[epark88]

Latest news: aTm has an official SEC offer, provided the individual BXII left-behinds don't sue.

So far, Baylor isn't budging and has brought things to a grinding halt for now. Frankly, I can't blame them...

 

[fortebleedsblue]

"Compared to the other BE programs, the atmosphere at WVU games is really BIG TIME. Most of the time the stadium is packed before games and the fans are cheering sideline to sideline."

So your saying the Rent isn't?!

 

[UConnRock]

The "WVU to the SEC" rumor is getting zero traction in SEC country. There is no desire for the SEC to bring in the Wheeling/Morgantown/Charleston TV market and the truth be told, WVU doesn't bring any type of natural rival or eyeballs to the TV screen. The SEC may be backed into the corner by the remaining B-12 teams by having to agree not to take another B-12 team to secure the A&M move. That would eliminate Missouri. There are several ACC teams that would be naturally preferable from a TV market standpoint (Maryland w/ the DC market, NC State to escape the Duke UNC shadow and bring the Raleigh/Durham market, FSU because the Florida market is big enough to split between UF and FSU). I am not even including Clemson as they do not have a huge TV market, but would be a bigger fish than WVU.

As for the Baylor situation.......Baylor is one of the few teams on an island in this whole scenario. OK, OK St., Texas and TTech are negotiating w/ the PAC. Kansas, KSU. Missouri could fall back on the BE. Baylor seems screwed and would fall to the level of SMU and Houston, so I can totally understand their reluctance to sign anything.

 

[buckley503]

Wake me when it is over.

 

[UCPusky]

Interesting read in USA Today with comments from former 16-team WAC Commissioner Karl Benson. Says that not every conference needs to get to 16 and that a 20-team conference would be easier to administer than 16.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/coll...aggage/50291922/1?csp=hf&loc=interstitialskip

Geography and maintaining rivalries is key to success, of course secondary to $$$.

 

[businesslawyer]

It is not just the competition. It is culture, beliefs, and priorities. The SEC's are different that everyone else's. I don't believe that WVU will succeed in that culture and situation in the long term. Again, I think WVU would actually compete at the top of the SEC in the short term...so it isn't about talent/competition.

I agree with this. With all due respect to WVU, they do not have the priorities, fanbase, the wealth, the recruiting territory or the history to compete over the long term with the Floridas, Georgias, Alabamas and LSUs. That doesn't mean they won't ever beat them. And goodnessl knows, they are closer to being able to do so in many ways than we are so I am not knocking them. But they would have serious and material long term structural disadvantages.

 

[gars44]

If this is all about the $$, and I've heard it is, then WVU is not an attractive option. Real small market, small draw, not even medium. And now, Baylor won't sign the liability release!

 

[SAMCRO]

From the article on ESPN.com:
"We were notified yesterday afternoon that at least one Big 12 institution had withdrawn its previous consent and was considering legal action," University of Florida president and SEC chairman Dr. Bernie Machen said in a statement released Wednesday. "The SEC has stated that to consider an institution for membership, there must be no contractual hindrances to its departure. "

So, think any BE schools (or TCU) would block a potential WVU to SEC move if it came to this?

 

[gars44]

It would probably take the SEC some time to get the WVU invite in place, if it were going to happen. Mizzou has been lobbying (everyone in sight) for a year now, and it doesn't even seem close. WVU is farther away than that, although who knows what Oliver Luck has been orchestrating behind the scene. I wonder if Baylor is standing alone, or it is getting behind the scenes support from TX or others. TX wants to keep this thing together more than anyone. They just don't want to share LHN revenues. TX might have to.

 

[mattp]

does anyone really think a Baylor lawsuit will ultimately keep the SEC from getting aTm?

 

[uc1974]

Never sell a Baptist short.

 

[Excalibur]

 

[SAMCRO]

does anyone really think a Baylor lawsuit will ultimately keep the SEC from getting aTm?

If they have the support of top Politicos in the state offices, it could make it interesting. How do you think Baylor got the invite into the Big 12 over some other options in state?

 

[businesslawyer]

No. First, they don't have a case that isn't frivolous, and universities, with time to analyze, don't run away from frivolous lawsuits. Second, the State of Texas, as a political entity, has no power within the SEC. Baylor's only political play was to keep the Aggies from leaving in the first place, but they've apparently lost this one already.

 

[uc1974]

Great 'toon. Baylor may not stop anybody but they will get some $$ out of it and the SEC doesn't want a Baptist hand in its wallet. aTm will probably have to agree to pay any damages itself. The again, maybe Baylor will drop the whole thing. It can't feel good to be in their position and I don't blame them at all.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Exactly. Show's over. Last one out turn off the lights.

Maybe you are right, but it is incredibly self-destructive thinking. If WVU does this, it could cost every school in the conference millions of dollars, even if they get into another conference. Why would the Big 10 or SEC give WVU an equal share if the Big East is on the verge of collapse anyway? They would get a Tier 2 or Tier 3 membership, as the Big 10 was rumored to have been considering a year ago, where maybe they get $5 or $10 million compared to the $25 million everyone else in the league is getting.

The ACC's position is much smarter. Swear undying loyalty to each other, giving you credible negotiating leverage when you have to leave.

 

[businesslawyer]

Swearing undying loyalty only works if people believe it. And I am hard pressed to believe that anyone in the SEC doesn't think that at the very least Clemson and FSU would say "yes" in about six seconds.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

3. If this ( the move to 4 16 team conferences) has to happen, and I don't see why it does, would the three conferences driving the bus get on with it already so that everyone can adjust and get back to watching football please? For the life of me, I still don't see what an SEC member gets by expanding. But what do I know.

This is the biggest wildcard in this game.

Assuming (I know, but for this equation we need assumptions) the P-10 does pull off the UT, TT, OU, OSU expansion to sixteen and after adding (for this example) A&M and WVU, the SEC adds any two of Missouri, Louisville, Va Tech, NC St, Clemson and FSU. The B1G, who may well be the biggest player in this game will still have four cards to draw. Beyond ND, there are no guaranteed targets (and no assurance that ND will join). Could Missouri hold off joining the SEC in the hope that the B1G would have to add them as one of their next four? With Missouri, Kansas (assuming they could break free from KSU) could logically join them in the B1G (if the B1G wanted them) but this would then kill any shot KSU and ISU have at remaining in a major conference. Would Rutgers hold off on BE members joining/merging with the ACC on the hopes that if they are among the few who haven't yet moved the b1G will have no choice but to add them?

For fans and schools who are potentially on the chopping block it would be far easier if the B1G acted aas the P-12 is acting now and the SEC made the jump to sixteen in one step. Unfortunately we will need to live through this soap opera for potentially a few more years as unless the momentum becomes overpowering, the b1G will wait this out for a couple of years.

 

[Excalibur]

The worst possible scenario for UConn is if the SEC takes WVU as a 14th member, the Big 10 decides to match, and the ACC decides that it's fine with 12 teams. That scenario is very much on the table at this point.

 

[FDNY99]

Excaliber hit the proverbial nail right square on the head with his post about the show being over. The football schools have to protect themselves. Just to give you guys some insight into the mentality of the catholic hoops schools...in 2004 I had shoulder surgery from injuries I suffered at a fire (full thickness labrum tear, rotator cuff tear). I was extremely lucky to come under the care of a highly regarded orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC who also was part of the medical staff for St John's athletics. We would talk a lot about UConn, St John's and the Big East. This Dr. told me that Fr. Harrington viewed any school not part of the original Big East as being beneath him...and his feeling was that those schools had to do what ever they were told or they could go elsewhere. He also had that feeling somewhat towards the original schools that were football schools as well. If I were a betting man, I would bet that this mindset is still prevelent among those schools today. That's why I can't see the Big East staying together as it is now constructed. A lot of you bring up the next tv deal and throw around some nice numbers. Can you imagine what things will be like when schools like UConn and Syracuse are bringing in say $15 mill a year and Villanova, St. Johns, and PC are only making $6-$7 million a year....that mindset I just mentioned will only become worse. If Big East football is to survive it is time to split away from the basketball schools and go out on their own, or merge with the remenants of the Big 12.....or each go their seperate ways.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Latest news: aTm has an official SEC offer, provided the individual BXII left-behinds don't sue.

So far, Baylor isn't budging and has brought things to a grinding halt for now. Frankly, I can't blame them...

This is basically the SEC saying to A&M "you resolve the Baylor problem and you're in."

This may at worst need arbitration for A&M and Baylor to come to a settlement (although if the BE were to offer Baylor as some has suggested, we could kill Baylor's argument) and Basylor's role in the demise of thw SWC would damage their position. This may delay the issue for a while but it won't stop it.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Swearing undying loyalty only works if people believe it. And I am hard pressed to believe that anyone in the SEC doesn't think that at the very least Clemson and FSU would say "yes" in about six seconds.

They wouldn't be talking to WVU and Missouri if Clemson and FSU hadn't already said "no".

 

[Excalibur]

They wouldn't be talking to WVU and Missouri if Clemson and FSU hadn't already said "no".

SEC has problems with their own members with those two schools.