[VAGolf]

I agree as to why the Big12 was left out of playoffs

Big12 was a part of the playoffs this year. Pac12 was not.

That specific comment is referring to two years ago and the Baylor/TCU debacle.

[VAGolf]

A rare SumItUp appearance! I hope the disappointment of the Astros has not been overwhelming. My son feels tortured after the Rockets downfall and now the Astros mess.

Everyone involved in this expansion process understands the FOIA concerns. Anything discoverable by requests is intentionally so. Boren ... Gee ... Starr ... could you pick three university presidents who are enjoyoing the attention of the process more than these guys?

All of the hating on the Big XII by ACC fans is cute. The large market cracks were laughable.

Dude, seven of ten schools in the Big12 voted for expansion. The three that didn't were Texas, Texas Tech and TCU. It's now come out that TCU didn't vote for expansion out of "respect" for Texas' assistance in adding them a few years ago. Those things don't just leak randomly. It leaked on purpose. It's basically the same as TCU saying, "Yeah, we voted against expansion because we have to, not because we don't agree with it." I've also heard that Texas Tech voted against expansion out of fear that they might lose a portion of state funding. I don't know if that's entirely true but if it is, that's the suffocation Texas has on an entire conference. This isn't about ACC fans hating on the Big12. Why would an ACC fan hate on the Big12? This is about nine schools being crapped on by Texas.

Just because someone doesn't like how Texas is handling this, doesn't make them a Texas hater, a Big12 hater or a bias ACC fan. Texas is capable of making bad decisions.

[ATrain]

A rare SumItUp appearance! I hope the disappointment of the Astros has not been overwhelming. My son feels tortured after the Rockets downfall and now the Astros mess.

Everyone involved in this expansion process understands the FOIA concerns. Anything discoverable by requests is intentionally so. Boren ... Gee ... Starr ... could you pick three university presidents who are enjoyoing the attention of the process more than these guys?

All of the hating on the Big XII by ACC fans is cute. The large market cracks were laughable.

Dude, seven of ten schools in the Big12 voted for expansion. The three that didn't were Texas, Texas Tech and TCU. It's now come out that TCU didn't vote for expansion out of "respect" for Texas' assistance in adding them a few years ago. Those things don't just leak randomly. It leaked on purpose. It's basically the same as TCU saying, "Yeah, we voted against expansion because we have to, not because we don't agree with it." I've also heard that Texas Tech voted against expansion out of fear that they might lose a portion of state funding. I don't know if that's entirely true but if it is, that's the suffocation Texas has on an entire conference. This isn't about ACC fans hating on the Big12. Why would an ACC fan hate on the Big12? This is about nine schools being crapped on by Texas.

Just because someone doesn't like how Texas is handling this, doesn't make them a Texas hater, a Big12 hater or a bias ACC fan. Texas is capable of making bad decisions.

People from Houston think Houston is the center of the universe with UT-Austin being "their," school/team.

[Sly Fox]

People from Houston think Houston is the center of the universe with UT-Austin being "their," school/team.

If that is the takeaway from your experience in Texas then your time in pretentious Dallas was wasted. The only time that Houston even considers itself the center of the universe relates to Energy and NASA. And Obama has greatly destroyed the latter. Now most Texans regardless of location agree that Texas is the center of the universe. And who am I to argue?

[thepostman]

I hate Texas more every time you post

[ATrain]

People from Houston think Houston is the center of the universe with UT-Austin being "their," school/team.

If that is the takeaway from your experience in Texas then your time in pretentious Dallas was wasted. The only time that Houston even considers itself the center of the universe relates to Energy and NASA. And Obama has greatly destroyed the latter. Now most Texans regardless of location agree that Texas is the center of the universe. And who am I to argue?

To answer your question, someone who's spent too much time getting his brain baked in the sun.

Anyway, Dallas thinks Dallas is the center of the universe, and we're going to stay that way b/c we're going to Keep Dallas Pretentious, just as those in Austin (copying Portland) are going to Keep Austin Weird. Houston...meh, keep existing. Dallas won't think of you and it will drive you (and all other Houstonians) nuts.

[Sly Fox]

Anyway, Dallas thinks Dallas is the center of the universe, and we're going to stay that way b/c we're going to Keep Dallas Pretentious, just as those in Austin (copying Portland) are going to Keep Austin Weird. Houston...meh, keep existing. Dallas won't think of you and it will drive you (and all other Houstonians) nuts.

Puh-leeze ...

Austin was weird decades before Portland Consider it a SxSW ripoff by the Oregonians.

Now if you want to say Austin is the center of the universe, I'd entertain the conversation.

[Purple Haize]

I just hope WVU gets out of the Big XII and ends up in the B1G or ACC

[thepostman]

Atrain and sly, nobody cares!

[Purple Haize]

Atrain and sly, nobody cares!

Lovers quarrel

[Liberty22]

So are other conferences meeting at the end of this month like the Big 12? Sunbelt, CUSA, American, etc. Do they all meet in the end of May?

[rmiller1959]

So the chairman of the OU board of regents says he opposes Big 12 expansion, which the OU president supports. After he goes public with his opposition, both men subsequently release statements, the chairman proclaiming the board has full trust in the president, and the president reiterating his support for expansion. What just happened there?

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/o ... 547db.html

[rmiller1959]

And why is Texas so quiet while all of this is going on? I know the rumor mill says they oppose expansion, but they've said practically nothing.

http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id ... sions-loom

[rmiller1959]

Another expansion candidate for the Big 12 - Temple?

http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id ... -expansion

[ATrain]

FedEx trying to buy Memphis' way in:
http://www.sbnation.com/college-footbal ... nship-game

[ATrain]

Another expansion candidate for the Big 12 - Temple?

http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id ... -expansion

If Temple could get its football act together, I could honestly see them in the ACC. Private school, good academic reputation, large TV market and a good basketball tradition

[VAGolf]

And why is Texas so quiet while all of this is going on? I know the rumor mill says they oppose expansion, but they've said practically nothing.

http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id ... sions-loom

They voted against expansion. It's not a rumor.

[ballcoach15]

Temple does not belong in ACC.

Heck ECU or Liberty would be better than the Owls.

[Sly Fox]

UT has had major changes in leadership in the past year. The positions of the current leadership are not as cut & dried as some suspect. The only thing I can tell you without question is they oppose UH & SMU as candidates. In fact, UT & UH are in a bit of a public turf war over the nation's 4th largest city.

It looks like expansion is coming but it appears to be just for expansion sake and not because there are qualified candidates. The only option that I like sits in Colorado Springs and is not an apparent candidate. Otherwise I am in the camp that believes they should go after FSU and either fight the GOR in court or wait it out. In a perfect world, Arkansas and Texas A&M would be back where they belong with LSU in tow. But there is zero chance of that occurring.

[VAGolf]

UT has had major changes in leadership in the past year. The positions of the current leadership are not as cut & dried as some suspect. The only thing I can tell you without question is they oppose UH & SMU as candidates. In fact, UT & UH are in a bit of a public turf war over the nation's 4th largest city.

It looks like expansion is coming but it appears to be just for expansion sake and not because there are qualified candidates. The only option that I like sits in Colorado Springs and is not an apparent candidate. Otherwise I am in the camp that believes they should go after FSU and either fight the GOR in court or wait it out. In a perfect world, Arkansas and Texas A&M would be back where they belong with LSU in tow. But there is zero chance of that occurring.

Hey, you and I agree on something. Houston and SMU don't bring value to the conference.

But your second paragraph? C'mon. The only reason Texas fans don't see qualified candidates is because their shortsighted. No, there is not a perfect candidate out there. In fact, there really isn't one with an incredibly attractive history. But you need to think outside of the box. Who is going all around the world to host football camps? Jim Harbaugh. Which school just dominated the NFL draft and is killing it in recruiting again? Ohio State. The SEC is still dominant, the Big10 is possibly 1-2 years away from being as dominant, the Pac12 is deep and say what you will about the ACC, but the conference has had a team in the championship/playoffs for each of the past three years. My point is that there's a lot of value in the available candidates if you look deep enough.

No, Cincinnati will not compete for playoffs within five years of being added. However, imagine the following scenario and you'll see the value. You're a fan of football but not necessarily a fan of a particular local team. You live in Dayton, Ohio (about midway between Columbus and Cincinnati) and Ohio State is hosting Tulsa next weekend. On the same day, Cincinnati is hosting Texas. The advantage to the Big12 is that Texas and Oklahoma will now have exposure in areas largely dominated by other conferences. Cincinnati, Memphis, USF/UCF all come with the advantage mentioned above. It's not perfect. It's not great. But there is absolutely value in those programs.

Lastly, why on earth would Florida State leave the ACC? And why would Texas A&M or Arkansas leave the SEC? All of those schools understand the control Texas has on the 9 other programs in the Big12. Why would they want to leave and be apart of that mess? Pipe-dream.

[Sly Fox]

You claim there are viable options and immedately point to other P5 schools as validation. Huh?

As a Cincy native who has a family tree full of Bearcat alumni, I laugh at the notion of playing games at Nippert Stadium bringing any value whatsoever to any Big XII school. K-State might be the lone exception to swap Bobby Huggins horror stories. Of course there is the opportunity to enjoy some great chili. So UC has that going for it.

[VAGolf]

You claim there are viable options and immedately point to other P5 schools as validation. Huh?

As a Cincy native who has a family tree full of Bearcat alumni, I laugh at the notion of playing games at Nippert Stadium bringing any value whatsoever to any Big XII school. K-State might be the lone exception to swap Bobby Huggins horror stories. Of course there is the opportunity to enjoy some great chili. So UC has that going for it.

Okay, it's apparent you just aren't interested in anything other than being wrong.

[ATrain]

Yeah, SMU and UH don't add anything to the Big 12. I'm curious about Sly's opposition to BYU and/or UConn, though. One has a national following and will deliver the Salt Lake City market, the other is a basketball powerhouse in the Northeast.

[Sly Fox]

I am not diametrically opposed to the Mormons. But they haven't been as aggressive in pursuing the Big XII since it became obvious they wouldn't get the Longhorn Channel treatment with their network. Some of the northern Big XII schools apparently have little interest in associating with them as well. As for UConn, they make WVU look close by comparison and have a miserable football situation. Football is a major driver in any Big XII expansion even though having at least a decent hoops program is also a prerequisite (I'm look at you, Boise). At least Memphis is closer to the footprint. The options are simply poor at best. I think they either take two from the east or two from the west. I don't see them splitting it up.

[Humble_Opinion]

Sly - I have no dog in this fight. However, the way you talk about expansion, in my opinion, is the culprit in why the BIG 12 is in the current predicament they are in. They (UT and co.) refused to go with the flow of realignment and instead of working with the other members of their conference to expand and remain relevant, they decided it was their way or the highway. As a result, they lost a few key members that have now moved on and flourished in their new homes. Meanwhile, the BIG 12 is floundering in P5 mediocrity in the most important sport in the NCAA.

Are there slim pickings out there now? Absolutely, and they only have themselves to blame for that. They very easily could have stole some valuable teams from the ACC, but they sat on their loins. Moving forward, they are at a disadvantage until they can host a conference championship. Plain and simple. They need to find a few solid academic institutions that have athletic programs that have shown stable growth over the past few years and get them in there. Those teams may not be viable for a few years in terms of competition, but at least it allows the teams that are viable national contenders the BIG12 the opportunity to play one more game to truly determine who the best-of-the-best, which would give them a better shot at landing a team in the playoffs. How sad is it that we are two years into the BCS Playoff system and the BIG 12 has yet to have a taste of it?