Not just football related. And it certainly was not good for the Big-12. Everyone knows we need more than 10 schools but finding replacements for the ones that left has proven very hard.
The northern schools see a need to protect their players from getting left out, the Texas schools tend to select from within their state. That leaves us and okie State at a bit of a disadvantage as seen in all conference selections and also in player of the week voting - in all sports.
No question that is was not good for the Big 12 losing those schools for all sports. But it was good for those schools from a business perspective. Probably not good for Nebraska competitively because they lost access to most of the Texas kids when they went to the B1G and no longer played in Texas a couple times a year.
But you are wrong if you think MBB, WBB, SB, BB or any other minor sport has any real impact on conference alignment and TV revenue. The impact on football is almost the total determinant of what conference TV revenue and the ultimate conference alignment will be. And when it comes to football in the Big 12 the combine of what Texas and OU wants makes that determination which also has not always been good for the Big 12 based on the history of past decisions.
Of course hindsight is 20/20 but had the Big 12 made the determination that tier 3 along with tier 1 and tier 2 rights was going to me marketed to the networks as a conference product instead of just tier 1&2 rights and their TV revenue was going to be distributed equally the original Big 12 would probably still be intact. The Big 12 would have formed the first conference network and been at the forefront of the college network distribution system.
This is so because had we initially formed a conference TV network for all it products we would have in effect told Texas you are calling no shots and all things are going to be done on an equal financial basis. They did not and the Big 12 now is what it is.
Then Big Commissioner Kevin Weiberg pushed for equal distribution of TV revenues and formation of a Big 12 TV network including the distribution of tier 3 products but the conference members chose not to follow his recommendations ultimately resulting him leaving for the Big 10 conference as an associate commissioner where he was instrumental in leading the Big 10 to form the first conference TV network. He later did the same for the Pac 12.
Istead the Big 12 continued to give OU, Nebraska, Texas and aTm a larger TV revenue distribution and kept tier 3 TV rights with the individual schools which resulted in the formation of the Longhorn Network, SoonerVision as well the other schools programs. It was at this point that the Big 12 had put itself behind the 8 ball with potential TV revenue.
Texas AD DeLoss Dodd's desire to control the Big 12 with it large TV base and David Boren's support of Dodds' position lead to the departure of Nebraska, Colorado, aTm and Missouri and the destruction of the Big 12 as a true power conference. It was the beginning of the end.
All of the above decisions were made with little regard for those sports not named football as only Kansas and their revenue from basketball had any dollar significance. These minor sports really, including basketbal,l only provide available product to fill the network's desire for sports programming volume making a lot of money for the networks but very little for the conferences.
As I see it there is no path for the Big 12 to strengthen itself of its revenue stream and it will continue to trail the other conferences in TV revenue and that disparity will grow over time.
My guess is at the conclusion of the current grant of rights media contract in effect for the Big 12 in 2024-25 OU and Texas will leave the Big 12 and the conference will fold. I think ultimately OU along with Texas, OU, OSU and Tech will join the Pac 12 as a two division 16 team conference. The 6 other schools will have scramble for a home with only Kansas being in true demand.
OU will take this direction because the B1G will not accept OU with them not being a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) which appears to be a prerequisite for membership. Also OU administration has no strong desire to join the SEC because of the conferences academic standing and OU's inability to be dominant in the conference. OU fan would be extremely upset winning only 2-4 divisional football championships and 2-3 conference championships per decade and that is the historical standard for the top schools in the SEC.
However should OU, Texas, OSU and Tech join the Pac-12 and along with Colorado, Utah, Arizona and ASU form an eastern division the Sooners would probably continue to dominate their division in football and play for the conference championship 3-6 times per decade winning more than their fair share. This would keep the OU football fan happy.
Additionally the addition of the TV sets from Texas and the tradition of OU would bring about a conference at the very top of the TV sets/conference and make for a significant increase in TV revenue for all school. Another factor would be the demise of the Longhorn Network, SoonerVision, etc. but more importantly Texas no longer being the big fish calling all the shots.
Moreover this alignment would allow the Sooners to only have to play 1 football game on the west coast annually contrary to what many fear. Also a WBB conference with OU, Texas, Washington, Oregon State, UCLA, USC, Stanford, ASU and Cal make for a very strong WBB conference but one where OU and Texas should be highly seeded on an annual basis.
Softball and baseball would also experience a stronger conference alignment which would be very good for both teams and give both better access to top California talent. Ditto Tennis, golf, track & field, volleyball, rowing, soccer cross country.
