Big 12 in trouble

[pennahuskr4life]

Intresting read from a myspace bulletin

 

 

Big 12 in trouble?

Body: Article by Tom Dienhart-- again I did NOT write this so don't hate me!!

 

Big trouble brewing for this Midwest dirty dozen

June 17, 2007

 

I was stunned to learn that Big 12 commish Kevin Weiberg was leaving to take a position with the Big Ten Network. But not Nebraska A.D. Steve Pederson.

 

"He was burned out," Pederson told me. "He did a great job and I like him. But I think he had had enough of trying to unify 12 schools and keep everyone happy."

 

Regardless, it looks bad for the Big 12 to have its big boss man leave for a lesser position with another BCS league. Not good for a league that I believe rates behind the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Pac-10 among BCS conferences. And the Big East is gaining fast on the Big 12.

 

The biggest issue: Large budget discrepancies between the league's elite and second-class have created a massive chasm between schools' ability to build sparkling facilities and pay coaches top dollar. And, ultimately, compete. Face it: 85-scholarship caps and 208-page media guide limits don't level the playing field. Sorry, NCAA.

 

Also, even though the league evenly splits bowl and league championship game money, some Big 12 ADs are honked off because TV revenue isn't divvied up evenly, as schools that make the most appearances get more money. Conversely, the Big Ten splits its TV loot.

 

"It's really not that big of an issue and the discrepancy in money isn't huge because of it," Pederson says. "Besides, if a school is willing to stick its neck out and play a tough non-conference game that gets picked up by the networks, it should be rewarded for that."

 

There's no debating this: The Big 12's out-of-whack budgets have helped create gross imbalance, with the South running roughshod over the North. Texas and Oklahoma are the 10,000-pound gorillas. Texas A&M is right behind. And Oklahoma State is investing heavily and looms as a rising power.

 

The North? Well, there's Nebraska. Did I mention Nebraska? Yeah, Nebraska. That's it.

 

Issue No. 1 to address for the new Big 12 Big Cheese: Finding new revenue streams. But there's limited growth potential in the Big 12. Why? A lack of big TV markets. It's pretty simple. Denver? Kansas City? Dallas? Houston? St. Louis? San Antonio? That's it, people. I don't think that excites TV fat cats in New York. One solution is expansion. Another possibility is defections.

 

I have to think folks in Austin, Norman and Lincoln have had conversations about bolting for a better home. They'd be silly not to have an eye on the future. How about the Longhorns or Huskers joining the Big Ten to make it an even 12? Maybe the SEC can grab OU and dump, say, Vandy. The Pac-10 also has to be looking toward tomorrow and the possibility of becoming a 12-team league.

 

Imagine what adding properties like those would do to the value (read TV money) of the SEC, Big Ten and Pac-10. Yeah, it would give any bean counter a facial tick.

[I am I]

Dr. Tom Osborne was right. the Big 12 will leave the North shortly lacking the South. KU has b-ball, KSU will never be great yr in yr out, ISU--any questions?, Mizzou-c'mon!, CU-uuuhhh, okay. the only Stand-Up citizen is Nebraska. therefore N must dominate and then WIN the big 12 championship to even the tide and make this a two division race every year. i don't completly agree with the whole article, but i don't disagree with it either.

[Blackshirtsguru]

I tend not to believe anything from myspace!

[husker rob]

me either but some valid points.

 

maybe all that is needed is to realign the confrence to Big 12 East/West

[huskernumerouno]

Or how about no divisions at all. You schedule one non conference game, your choice whether it is a patsy or a good team. Then you go right into conference play and play each of the other 11 schools and the teams with the two best records play again for the big 12 crown. and then a bowl game. 14 game season.

[AR Husker Fan]

Or how about no divisions at all. You schedule one non conference game, your choice whether it is a patsy or a good team. Then you go right into conference play and play each of the other 11 schools and the teams with the two best records play again for the big 12 crown. and then a bowl game. 14 game season.

Sounds good, but I don't see it happening. Too many lost dollars from non-conference games gone. You substitute always-home games with lower division teams with home-and-home games with conference foes and the dollars will drop substantially. No school would go for that.

[RaisedHusker]

I tend not to believe anything from myspace!

 

Actually, the article came from Tom Dienhart, senior writer, for the Sporting News. I think the Big 12 needs to hire an outstanding Commish. I truly believe that your conference is only as good as your weakest link. That being said, the teams that are weak in football have better teams in other sports. Take Baylor for instance.

 

2006/2007 records:

Football 4-8

Volleyball 18-15

Men's Basketball 15-16

Women's Basketball 26-8

Baseball 35-27

Softball 51-16

 

Unfortunately, football and men's basketball are usually the big money sports as far as TV revenues go.

[huskernumerouno]

Or how about no divisions at all. You schedule one non conference game, your choice whether it is a patsy or a good team. Then you go right into conference play and play each of the other 11 schools and the teams with the two best records play again for the big 12 crown. and then a bowl game. 14 game season.

Sounds good, but I don't see it happening. Too many lost dollars from non-conference games gone. You substitute always-home games with lower division teams with home-and-home games with conference foes and the dollars will drop substantially. No school would go for that.

You are correct. I prefer the way we do it now, otherwise we would not get to play the usc's and other tems from different conferences and would limit our exposure to recruits. I was just throwing that out there as one possibility and any possibility will have flaws.

[Bugeater]

Hopefully they'll get a comissioner in there that gives a damn about the north division. It's been obvious for some time that things are weighted in favor of the Texas schools.

[The Red & White Knight]

Hopefully they'll get a comissioner in there that gives a damn about the north division. It's been obvious for some time that things are weighted in favor of the Texas schools.

Yes it is obvious.

 

 

Is there any way we can petition or something? Like, if everyone wanted all the TV coverage revenue split evenly, or something like that? If you find something that fair and beneficial, the Husker Nation may get behind it.

 

 

 

maybe all that is needed is to realign the confrence to Big 12 East/West

What would the boundary line be?

[Bugeater]

Hopefully they'll get a comissioner in there that gives a damn about the north division. It's been obvious for some time that things are weighted in favor of the Texas schools.

Yes it is obvious.

 

 

Is there any way we can petition or something? Like, if everyone wanted all the TV coverage revenue split evenly, or something like that? If you find something that fair and beneficial, the Husker Nation may get behind it.

It goes beyond the TV revenue, the Texas schools have more money to spend on facilities and coaches because there are simply more big-money donors in the state, not to mention in-state recruits would rather play at a local school than come to NU, KU etc. I don't think there's really any way to totally level the playing field.

[junior4949]

Maybe we should all start worrying about things that are within our control rather than things out of our control. One of the things we in Western Nebraska sell to incoming people is the cost of living. We have an extremely cheap cost of living when compared to Dallas, Denver, etc.

 

I read where Nebraska leads the Big 12 with players playing in the NFL. We should be more concerned about selling this to incoming recruits rather than pissing and moaning about how the North is getting shafted. As far as I'm concerned in today's day and age of college football, incoming recruits are looking for two things: playing time and getting into the NFL. Incoming recruits don't give a rats ass if the North is getting shafted. They want to come in and play most of the time immediately and get to the big $$$ of the NFL. We really need to be selling them the idea that we do lead the Big 12 in players playing in the NFL. Sell the idea that if they do choose to come play for NU, they have a better chance of making it into the NFL than if they choose to go to OU or Texas.

 

There is absolutely nothing we can do about the donations that Texas and OU get. There is nothing we can do about Texas having a grossly larger population thus more instate recruits than we have here at NU. We need to concentrate on what we do have and we do have to offer rather than what we don't have. And seriously, do any of you really care if Iowa State or the Kansas schools get left behind?

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but NU has the only head coach in the Big 12 who actually coached in the NFL right? We have the only head coach in the Big 12 to coach in a Super Bowl. I'm not a huge BC fan, but sell it. Sell the fact that he knows what kind of player you need to be to play at the next level. Sell the fact that we lead the Big 12 in NFL players. We seem to be getting the recruits. Now, we just have to win with them. After that, all of this other BS works itself out. If NU was perennially playing in BCS games and winning championships, I highly doubt anyone would be whining about the North getting shafted. Once we start beating powerhouse teams again, the TV deals and everything else will all fall in line.

[huskerNtexas]

It goes beyond the TV revenue, the Texas schools have more money to spend on facilities and coaches because there are simply more big-money donors in the state, not to mention in-state recruits would rather play at a local school than come to NU, KU etc. I don't think there's really any way to totally level the playing field.

There may be more donors in Texas, but there are lots of mouths to feed from the pie, including the Big 12 teams, as well as Houston, SMU, TCU, UTEP, North Texas, and a host of highly supported 1-AA teams and even D2 teams.

 

In Nebraska, NU-Lincoln is basically is the only mouth to feed.

 

Don't knock it.

 

As for recruits, many Texas high school players are perfectly fine going to Lincoln, because they know they will be coming back to Texas on a regular basis to kick some a**.

[strigori]

There is an argument for the big 12 to share tv and bowl revenue evenly. One being that there are almost no big media hubs in the north division. This alone means that the south teams are better TV draws given that texas has about as much population as the rest of the states in the conference. It ends up that unless Nebraska is playing, or one of the other north teams is playing a team from Texas, the north teams do not get TV time during the conference season.

 

The conference will break up before it realigns. There is no way to realign it that will keep people happy. You cant have Texas Oklahoma and Nebraska in the same division. A&M would have fits if it didnt get to play Texas every year. And who else is there with a reputation for winning big? Colorado, maybe. They are the only other team with a Nation Championship to their name.

 

The Big 12 may very well be getting to a tripping point. There will be a point where the 3 powers in the conference are going to suffer in a big way if the image issues with The Big 12 dont get resolved in a hurry. Teams, especially in the north, need to get their programs moving forward. As much as we like to laugh at the misfortunes and missteps of KSU, MU and CU, we NEED them to be competitive year in and year out. ISU and KU either need to get their acts together, or face the reality that they are dead weight and get dropped from the Conference.

 

This is an issue bigger than Nebraska. We need our conference opponents to be tough customers, that inspire fear in teams outside the conference. Seeing writers compare the North to the Sunbelt a very bad thing. As nice as it may seem to get what amounts to an automatic bid to a championship game, there are some very bad things that can come of it.

 

It wouldnt be outside the realm of possibility that the Texas and Oklahoma teams decide to drop the 'dead weight' and break from the Big 12, Pick up TCU, Rice, Tulsa or Huston and make what would amount to a new southwest conference. This would leave the likes of NU to either go as a beggar to the Big 10, or deal with in indignity of having to join something like the Mountain west.

 

The status quo cant stay the same.

[Bugeater]

As for recruits, many Texas high school players are perfectly fine going to Lincoln, because they know they will be coming back to Texas on a regular basis to kick some a**.

You almost had me until I read this sentence. When was the last time Nebraska kicked any a** in Texas? Baylor doesn't count.