- December 17th, 2009, 3:26 pm
#291912
For some of you it appears a little history reset might be in order ...
Back in the Mid '90s, the Pac-10 opened up the crazy realignment round by inviting Texas and Texas A&M into their league. Sensing they'd be left in the Southwest Conference holding the bag (with Kyle Kallander running the show nonetheless), Arkansas left the SWC and took the bid to the SEC.
The Texas Legislature decided they wanted to play hardball with both the Pac-10 & Big 8. They insisted that any league that wanted UT and A&M would have to take at least two other schools with them or they would withhold funding to the Longhorns & Aggies. That led to the Pac-10 backing away and eventually the merger between the four SWC schools and the Big 8 to form the new Big XII conference.
How the two other schools who went to the Big XII in addition to the Horns & Ags were decided is the stuff of Texas political legend. Anne Richards was Governor and Bob Bullock was Lt. Governor. In Texas, it arguable that the Lt. Gov. position has more power as the overseer of the Legislature. Both Richards & Bullock were Baylor alumni. Despite the fact that both TCU & Houston has much better programs and were frankly much better schools to be aligned with the new league, Richards & Bullock forced the Big XII to take the underfunded and cellar-dwelling Baylor Bears if they wanted the Horns & Ags. If the timing had been just a few years different in any other direction then it would be either the Frogs or Coogs in the Big XII and Baylor would be on par with their old rivals at SMU.
As for Arkansas, they're only natural rivalry in the SEC is with LSU. There biggest rivals for most of the last century were Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma & Oklahoma State. The two Okie schools are close by as SumItUp can gladly point out. From a Texas perspective, until the SWC died Arkansas was always one of the Big 3 rivals for the Longhorns with the Sooners & Aggies. So history and geography sit on the side of the Big XII. So a move out of the SEC should not surprise anyone if it does occur.
Conference USA was essentially formed for all of the schools who didn't find a place to sit when the music stopped in that major realignment of the Mid '90s. Most of those schools learned their lessons and have tried to position themselves for the rounds that have followed. It worked to the advantage of Louisville, Cincinnati and Marquette and you can be sure that ECU, Houston, Memphis and Southern Miss are doing everything they can to make themselves attractive to any possible suitors. And C-USA itself is trying to do what it can to survive the next round when they know they may get their top schools bolt.
For many of you the only major realignment that you have experienced was the ACC-Big East deal. Suffice it to say that it will be much bigger the next time around and the Big Ten likely will be the one to get it started.
Back in the Mid '90s, the Pac-10 opened up the crazy realignment round by inviting Texas and Texas A&M into their league. Sensing they'd be left in the Southwest Conference holding the bag (with Kyle Kallander running the show nonetheless), Arkansas left the SWC and took the bid to the SEC.
The Texas Legislature decided they wanted to play hardball with both the Pac-10 & Big 8. They insisted that any league that wanted UT and A&M would have to take at least two other schools with them or they would withhold funding to the Longhorns & Aggies. That led to the Pac-10 backing away and eventually the merger between the four SWC schools and the Big 8 to form the new Big XII conference.
How the two other schools who went to the Big XII in addition to the Horns & Ags were decided is the stuff of Texas political legend. Anne Richards was Governor and Bob Bullock was Lt. Governor. In Texas, it arguable that the Lt. Gov. position has more power as the overseer of the Legislature. Both Richards & Bullock were Baylor alumni. Despite the fact that both TCU & Houston has much better programs and were frankly much better schools to be aligned with the new league, Richards & Bullock forced the Big XII to take the underfunded and cellar-dwelling Baylor Bears if they wanted the Horns & Ags. If the timing had been just a few years different in any other direction then it would be either the Frogs or Coogs in the Big XII and Baylor would be on par with their old rivals at SMU.
As for Arkansas, they're only natural rivalry in the SEC is with LSU. There biggest rivals for most of the last century were Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma & Oklahoma State. The two Okie schools are close by as SumItUp can gladly point out. From a Texas perspective, until the SWC died Arkansas was always one of the Big 3 rivals for the Longhorns with the Sooners & Aggies. So history and geography sit on the side of the Big XII. So a move out of the SEC should not surprise anyone if it does occur.
Conference USA was essentially formed for all of the schools who didn't find a place to sit when the music stopped in that major realignment of the Mid '90s. Most of those schools learned their lessons and have tried to position themselves for the rounds that have followed. It worked to the advantage of Louisville, Cincinnati and Marquette and you can be sure that ECU, Houston, Memphis and Southern Miss are doing everything they can to make themselves attractive to any possible suitors. And C-USA itself is trying to do what it can to survive the next round when they know they may get their top schools bolt.
For many of you the only major realignment that you have experienced was the ACC-Big East deal. Suffice it to say that it will be much bigger the next time around and the Big Ten likely will be the one to get it started.
- By Ill flame
- By Dalegarz1
- By Cider Jim