Conference Realignment..?

[Deleted User 89]

dumb

the Big12, sadly, is dead. that’s just silly defiant theater

Really? If the XII folds, but if it's due to interference w/ contract(s), the potential claims of damages don't evaporate when they paint over the league's logos.

There's still a half a billion $$ in play for league as well, some or all of which may be included in those claims.

imo, of course

i agree, but that money dries up eventually. unless the landscape shifts again, in a different direction, the can is just getting kicked down the road.

i guess if one is ok with our “peers” making 10s of millions of dollars+ more than us in perpetuity, then i guess KU could just stay put in a sub-par Big12 and relegate itself to being a b-ball-only school. i’m not cool with that, but i guess it wouldn’t be the end of the world

[CrimsonNBlue]

I didn't see it as offensive. Big 12 is worth more to them alive than dead. And it wasn't just kansas to the AAC it was a merger.

Or maybe they think Kansas to the big 10 is an unrealistic ending? At that point an AAC Big12 merger still leaves us in the 4th or 5th best conference which is exactly where we have been.

Machinating Kansas into AAC by any means is offensive and pissed KU off. KU is a P4 product that has made ESPN bank.

This goes beyond betting or “thinking” of any outcome. They’re trying to use their large threatening influence to pull the strings and line it up in their favor. That’s what cartels do.

[Deleted User 89]

“On the field, a reconstituted Big 12 with Boise State, Central Florida, Houston and possibly an independent like BYU would expand the footprint and preserve a conference identity centered on high-powered offenses.”

i don’t know why any of those schools would trust the leadership of the Big12 to look forward to the future...they’ve been reactive, rather than proactive, since the beginning of this carrousel

[CrimsonNBlue]

dumb

the Big12, sadly, is dead. that’s just silly defiant theater

Really? If the XII folds, but if it's due to interference w/ contract(s), the potential claims of damages don't evaporate when they paint over the league's logos.

There's still a half a billion $$ in play for league as well, some or all of which may be included in those claims.

imo, of course

i agree, but that money dries up eventually. unless the landscape shifts again, in a different direction, the can is just getting kicked down the road.

i guess if one is ok with our “peers” making 10s of millions of dollars+ more than us in perpetuity, then i guess KU could just stay put in a sub-par Big12 and relegate itself to being a b-ball-only school. i’m not cool with that, but i guess it wouldn’t be the end of the world

I am all for lawsuits against ESPN and UT/OU lining KU’s pockets to put itself in a position to take that B1G offer whether that means buyout money or a revenue distribution discount.

[Deleted User 89]

Really? If the XII folds, but if it's due to interference w/ contract(s), the potential claims of damages don't evaporate when they paint over the league's logos.

There's still a half a billion $$ in play for league as well, some or all of which may be included in those claims.

imo, of course

i agree, but that money dries up eventually. unless the landscape shifts again, in a different direction, the can is just getting kicked down the road.

i guess if one is ok with our “peers” making 10s of millions of dollars+ more than us in perpetuity, then i guess KU could just stay put in a sub-par Big12 and relegate itself to being a b-ball-only school. i’m not cool with that, but i guess it wouldn’t be the end of the world

I am all for lawsuits against ESPN and UT/OU lining KU’s pockets to put itself in a position to take that B1G offer whether that means buyout money or a revenue distribution discount.

yes

[CrimsonNBlue]

“On the field, a reconstituted Big 12 with Boise State, Central Florida, Houston and possibly an independent like BYU would expand the footprint and preserve a conference identity centered on high-powered offenses.”

i don’t know why any of those schools would trust the leadership of the Big12 to look forward to the future...they’ve been reactive, rather than proactive, since the beginning of this carrousel

There’s no way Girod would be on board with this.

[NewtonHawk11]

I think "sit tight" is a viable approach. At least 'til some smoke clears.

https://sports.yahoo.com/opinion-big-12 ... 15641.html

"The Big 12’s best chance at survival is sticking together — at least for now. Unless the college football oligarchs decide otherwise, the league can backfill from the AAC and the Mountain West while maintaining Power 5 status. College football is largely a consumer product, but the Sun Belt has shown playing the sport at a high level still matters.

While Big 12 schools each received $37.7 million in television revenue during the 2019-20 school year, that number will undoubtedly plummet without Oklahoma and Texas. Even with the drop off, those payouts may still be more lucrative than the $5.3 million each AAC member received this year.

On the field, a reconstituted Big 12 with Boise State, Central Florida, Houston and possibly an independent like BYU would expand the footprint and preserve a conference identity centered on high-powered offenses. Not to mention create compelling TV, which is ESPN’s endgame to begin with."

Just plain gross.

[Deleted User 89]

“On the field, a reconstituted Big 12 with Boise State, Central Florida, Houston and possibly an independent like BYU would expand the footprint and preserve a conference identity centered on high-powered offenses.”

i don’t know why any of those schools would trust the leadership of the Big12 to look forward to the future...they’ve been reactive, rather than proactive, since the beginning of this carrousel

There’s no way Girod would be on board with this.

wouldn’t be on-board with a reconstituted conference considering of the aforementioned programs?

i’d hope not

[CrimsonNBlue]

“On the field, a reconstituted Big 12 with Boise State, Central Florida, Houston and possibly an independent like BYU would expand the footprint and preserve a conference identity centered on high-powered offenses.”

i don’t know why any of those schools would trust the leadership of the Big12 to look forward to the future...they’ve been reactive, rather than proactive, since the beginning of this carrousel

There’s no way Girod would be on board with this.

wouldn’t be on-board with a reconstituted conference considering of the aforementioned programs?

i’d hope not

Right.

I also think he’s comfortable kicking the can down the 2025 road to make sure we end up where he wants us and his legacy to be.

[InfiniteJ]

Maybe KU is going to have to bide it's time in a shit conference (probably a new version of the Big XII) for a couple years before it'll be able to make the move to a power conference...which hopefully will be the B1G.

[Sparko]

I think "sit tight" is a viable approach. At least 'til some smoke clears.

https://sports.yahoo.com/opinion-big-12 ... 15641.html

"The Big 12’s best chance at survival is sticking together — at least for now. Unless the college football oligarchs decide otherwise, the league can backfill from the AAC and the Mountain West while maintaining Power 5 status. College football is largely a consumer product, but the Sun Belt has shown playing the sport at a high level still matters.

While Big 12 schools each received $37.7 million in television revenue during the 2019-20 school year, that number will undoubtedly plummet without Oklahoma and Texas. Even with the drop off, those payouts may still be more lucrative than the $5.3 million each AAC member received this year.

On the field, a reconstituted Big 12 with Boise State, Central Florida, Houston and possibly an independent like BYU would expand the footprint and preserve a conference identity centered on high-powered offenses. Not to mention create compelling TV, which is ESPN’s endgame to begin with."

These are great posts and I thank you for taking the time--good synopses.

Here is the thing to watch out for: ESPN is pretty desperate. Their traditional funding and cable-based model is imploding. I think we see them "reorganizing" under some bankruptcy protection within a few years. They are a Disney subsidiary currently, but watch out if they get bundled away and sold somewhere. Disney can eat some costs, but they are predatory and greedy. ESPN is just a money-losing part of the giant and they will cut their losses I am betting. Unless they can cheat and kill competition for a favored few professional schools. I would say litigation could be a real mess here. We know the on-air talent got torpedoed already. COVID killed a hell of a lot of their revenue too. Greeks bearing gifts I posit. . . What TV money?

[ChalkRocker]

There’s no way Girod would be on board with this.

wouldn’t be on-board with a reconstituted conference considering of the aforementioned programs?

i’d hope not

Right.

I also think he’s comfortable kicking the can down the 2025 road to make sure we end up where he wants us and his legacy to be.

Yep. Sit tight, don't panic

http://m.kusports.com/news/2021/jul/28/ ... s-are-hig/

[NewtonHawk11]

Yeah I think waiting beyond the end of this year spells doom for Kansas and where they will end up. I think you have about 6 months to decide. If you wait, your time may already be gone.

Just what I feel.

[ChalkRocker]

Yeah I think waiting beyond the end of this year spells doom for Kansas and where they will end up. I think you have about 6 months to decide. If you wait, your time may already be gone.

Just what I feel.

That's fair. We're all throwin' darts, but in reality, we're just along for the ride...

That said, I'm not nearly as anxious as I was last time around. I'm closer to "whatevs" that "oh, shi*!".

[CrimsonNBlue]

We definitely should not go down with the sinking ship.

[Deleted User 863]

Yeah I think waiting beyond the end of this year spells doom for Kansas and where they will end up. I think you have about 6 months to decide. If you wait, your time may already be gone.

Just what I feel.

Then AAC is probably the only option, right?

Because a big 10 deal probably isn't getting done in 6 months. All these conferences are locked into contracts already. Their schools aren't going to take less money to help Kansas in the short term.

This is going to play out over years, not months.

[Deleted User 863]

Could we just go rogue like Notre Dame football for a while? Let the other sports merge into something like AAC?

[NewtonHawk11]

Yeah I think waiting beyond the end of this year spells doom for Kansas and where they will end up. I think you have about 6 months to decide. If you wait, your time may already be gone.

Just what I feel.

That's fair. We're all throwin' darts, but in reality, we're just along for the ride...

That said, I'm not nearly as anxious as I was last time around. I'm closer to "whatevs" that "oh, shi*!".

I'm the opposite quite frankly. KU has no one to hang on to right now. You had Texas and OU 10 years ago. You don't have them now. You have to sell yourself to conferences rather than sell to OU and Texas. It's a much more stressful case for KU than what it was 10 years ago.

[MICHHAWK]

i would be perfectly fine if the BIG 12 added any combination of: houston, cincy, ucf, colorado st, memphis, byu, smu,

to get to 12 or 14

I could live with that just fine.

that is assuming we keep the 8 together.

[Sparko]

Great discussion—which is all we have. But I agree we need to wait. Where is the media going next? Do not lock in if Amazon Prime will offer a lot more as an example. I am leaving cable/big media behind and am cancelling my crazily expensive 200 channel stuff. I mostly watch streams anyway outside of college BB and the Chiefs. I just stopped watching most TV. Need to see where this resets. Or lead the way into new media IMHO