It's been debated as a possibility for a long time, and while I initially poo-poo'ed the idea of Texas coming to the Big Ten, I hadn't envisioned the Big 12 crumbling like boilerdowd's morning coffee cake.Once that started looking possible, and there was talk of Texas going to the Pac 10, well, I laughed -- heartily -- at that. The Pac 10 is a marginal conference and if Tejas wants to make dienero, the Big Ten or the SEC are the logical choices.
And if they want their currently well-respected academics to not be muddied by joining the community-college-level academic institutions of the SEC, well, the only choice is the Big Ten.
And as per the news in Kansas City (why not?), Texas and Texas A&M are "in talks" to join the Big Ten, while Oklahoma is ready to jump to the SEC. Texas and Oklahoma in different conferences? USC banned from the postseason? It's like cats and dogs LIVING TOGETHER!
Let's all just keep in mind that they can "talk" all they want and rumormongers can spread all the rumors they want, but until they get invited somewhere, nothing's nothing. It's only logical that they'd begin discussing their options and inclinations, though, since their conference seems to be teetering on crashing down around them.
(Thanks to Phillip for the heads-up.)
7 comments:
All this talk just makes me hope more and more than ND gets left out in the cold...
The Big 10 is expanding so much, it is going to be like a Twinkie the size of New York. (sorry - J. started it)
Whatever happens, Texas and A&M are going together. They are a package deal.
I don't know if the the PAC-10 is marginal..... they have maybe 3 good football teams and 3 good basketball teams, but they always seem to do well in the olympic sports. What the PAC-10 has going for them that they haven't utilized yet is the fact that they have big media markets in their footprint. If they bring a PAC10 Network online, which I think they're working on, they can be every bit as successful as the BIGTEN Network. Phoenix, LA, Bay Area, Portland, Seattle, and now Denver? That's a lot of TVs. Texas has to decide if they want that or Chicago, Indy, Cleveland/Columbus/Cincy, Detroit, Pitt/Philly. I don't see Texas going to the SEC. It's P10 or B10.
The Pac-10 is a decent conference that will become more profitable when they have their network up and running, but unfortunately for them, their footprint is much, much smaller than ours. Even if they landed the Dallas and Houston markets, they'd be bigger IIRC, but not by much at all, and of course if we add NYC then there's no question at all.
They were also a solid academic conference, almost as good as us, but they caved in a little to admit Arizona and ASU in the '70s, and of course the proposed six-team addition would blow even that standard to hell.
If the Big Ten still is in the hunt for Texas and A&M, that's pretty good at this point, given that Colorado is already out the door. (Of course that rumor predated the first Big 16 rumor, so it shouldn't be a surprise. CU is a good match both athletically academically, lol.)
Even without Rutgers/NYC, adding Dallas and Houston turns the BTN from a big network to an I-will-eat-your-children network. Lincoln, Columbia, and Pittsburgh (only a semi-addition given that they're already in the footprint) would be nice little crumbs on top of that, especially given that Notre Dame would be hanging out with Iowa State, Kansas, and Kansas State.
Always fantasized Texas joining the league after Frank the Tank slant on them. Big Ten still looking at my fantasy line up of Texas, ND, Nebraska, Missouri, and *whatever else*.
If getting Texas A&M is the whatever else... then bring it on. I personally find myself googling Big Ten expansion every 10 minutes and reading the latest news articles. I'm starting to lose my mind, I need Mr. Dulaney to make some announcements soon or I'm going to the nut house with Jdawg.
You lost my attention after mentioning coffee cake.
Living in Big XII country and watching how Texas has handled this situation, I'm not sure I think they'll be a positive addition.
BHGP had an interesting take that UT might be a very shiny, golden, rotten apple. They are not going to give up the influence that they have at this moment. The Big Ten is only going to invite schools who had to the bottom line for MSU, IU, and Minny. If UT knows its worth $35M, but it's only getting $22M, how long will the happy feelings last? Texas has more or less been the catalyst for the only two major conferences to disappear in recent memory.
Whose to say that they aren't going to join the Pac-10 or Big Ten and expect special consideration or influence like they currently have? And with a 16 team Big Ten, maybe they grab a handful of those schools and bolt for more lucrative pastures (sound familiar?)
My experience is it's better to take the court with 4 good, confident teammates than 1 superstar player who is going to demand the ball every possession.
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