Houston Chronicle
By David Barron
Oct. 14, 2016
The Big 12 Conference was created in 1994, and began operation in 1996, as a convenient accommodation for the Big Eight, which needed new television markets, and the four best-funded, most politically connected members of the Southwest Conference.
It was akin to a shotgun marriage for two groups - one in search of more eyeballs, another trying to escape its underperforming conference colleagues - and it worked, at least in the beginning.
On the field of play, the Big 12 celebrated football national titles for Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas and basketball championships for the Kansas men and Baylor and Texas A&M women. At the pay window, it reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in TV revenue and secured a seat at the table among the five conferences that now dominate the College Football Playoff.
But after only two decades - the SWC, by comparison, lasted 81 years - the Big 12 is weather-beaten. Four charter members have left since 2010 - Nebraska for the Big Ten, Colorado to the Pac-12 and Missouri and Texas A&M to the Southeastern Conference - to leagues that expanded, as did the Atlantic Coast Conference, while the Big 12 shrank to 10 members (with the addition of TCU and West Virginia.)
Even in its reduced state, though, Big 12 membership is a plum. According to Department of Education figures, Big 12 members Baylor and Texas Tech each have taken in at least $200 million more in athletics department revenue in the last 11 years alone compared to Houston, which has competed in Conference USA and the American Athletic Conference.
Now, as Big 12 presidents and chancellors meet Monday in Dallas-Fort Worth, they face a decision: Having expanded beyond its Middle America base with West Virginia, does it stand pat at 10, add a fifth Texas member in UH or SMU (no Power Five league has more than four schools in the same state) or venture elsewhere with Cincinnati, Brigham Young, South Florida or Connecticut?
It's a decision that will require delicate political maneuvering. Then again, political maneuvering is part of the league's DNA.
LINK to continue
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/college/article/The-Big-12-with-a-history-of-power-struggles-and-9971434.php
By David Barron
Oct. 14, 2016
The Big 12 Conference was created in 1994, and began operation in 1996, as a convenient accommodation for the Big Eight, which needed new television markets, and the four best-funded, most politically connected members of the Southwest Conference.
It was akin to a shotgun marriage for two groups - one in search of more eyeballs, another trying to escape its underperforming conference colleagues - and it worked, at least in the beginning.
On the field of play, the Big 12 celebrated football national titles for Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas and basketball championships for the Kansas men and Baylor and Texas A&M women. At the pay window, it reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in TV revenue and secured a seat at the table among the five conferences that now dominate the College Football Playoff.
But after only two decades - the SWC, by comparison, lasted 81 years - the Big 12 is weather-beaten. Four charter members have left since 2010 - Nebraska for the Big Ten, Colorado to the Pac-12 and Missouri and Texas A&M to the Southeastern Conference - to leagues that expanded, as did the Atlantic Coast Conference, while the Big 12 shrank to 10 members (with the addition of TCU and West Virginia.)
Even in its reduced state, though, Big 12 membership is a plum. According to Department of Education figures, Big 12 members Baylor and Texas Tech each have taken in at least $200 million more in athletics department revenue in the last 11 years alone compared to Houston, which has competed in Conference USA and the American Athletic Conference.
Now, as Big 12 presidents and chancellors meet Monday in Dallas-Fort Worth, they face a decision: Having expanded beyond its Middle America base with West Virginia, does it stand pat at 10, add a fifth Texas member in UH or SMU (no Power Five league has more than four schools in the same state) or venture elsewhere with Cincinnati, Brigham Young, South Florida or Connecticut?
It's a decision that will require delicate political maneuvering. Then again, political maneuvering is part of the league's DNA.
LINK to continue
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/college/article/The-Big-12-with-a-history-of-power-struggles-and-9971434.php
