Get ready--rumors heating up

I am hearing that things are moving really fast right now, and that the rumors are crazy. Waiting to hear back from a source, but this BYU to Big XII stuff has legs again, and it could be sooner than later. The A&M announcement today was part of an ongoing process and that is now in full motion.



Get ready.

I'm so sick of expansion talk. I can only assume that BYU will be independent in the immediate and long-term futures - until something actually happens, I'm sick of reading about it.



The next 9 days can't pass quickly enough. At least we get some appetizers in one week.

I, for one, am hoping that BYU and ND go to the B12. I like independence and what it all brings...but independence in the world of college football today is vastly different than it was a couple of years ago. I think if BYU wants to be included, it should jump at a conference now.

BYU should not accept any offer to join any conference until an offer is actually made. If the right offer is made, at a time when BYU is in a strong position, BYU could retain all of the benefits of Independence like it's own network rights and privileges and the money and exposure, without the baggage - scheduling and other sports, and poor BCS access. But let's worry about that if and when an offer is made.



Utah benefited from being in a strong position when PAC grabbed Colorado to avoid getting stuck with Baylor and then Texas flip-flopped and PAC was stuck choosing between Utah, BSU, and BYU. Otherwise, Utah might still be on the outside looking in.



Independence has greatly strengthened our position already, and we may need to strike when the Cougar is hot.



Assuming an offer actually gets made.



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I'm also wondering if this is all just a bunch of bunk, but time will tell. I'm all for joining big 12 if the offer is right and BYU is able retain its ESPN and BYUtv deals. As long as exposure isn't curtailed and BYU is not turned into a whipping boy for UT then it sounds like it could be a good deal.

Here is an interesting article from the New York Times...



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/sports/ncaafootball/texas-am-begins-process-moving-to-sec.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



It seems the writer knows enough about the legal issues, which suggests that the ball is already rolling. It is only a matter of time until we find out which pins it knocks down...



Man was that just a bowling analogy? +1 for me!

OK, so got something more to report back on. Again, not 100% certain, but this is what I am being told is possible.



Paint a picture first--starting with this;

A&M Announces might leave and is exploring options. Asks BIG XII what protocol to leave:

http://www.tamu.edu/athletics/big12Exploration.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Big XII counters with an announcement of its own:

http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&ATCLID=205250520" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Rumor is, that the Big XII TV Deal with Fox requires 10 teams or would trigger a renegotiation. That deal pays all teams in the league $9M per year--shared equally. This is for secondary rights. ESPN holds Primary right with a deal through 2014.



Hearing ESPN And Fox are on board with BYU joining should A&M make it official and leave. The rumor I was told is that it could happen as soon as this weekend, should A&M bolt tomorrow because Big XII wants to look proactive on this.



TH has been careful with comments about no talks with Big XII--not been approached by them. Does not mean has not been approached by 3rd parties, and he would not speak on that when asked previously.

Y 4 Ever wrote:
I'm so sick of expansion talk. I can only assume that BYU will be independent in the immediate and long-term futures - until something actually happens, I'm sick of reading about it.



The next 9 days can't pass quickly enough. At least we get some appetizers in one week.

+1 We haven't even played 1 game as an Independent & we are talking about joining a conference again? Good grief. I can certainly see the benefits to joining an esteemed BCS conference.



But - I would like to at least finish out 1 year as an Independent before we sign on the dotted line & get committed to another conference.



Let's just play some ball & get some "W 's."

Ddawg wrote:

I'm so sick of expansion talk. I can only assume that BYU will be independent in the immediate and long-term futures - until something actually happens, I'm sick of reading about it.



The next 9 days can't pass quickly enough. At least we get some appetizers in one week.

+1 We haven't even played 1 game as an Independent & we are talking about joining a conference again? Good grief. I can certainly see the benefits to joining an esteemed BCS conference.



But - I would like to at least finish out 1 year as an Independent before we sign on the dotted line & get committed to another conference.



Let's just play some ball & get some "W 's."

Although I can certainly understand that sentiment, timing is everything in this life, and one really big fat juicy bird in hand can be worth more than a flock of future birds that may or may not land in our bush next year.



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Cougarbib2 wrote:



Independence has greatly strengthened our position already, and we may need to strike when the Cougar is hot.



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Striking when the Cougar is hot? That's scandalous.... ;)

Ultimately, we are seeking to generate greater visibility nationwide for Texas A&M and our championship-caliber student-athletes, as well as secure the necessary and stable financial resources to support our athletic and academic programs, Loftin added. As a public university, Texas A&M owes it to the states taxpayers to maximize our assets and generate additional revenues both now and well into the future.

This is an excerpt from A&M's letter noting the conference commissioner that they are actively trying to leave the Big 12.



I would be pretty sad to see us turn down an offer from a BCS conference, but i the fact that A&M is worried about exposure in their current condition, makes me think that Holmoe will turn down and offer for the same reason.

Why do we persist in going after the harlot horns? They are so arrogant and ego-centric. they already have huge money and a disproportionate amount incomparison to other Big-12 teams. Unless there is some ironclad contract pinning the traveling harlots (pimps really) who cant seem to be content and drive others away (Nebraska, Colorado, now A&M!!!!) why would we want to nurse on that teet? I pray, well, hope anyway, that TH and CS DO contracts much wiser and better than VH and MB. Or we will be in another crappy crappy situation like the MWC, just making alot more money.....hmmmmmm, what does that sound like?

crh55 wrote:

Ultimately, we are seeking to generate greater visibility nationwide for Texas A&M and our championship-caliber student-athletes, as well as secure the necessary and stable financial resources to support our athletic and academic programs, Loftin added. As a public university, Texas A&M owes it to the states taxpayers to maximize our assets and generate additional revenues both now and well into the future.

This is an excerpt from A&M's letter noting the conference commissioner that they are actively trying to leave the Big 12.



I would be pretty sad to see us turn down an offer from a BCS conference, but i the fact that A&M is worried about exposure in their current condition, makes me think that Holmoe will turn down and offer for the same reason.

Well that is a joke if they think they will get more in the sec. just ask arkansas.

We would be insane not to take an offer to the Big XII assuming that we still get rebroadcasting rights on BYU TV.



That is all we wanted to be satisfied under MWC and would be all it took to accept a Big XII offer.



Think of the advantages--no scheduling headaches, great home game schedules with Oklahoma and Texas coming to our place every other year, and we can still use one of three or four non-conference games to branch out across the country. Place a game in the Northeast, Southeast, etc. once in a while. Use the other two to beat up on Utah and Utah State.



A&M's over-inflated sense of their importance to college football could be a financial and exposure boon for BYU.

Latest I am hearing is that the offer could come prior to A&M officially leaving due to TV Contracts. Been told there is a clause in the deal with Fox that says is the league drops to 9, they get to renegotiate. This is whay A&M's statement said hte league can look for replacements before they leave. Those statements are often worded very carefully and with good reason.



Also hearing that getting back to 12 is being discussed, with AFA perhaps being in the mix to join with BYU. I know ND is being talked to, but no one I talked to has any info on that part, other than to say if ND joins a league that the Big XII makes sense because it would allow ND its own network option, which the Big 10 would not.



IF I get any updates, will let you know

A KING! A KING! WE MUST HAVE A KING!



we have plenty of Exposure and are headed toward more. In fact, it could be argued that our exposure will go down not up if we are buried in the mid-tier Big 12 teams.

We have plenty of money--AND it AINT about the money folks. It costs 1 million dollars each day to run the BYU. Sure 10-12m helps. But we have freedom to do what we want in football--AND frankly the only person who has to "struggle" in scheduling is TH's office anyway. Besides, Bronco said "lots of teams wanted to schedule with us" or however he said that.

As for BCS--if we go undefeated, which we would have to anyway in the Big 12, we have a shot at the NC. But those years come around, what, once in a lifetime--oh wait, once period. So if we go undefeated, we have an equal shot at it. Big 12 membership aint all people make it out to be. Ok, we'll get to see OK and UT (if they stay) every other year. But our first go at independent scheduling isnt horrible this year either.

If BYU gets to keep their contract with ESPN and use BYU TV as well as get a piece of the Big12 ESPN and Fox money equal to everyone else and keep the rebroadcast rights, they would have a better TV deal than any one school has ever had. Ever.



This year's BYU-TV football game is Idaho State. If BYU were in the Big 12, that game would likely be Baylor or Texas Tech. Which game brings greater visibility to the channel/university?



It costs $1 mil a day to run BYU, the school. Do you know how much money of that $1 mil per day goes to the athletic department? Here's a hint, it's less than $0.01. BYU's AD runs off of television/radio contracts, sponsorship dollars, and donors. No direct cash from the church. While the AD probably has access to a ton of money (probably at least as much as Utah will have, even after they are full partners in the PAC12), it could always use more.



If the Big 12 is smart, they will start encouraging all of their teams to work on getting some sort of television deal on their own, a la Texas and BYU. Sure, some will be more profitable than others, but that's another cash flow stream that other conferences have been unwilling to offer their teams.



Tier 1 - ESPN

Tier 2 - FOX

Tier 3 - Schools independent TV deal



One good thing about being in a conference that isn't discussed much is the help that comes in paying some of the overhead expenses such as officials and some of the travel expenses.

stuckinbig10country wrote:
If BYU gets to keep their contract with ESPN and use BYU TV as well as get a piece of the Big12 ESPN and Fox money equal to everyone else and keep the rebroadcast rights, they would have a better TV deal than any one school has ever had. Ever.



This year's BYU-TV football game is Idaho State. If BYU were in the Big 12, that game would likely be Baylor or Texas Tech. Which game brings greater visibility to the channel/university?



It costs $1 mil a day to run BYU, the school. Do you know how much money of that $1 mil per day goes to the athletic department? Here's a hint, it's less than $0.01. BYU's AD runs off of television/radio contracts, sponsorship dollars, and donors. No direct cash from the church. While the AD probably has access to a ton of money (probably at least as much as Utah will have, even after they are full partners in the PAC12), it could always use more.



If the Big 12 is smart, they will start encouraging all of their teams to work on getting some sort of television deal on their own, a la Texas and BYU. Sure, some will be more profitable than others, but that's another cash flow stream that other conferences have been unwilling to offer their teams.

So, basically, to keep the Big XII from falling apart, we would need to get other schools up close to parity with UT and BYU in terms of TV deals, including having their own network. If I recall correctly, BYUtv is capable of simultaneously broadcasting 4 HD channels... Would we not make an ideal partner then to provide some of that extra TV presence in the interim while we help others set up their own facilities?

dmcougar wrote:
We have plenty of money--AND it AINT about the money folks. It costs 1 million dollars each day to run the BYU. Sure 10-12m helps. But we have freedom to do what we want in football--AND frankly the only person who has to "struggle" in scheduling is TH's office anyway. Besides, Bronco said "lots of teams wanted to schedule with us" or however he said that.

I can think of a lot of things that the additional revenue from joining a conference could do--renovate LaVell Edwards Stadium and the Marriott Center, for example. As for scheduling, sure a lot of teams want to schedule BYU for 2-1 or neutral site deals taking place in September, but I don't think as many teams are lining up schedule BYU for home-home deals in October or November. Even Utah can't find a way to play BYU in November.

dmcougar wrote:
As for BCS--if we go undefeated, which we would have to anyway in the Big 12, we have a shot at the NC. But those years come around, what, once in a lifetime--oh wait, once period. So if we go undefeated, we have an equal shot at it. Big 12 membership aint all people make it out to be. Ok, we'll get to see OK and UT (if they stay) every other year. But our first go at independent scheduling isnt horrible this year either.

Yes, but a one- or two- or three-loss BYU team can still make a BCS bowl by winning the conference championship. A two- or three-loss independent BYU team plays in the Armed Forces Bowl. Finishing 5th in the Big 12 gets you a trip to the Holiday Bowl with a $2.125 million payout. I would much rather see BYU playing SEC, Big 10, or Pac 12 opponents in the Cotton ($3.6 million), Alamo ($3.2 million), Insight ($3.4 million) and Holiday Bowls than CUSA, MWC, or WAC opponents in the Armed Forces ($750K) or Poinsettia Bowls ($500K).

People who think Indy was a long term move are missing the point and overlooking comments from TH. He clearly siad htat BYU belong in a BCS league, but has not been invited, and that BYU can not kick schools out to make it happen. BYU did do what they could to better position themselves. The Indy move was a means to an and short term(3-7 years at most) only. It was to get out from under the MWC deal and to show what BYU was worth on the open market, because the MWC did not value us, nor did the MTN deal. The ESPN deal turned heads of skeptics and got us noticed. Yes, it helps exposure, but lets not act like millions will tune in to watch us play NMSU, Idaho, SJSU and USU just because it is on ESPNU. People tune in to watch match-ups, and a BCS conference offers better match-ups.



BYU wants to be in a BCS league. Until that happens, Indy is the course. But it could happen sooner than expected. Much sooner than expected or hoped for. A&M moving was not anticipated and has really changed this and moved up schedules.