Boren talking tough again about the Big 12

[OUHoops]

Will this just pass or is the hammer finally ready to meet the nail?

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsext...cle_cd7816c7-5571-5ebe-9392-3911e9337f83.html

 

[StatGeek]

If Boren can pull it off it would be a miracle. I'm all for it but not too optimistic that things can/will be done. If it were me I would add BYU and Cincy. Adding the conference championship game will virtually offset the "cost" associated with adding the teams and repurposing the LHN into a conference network would add revenue.

Further the Big 12 should be creative with the the network distribution and think about the rapidly growing cord cutter population and how they can position themselves to use it to their advantage. For example: all games streamed live via Amazon Prime Video or Netflix with a season subscription or something of that ilk in addition to being a "regular" channel. Sports is the holy grail to video streaming, once that door is unlocked, everything will change.

In the end, it would just be nice to see the Big 12 do something smart for a change.

 

[Swans]

Would rather have Temple than BYU to go with Cincy.

 

[usedtobe1]

DFW has several universities but Houston really only has one: U of H. A lot of people don't like it but the B12 should consider them becasue they're a good fit geographically. Their football team is already on a national level, and basketball would be too because they're in the middle of a recruiting goldmine. The possibility of staying close to home while still playing in a Power 5 conference would appeal to a lot of local kids.

The problem with the U of H is it's a commuter school in the middle of a bad part of town.

Rice has a great campus but is too small. We might as well add MIT if we add them. They're very academically oriented but even their academics have a narrow focus...... strong in engineering but not so much in business disciplines.

The trouble with schools like Temple is they're not geographically situated to be in the B12. Why would we add a school from Philadelphia? It's too far away.

Cincy? Maybe. Maybe BYU. Ask Nebraska to come back. SMU should at least be considered.

 

[Darwin]

I want to keep the basketball round robin home and homes. The needs of football will likely screw that.

 

[IndySooner]

B1G or SEC. Period.

 

[Swans]

The trouble with schools like Temple is they're not geographically situated to be in the B12. Why would we add a school from Philadelphia? It's too far away.

Cincy? Maybe. Maybe BYU. Ask Nebraska to come back. SMU should at least be considered.

Let's ask WVU if Temple is too far away.

 

[OUHoops]

Here's the entire Q&A linked below.

The problem with Boren's stance on adding two teams to the Big 12 is that none of those schools mentioned as current expansion candidates (and that you all are talking about above) will change the perception of the conference. Obviously, we're talking about football, and that runs things.

https://twitter.com/johnehoover/status/687987845747752960

 

[152219]

DFW has several universities but Houston really only has one: U of H. A lot of people don't like it but the B12 should consider them becasue they're a good fit geographically. Their football team is already on a national level, and basketball would be too because they're in the middle of a recruiting goldmine. The possibility of staying close to home while still playing in a Power 5 conference would appeal to a lot of local kids.

The problem with the U of H is it's a commuter school in the middle of a bad part of town.

Rice has a great campus but is too small. We might as well add MIT if we add them. They're very academically oriented but even their academics have a narrow focus...... strong in engineering but not so much in business disciplines.

The trouble with schools like Temple is they're not geographically situated to be in the B12. Why would we add a school from Philadelphia? It's too far away.

Cincy? Maybe. Maybe BYU. Ask Nebraska to come back. SMU should at least be considered.

There is absolutely no way that Texas signs off on Cougar High being added to the conference.

 

[BoulderSooner]

There is absolutely no way that Texas signs off on Cougar High being added to the conference.

nor should OU ... the big 12 made a knee jerk mistake by adding tcu ...

this conf could be Louisville and WVU and be at 10 with no TCU ....

and UCONN would be in the ACC ..

 

[BoulderSooner]

If Boren can pull it off it would be a miracle. I'm all for it but not too optimistic that things can/will be done. If it were me I would add BYU and Cincy. Adding the conference championship game will virtually offset the "cost" associated with adding the teams and repurposing the LHN into a conference network would add revenue.

Further the Big 12 should be creative with the the network distribution and think about the rapidly growing cord cutter population and how they can position themselves to use it to their advantage. For example: all games streamed live via Amazon Prime Video or Netflix with a season subscription or something of that ilk in addition to being a "regular" channel. Sports is the holy grail to video streaming, once that door is unlocked, everything will change.

In the end, it would just be nice to see the Big 12 do something smart for a change.

how would you split your divisions ?

 

[SoonerTraveler]

I want to keep the basketball round robin home and homes. The needs of football will likely screw that.

Agreed.

Regarding conference expansion, I'm not sure there are any teams available that would actually enhance the Big-12 Conference in any meaningful way.

Notre Dame is not available.

 

[thebigabd]

People thought TCU wouldn't be meaningful, but they are. Of course, the only sports that really matter are basketball and football.

Bring in South Florida and Houston and call it day.

Houston football could turn into something good, and they would bring basketball into the conference with Kelvin Sampson roaming the sidelines. Great recruiting area for them as well.

South Florida currently plays in the American Athletic Conference, and this would be a big upgrade for them. They have a 50,000 student enrollment, great recruiting area, ranks in the top 100 public universities according to US News college rankings, and they have a great stadium as they play at Raymond James Stadium (same as the Tampa Bay Bucs). Their basketball arena is the Sun Dome which holds nearly 11,000 and they just completed a $36 million renovation to it.

 

[DenverSooner]

I would add a Florida and Ohio school before Houston. We have a great presence in the Hiuston market. Lots of Texas, Tech, Baylor, TCU, OU and OSU people n Hoston.

 

[sybarite]

Adding two schools to the Big Twelve is a band-aide that will stop the bleeding temporarily. But, it has no long-term value.

Nebraska and Colorado were wise to go to conferences that will likely be stable for many years, as will the SEC which now counts former Big Seven ally, Missouri among its members. Three of the Big Seven are now gone, and we should join them.

I'm not fond of the SEC, and I'm not sure that would be in OU's best interests. I would love to join the Big Ten (11, 12?) or Pacific Whatever-It-Is-Now. I would be very receptive to the ACC.

I see the future of the Big Eight to be about that of the WAC or Big West, flyover states that nobody in our geography-free era knows exactly where they are. Is there really an Idaho?

 

[DenverSooner]

I wonder who is his allies are?

He was definitely correct about Louisville except I think it should have been Louisville and someone else, perhaps Cinci.

 

[tycat947]

People thought TCU wouldn't be meaningful, but they are. Of course, the only sports that really matter are basketball and football.

Bring in South Florida and Houston and call it day.

Houston football could turn into something good, and they would bring basketball into the conference with Kelvin Sampson roaming the sidelines. Great recruiting area for them as well.

South Florida currently plays in the American Athletic Conference, and this would be a big upgrade for them. They have a 50,000 student enrollment, great recruiting area, ranks in the top 100 public universities according to US News college rankings, and they have a great stadium as they play at Raymond James Stadium (same as the Tampa Bay Bucs). Their basketball arena is the Sun Dome which holds nearly 11,000 and they just completed a $36 million renovation to it.

TCU is ONLY meaningful in that they are pretty good on the field. Financially, they offer very little. They and Hypocrite U, after all their good deeds on the field and stadium renovations/building are still the 2 smallest stadiums in the Big 12 and they don't always fill them. They benefit in that a lot of schools are close and travel well when playing in FW/Wacko. I'd be surprised if their TV ratings were much better. We've 2 too many Texas teams right now. Outside of LHN, I think these 2 schools are a big detriment to the conference finances, in spite of their being good on the football field.

 

[DenverSooner]

The real problem with Baylor and TCU is their TV ratings will be horrific when they are not having good seasons. OU draws ratings even in mediocre years. Texas draws ratings in mediocre years.

For those schools even if 100% of their alumni watch the game, they still don't have good ratings. So they have to be fairly highly ranked to get attention for college football fans in general. OU and Texas get that all the time because plenty of people want to see them lose.

 

[califca]

I really believe Boren is serious about all this and it's about time. I would say we want the Texas network out and Big 12 network in otherwise we are going to seek othe options period. About time we took a hard stand on these issues and quit being Texas whipping boy.

 

[thebigabd]

Do you guys not like the potential of South Florida?

• 50,000 student enrollment
• Top 100 school
• Florida TV markets (Tampa and Orlando are 1 hour away from each other)
• NFL Stadium

Seems like they could be a nice fit, and wouldn't take much coaxing. They would suck for a few years, but in basketball you are only 2-3 players away from being good and in football they would have to do some rebuilding for a bit.