writer has reported that according to his unnamed source that the froggies will likely be voting no against expansion …
No doubt more unnamed sources … deep throats … will be coming outa the woodworks as 10/17 approaches
And basically going against the horns and shooting themselves in both feet when the horns hook’em elsewhere with TT and UH … and leaving TCU behind with their no vote.
Oh the comments on that post…
Some of the posters get it and realize that TCU doesn’t really have much of a say in the matter; basically all up to UT/OU. Others, well, believe that TCU is strong and will land on their feet no matter what. Maybe…maybe not. Actually, pretty civilized responses compared to what can be found elsewhere.
This quote from one of the comments was funny:
And for an outside kicker…Big 12 fans might want to cheer for Clemson to beat Louisville this weekend. If Louisville beats Clemson, it is very possible the most meaningful CFB game played in Texas, and for that matter the entire Big 12 footprint, will be the Louisville-Houston game. Think of that picture. Two teams the Big 12 chose to ignore, playing for what may be a clear path to a playoff slot.
OU I get. It really helps them to appear opposed, or to even be opposed to expansion based on UTs desire to expand.
TCU is interesting because as noted above, this puts them at odds with UT, which is somewhere they shouldn’t want to be.
They don’t get too many recruits from Houston, but yes, we’ll be competition once the 12 implodes, so maybe that is in their thinking.
Of course, this could be shoddy reporting (as let’s face it, most sports journalists suck) or it could be from someone in the AD who doesn’t know. When the real arm twisting begins, it’ll be interesting to see what happens.
Or, TCU could be going the way UT wants them to go. Keep UH out while allowing UT to appear supportive to our entry. Would not be the first time a ruler used an underling to do its dirty work. What does TCU fear- the wrath of UH vs the rewards of doing Texas’s dirty work. I
It’s especially weird/dumb since the only reason that they were invited is that their AD drove to Austin and begged Deloss Dodds.
I’ve thought it about this, and I don’t think it’s likely.
I think the pressure is coming from Abbott on UT and he may have made a deal to help them with the UT Houston thing. But, he isn’t stupid.
It’s too transparent, and if the reports on OU are correct, needless
The strategy for the smaller schools makes a lot of sense if they believe – as I do – that the Big XII’s stability isn’t affected by expansion. They can collect a couple more payments from their annual home-and-homes with UT and OU and take home a little more revenue for a couple years as they patiently wait to see whether (or rather when) the conference’s two remaining blue-blood programs are going to bolt for greener pastures. They’d just have to basically accept that UT and OU are as good as gone and there’s not a lot that they can do about it, which might be the best strategy here.
I disagree with that assessment.
I think that expansion can help stability if you bring in the right teams.
Think back a few years to the ACC when they were considered the “weak” conference. There were even rumors of FSU jumping over.
Boren is right that the 12 is psychologically disadvantaged. For the last few years, they really haven’t had marquis programs, and I think everyone here if asked which conference is weakest would pick the 12.
Sure, they went to the playoffs last year, but Clemson stomped them a new mudhole. In cross conference play this year, they haven’t covered themselves in glory.
Look at Louisville. They came into the ACC and along with traditional powers Clemson and FSU have revived its perception.
If only there was a high performing team the 12 could bring in right now that would help their strength perception problem…
The Big XII’s perception problem isn’t necessarily its strength so much as its market presence, though. It was just two years ago, after all, that Baylor and TCU were playoff contenders with KSU also being a top-25 team. That’s as many ranked teams as the Big Ten had that year. Last year, they had 4, which was more than the ACC or Pac-12, and more per capita than the SEC. It’s only really this year that the strength of the Big XII has been questioned, and the discussion I’ve seen on it mainly points to the conference just having a down year this year.
On the other hand, what the Big XII doesn’t have is markets. Setting aside the question of whether or not they have a substantial presence in the Houston market (hint: they probably do), the largest non-Texas market in their footprint is Kansas City at 33. Even including the Texas ones, the Big XII has only 4 markets in the top 33, and 6 in the top 50. Let’s compare that to the other P5:
Conference | Top 33 | Top 50
Big XII | 4 | 6
SEC | 9 | 14
B1G | 9 | 13
ACC | 12 | 18
Pac-12 | 6 | 7
With the exception of the Pac-12 (which is in a unique position because of its schools’ geographical location) every other P5 has double the number of top-50 markets. Texas (State of, but also University of) is absolutely keeping the Big XII afloat. Market-wise, the dust bowl schools and WVU do virtually nothing for the Big XII outside of OU and KU. Including Western Pennsylvania as part of WVU’s market doesn’t really change the calculation terribly much, either. The fact of the matter is, with or without UH, the Big XII has very little to offer, and is probably doomed as such.
worry not, my fellow Coogs. This will all come to pass in the next 30 days, and we will be on the right side this time when the dust settles… I’ve been assured by someone who is definitely involved. The other power conferences have NOT been sitting idly by, nor have our Cougar Administrators.
That’s all we need to know at this point…CTH is well taken care of, as are our Coogs. Just have a little faith
Until then, the tension is thick enough to cut with a knife around here!!
Texas will leave Big 12 if they don’t have an expansion to the league. Worst kept secret around.
And looking at those 4 Top 33 markets, 2 of those are split. We all know about Houston’s SEC issues, and Kansas City has issues as well with Missouri going to the SEC. One could say that Missouri was the biggest loss for the Big 12 in the last round of expansion as they lost the St Louis market and took a hit in KC. Also lost the Denver market when Colorado left.
fYI…TCU gets quite a few commits from the HTown area.
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