The Big XII: 1996-2011

Welp, I guess we can put that next to the Southwest Conference trophies...

I have to chime in. There is so much circulating with this story and so much to say. With twelve internal moving parts and four big external moving parts...mostly dealing with football, television and levels of money that would make The Donald blush.

But hey, it's not like we weren't heading to this. The writing has been on the wall since The Big Ten Network came into fruition. Hell, with the formation of the Super Alliance and the BCS, it was going to be a money grab featuring the have's and have-not's. The current financial system could not and would not be sustainable. Once a foot goes one step down the slippery slope, the effects were bound to happen.

So, since the "expert" line, such as Jesse Palmer(?), Craig James (maybe a Tech expert - ha!) and Dan O'Malley(???) is chirping like somebody pulled its voice string, why not I add a little rolled-up newspaper on this wildfire. Here is the list of my favorite players...so far:

Hero of the story - Chip Brown, OrangeBloods.com: Who knew that a former beat reporter from the Dallas Morning News would be the hot knife through the cold stick of butter that was supposed to be a boring conference summer meeting. Yeah, notsomuch. This gentleman is crushing it. He is pouncing on the real stories, staying focused on the actual storyline and staying on top of the static. I think he just about scooped everyone. Much apologies to my beloved Austin American-Stateman writers and the know-it-all in New York, but Mr. Brown is in the muck every minute and is bugged by ESPN for fifteen minutes of his valuable time.

Goat of the story - Dan Beebe, Commissioner, Big XII: I'm not sure if he has queued the band while the ship is taking on water, but the cardboard statements aren't bailing the Big XII out. I lost all confidence as soon as I knew his name. How did I know his name? After the UT/OU/Tech tiebreak debacle. The problem with having a young conference is when a once-in-a-generation situation occurs, there is apparently no need to change the screwy rules borrowed from a broken system. If all you know how to do is shake hands with the championship game winning coach and not be a CEO for a multimillion dollar enterprise, then maybe you should go away. By the way, the ultimatum was a really, really, really bad move for a starving, cornered animal.

Harbinger of the story - Big Red: Rewind to last week, the Big XII (in an awesome leadership move reminiscent of any empty threat seen on a sitcom) told Nebraska to make a decision--stay or go. Nebraska did not take the comedic bait. Besides, we already mentioned the Big XII leadership always gets two for flinching. Okay, Nebraska says, we will start looking around if you are giving us a "deadline"...wink, wink. The North and South divisions have always had a dissonance geographically and competitively. So, why not? It was crazy enough to work when we took the Big 8 down south. Experiment failed, so let's try something else. No big deal, so, here you go Big XII, we are out and taking the state with us...wait, Colorado beat us to the exit?

Darling of the story - The University of Texas: This is the most quiet I have ever seen this sports giant. Granted, being the richest athletic department in the nation takes all volumes and all tones. But with the (presumably grinning) silence from the juggernaut in Austin, they are looking like the "awe-shucks" good guy in this cast of characters. Granted, having the biggest stick, financially, has it's advantages. But no matter the outcome, these guys are smelling like January 5, 2006...like roses. The Big XII fails, "Hey, we tried. So, we are going to make the best of a sticky situation." The Big XII is restored to 12 teams, "I'm glad we can stay as a cornerstone member of the Big XII." The Big XI (eleven)? I don't see that happening; it would look too much like the AL West (Rangers joke, Hi-oh!). Texas, with the silence, is seriously the "hot chick at the end of the bar."

FTW guy of the story - A&M: "I don't know about you guys ("you guys" meaning=Texas, OU, Tech, OSU), but I'm going to the SEC!" Uh, no. That makes no sense any way you slice it. Logistically, it would be a pain to travel to Auburn, Oxford and Tuscaloosa with a athletic department hemorrhaging money from all of their athletic venue expansion efforts. Competitively, right now, as strong as the SEC is-up and down-they would be lucky to squeak away with two wins within the West division! Academically, the only other power conference with less academic hurdles to jump than the Big XII...you guessed it, the SEC. Fine, ATM, you think you are a special little snowflake that is unique in every single way, go to the SEC. Enjoy the TV money because you are sure as hell not getting any bowl money (unless there is revenue sharing).

Poor bastard of the story - (tie) Baylor/Mizzou: I'm not sure which is worse...pouting while taking your ball home or tattle-telling to your dad that you were wronged. That would be the situation for the Tigers and Bears...oh, my (wow, that was low-hanging fruit). The first childish response came from Mizzou after the Big XII "ultimatum". Since they are on an island with no in-state buddies, their silence and stiff upper lip (added with new reports of whining) make the school in Columbia look like malcontents, completely unlike Texas. Not really sure how they got that wrap but that seems to be the perception within this whirlwind of activity. Baylor went the other route, telling their parents (Texas Legislature?) that if they aren't tethered with the rest of the Texas schools for any sort of conference movement, they are going to have a parent conference...with the conference in question. Wait...isn't Baylor a private institution? I don't know how state education money breaks down with non-land-grant schools, but isn't Baylor asking Austin for help tantamount to me asking for money from my brother's father-in-law? It doesn't make sense. Neither does the "combo-pack" including Mizzou and/or Baylor...there's not enough TV's in Waco or Columbia.

Non-story of the story - "What about the travel? What about the student athletes?": Yet another example of college football is a business...mind you, a quickly-expanding, dynamic business with a modular business model. But it is a business. Every year, schedules and travel plans are made in accommodation for intercollegiate competition. This has happened since the NCAA was formed. Why would it be any different with boatloads of money now included? Athletic Directors and departments will continue to do the business they have done since athletic departments were created. With the TV money and conference inclusion windfall, the revenue assists with flexibility. Now the Griswold's can go to WallyWorld every summer...and book flights instead of driving the superwagon into the ground. A little bit more capital never has hurt business.

Preachy BS of the story - "It's all about the money!": C'mon, really? If anyone goes with that high-and-mighty garbage, especially at the "Worldwide Leader", that is the most hypocritical complaint anyone can yield. ESPN wouldn't be in existence if it wasn't about the all-mighty dollar. All of the talking heads that we can't stand (in and out of this story) would not be in front of the camera if they did not get a raise or were thrown a bag of cash with a dollar sign on it. So enough with the "it's all about the cash" with some faux forlorn tone. It costs money to run any business. And the business of college football, with TV expansion and conference contraction, is no different.

Accidental story some have mentioned with this story - Playoffs?!?!?: One less conference to worry about...money shifting to super-conferences...probably less of a drumbeat from ACC and Big East. Hmmm, compelling. Besides, if you throw away the "travel" limitation for the super-conferences, the ad revenue has to go somewhere. Jean-Jacques Taylor stated on The Ticket 1310 with Norm Hitzges that with this consolidation, that might be the way to go. But, with the rabbit-like multiplication of the bowl games...again, that ad revenue has to go somewhere.

The story continues to develop. Tweetdeck continues to break down with all Texas sports followers pushing through the cluttered bandwidth. I would personally like to thank all the information holders sharing their data with peons writing blogs like me so I can vent the wonderful yet bittersweet opinions (e.g. sportswriters, sports radio, news agencies, wizards, etc.).

Lessons Learned, my three things.
1) Holy smokes, the NCAA does have teeth. Though it takes five years for them to grow.
2) Twitter should really look into getting some more support. Stupid fail whale.
3) I have never, and will never, care about Notre Dame. If ND still wants to be an independent and continue to collect checks from The Peacock, I don't care. Notre Dame is about as niche as open-wheel racing. I don't care about Danica Patrick.

I have to say, this is about as close to the hot-stove period of baseball that I will every experience. Usually, the common college football fan finishes in early January and starts counting down until the first weekend of September. Now I understand that feeling...where is the player going to go...forget that, where is the team going to go? Talk later.