Since you guys are the ones that had the foresight to start the first New Conference board, this seems the best place to post this. Heaven forbid I post it on the Main Board.
I think the National media, the National CFF pundents have missed the boat on what has just happened with (i) the new Big 12 and (ii) the impact of that in a round robin envrironment.
And my perspective will probably differ from some fans of the old conference. The old Big 12 was flawed. We had 6 teams in the South and 6 teams in the North. Unfortunately due to timing, among other things, OU and TX dominated the South...and the North generally was weak (with the odd KSU/NB/KU exception). So the effect was that the round robin format only mattered in the South. Look at 2008, where TX/Tech/OU tied....and the obscure reference to the BCS formula made OU the S Champion. Or 2010, Where the OSU/aTm/OU tie made OU the S representative in the Championship game. Sure, there were times where the North came in the Championship game and won it.
And now....there is no weak North, mostly due to parity. Maybe except for KU, but trust me, they can't be discounted into the nex 3-5 years.
But the problem was......not everybody played everybody. There were certainly times when the "schedule" made a difference...home and away. When you only played half of the other division, that is bound to happen.
For example, Alabama only has to play LSU this year before the Championship game in the SEC. Nobody else has a pulse in the West (and yes...that includes aTm as they didn't have a pulse in the B12). How would WVU fans feel if they only had to beat one of OU/TX/KSU/Tech/OSU/TCU before facing the winner of those teams......versus.......facing everyone....every week.
The Big 12 office has a real PR job ahead of them. There is no question that the round robin format with this deep of a converence should produce a "true" champion. I believe that if a team goes undefeated in this format....that will be unbelievable. Most years hence, a tie breaker between 1 loss or 2 loss teams will prevail.
For example (and I am NOT making predictions), look at what this conference looks like if ISU upsets KSU...what if Tech upsets WVU? Total Chaos.....which is very cool. Even if those upsets don't happen, every week will provide the drama of the potential for Total Chaos.
I think this is a very cool thing, especially considering the qualiyt of offenses we will see every week. Did anyone turn off the game between WVU and Baylor until the end? Did anyone turn off the game between TX and WVU until the end? Did anyone turn off the game between OSU and TX until the end? This will be the norm every single week.
The challenge for the B12 officials will be to figure out a way to BRAND that. What we now see is a MARCH MADNESS applied to CFB. Every week matters. That doesn't exist in any other conference.
Hopefully, the rest of the media base sees what I see. It is incredible....and scary as hell.....and exciting.
The only thing I think that requires some more analysis and thought, is how do we truly analyze tie breakers, and the only reason I say this is that I believe it will be the NORM......not the exception.
J
I think the National media, the National CFF pundents have missed the boat on what has just happened with (i) the new Big 12 and (ii) the impact of that in a round robin envrironment.
And my perspective will probably differ from some fans of the old conference. The old Big 12 was flawed. We had 6 teams in the South and 6 teams in the North. Unfortunately due to timing, among other things, OU and TX dominated the South...and the North generally was weak (with the odd KSU/NB/KU exception). So the effect was that the round robin format only mattered in the South. Look at 2008, where TX/Tech/OU tied....and the obscure reference to the BCS formula made OU the S Champion. Or 2010, Where the OSU/aTm/OU tie made OU the S representative in the Championship game. Sure, there were times where the North came in the Championship game and won it.
And now....there is no weak North, mostly due to parity. Maybe except for KU, but trust me, they can't be discounted into the nex 3-5 years.
But the problem was......not everybody played everybody. There were certainly times when the "schedule" made a difference...home and away. When you only played half of the other division, that is bound to happen.
For example, Alabama only has to play LSU this year before the Championship game in the SEC. Nobody else has a pulse in the West (and yes...that includes aTm as they didn't have a pulse in the B12). How would WVU fans feel if they only had to beat one of OU/TX/KSU/Tech/OSU/TCU before facing the winner of those teams......versus.......facing everyone....every week.
The Big 12 office has a real PR job ahead of them. There is no question that the round robin format with this deep of a converence should produce a "true" champion. I believe that if a team goes undefeated in this format....that will be unbelievable. Most years hence, a tie breaker between 1 loss or 2 loss teams will prevail.
For example (and I am NOT making predictions), look at what this conference looks like if ISU upsets KSU...what if Tech upsets WVU? Total Chaos.....which is very cool. Even if those upsets don't happen, every week will provide the drama of the potential for Total Chaos.
I think this is a very cool thing, especially considering the qualiyt of offenses we will see every week. Did anyone turn off the game between WVU and Baylor until the end? Did anyone turn off the game between TX and WVU until the end? Did anyone turn off the game between OSU and TX until the end? This will be the norm every single week.
The challenge for the B12 officials will be to figure out a way to BRAND that. What we now see is a MARCH MADNESS applied to CFB. Every week matters. That doesn't exist in any other conference.
Hopefully, the rest of the media base sees what I see. It is incredible....and scary as hell.....and exciting.
The only thing I think that requires some more analysis and thought, is how do we truly analyze tie breakers, and the only reason I say this is that I believe it will be the NORM......not the exception.
J
