Tweet
This is disappointing news for many BYU fans who hoped for an invitation.
-
“No team in the country has a better winning percentage against power conference teams since 2017 than Gonzaga... the Zags are playing above average teams in the best leagues in the country and winning 78% of the time.”
-Ken Pomeroy-
https://www.ksl.com/article/50342950...in-perspective -
Well, all things considered, I'm happy for the WCC. They've added competition at Top 50 (Usually) level, name recognition, loyal following, good academics, clean program.
Now, if we can just work on some dirty play tendencies and fans that don't consider every call against them evidence of a conspiracy, they'll be the perfect conference mate.Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
Mark Twain. -
But goos news for WCC
This is really good news for the WCC.Originally posted by Martin Centre Mad Man View PostComment
-
Huge. Odds, from many analyst's perspectives, had BYU in. BYU in the WCC is a big deal.Comment
-
back to the mountain west they will goComment
-
They planned to leave the MWC before Utah left, and that was when TCU was still in the conference. Not sure why they would go back now.Comment
-
Other than BYU board babble, have you heard this from any reputable source?Originally posted by ZagsObserver View Post
By some accounts, BYU's TV contract with ESPN pays them more for football games as an independent than they would get from the MWC. If this is the case, I doubt that BYU would go back to the MWC.
ZagDadComment
-
It's funny watching them all beg and plead on twitter "look how awesome we are!" all over the place, yet can't get an invite to a conference that is hindered by only having 10 teams. The Big 12 NEEDS more schools and won't take BYU. It's comical on both ends.
I heard the Big 12 response to them was "well, maybe if you had Gonzaga's basketball program so you could join in all sports...""After holding open practices during his first three seasons, Romar closed them to reporters last season, citing the "Gonzaga factor." He felt his team was compromised before the 2004-05 game against the Zags, that the opponent awaiting him and beating him 99-87 in Spokane seemed a little too well prepared."Comment
-
More:
Here is what it does mean:
As ever, the conference is a dysfunctional mess.
To go through all of the machinations the Big 12 did over the past five months and to reach the end of that process and announce, “Uh, sorry we disturbed you all,” is indicative of a league that is not well governed by the university presidents who are in charge.
Boren said market forces have indicated there is no opportunity at the moment to create a Big 12-centric television network. (He did not mention that the existence of a Texas-centric network, LHN, is an obstacle, as well). Without the network, Boren said, there is no impetus to expand.
It’s astonishing someone with Boren’s credentials would not recognize something a journalist without hands-on experience in higher education and conference politics could see, but he didn’t and I did: “There is only one clear reason for the league to expand: the creation of a Big 12 Conference network.” Yep. I wrote that in May . That was two months before the Big 12 launched its dog-and-pony expansion show.
The Big 12 didn’t move any closer to a TV network in the summer than it was in the spring, and it’s no farther away in autumn. It’s always been nowhere near making that happen. But still, fine universities with excellent athletic programs from Provo, Utah to Storrs, Conn., were dragged through this embarrassment.
“We went through a process that was, I think, thoughtful and respectful of the schools,” Bowlsby said. “We wanted to be very careful not to commoditize great institutions and view them as chess pieces on a board. We didn’t do that.”
Anyone else think maybe Bowlsby isn’t the best judge of that?Comment
-
Big egos and dollar signs prevented Big 12 expansion.
I would think that the sharing of LHN revenue played a big part of the equation...
I think the Cougars IMO would have been a great addition to the Big-12...Comment
-
I suspect that the BIG XII will cease to exist as a power conference within five years. It barely registers above the AAC as a power conference now. I suspect that eight of the ten schools would jump ship to the B1G, ACC, or SEC if those leagues would just take them. They realize that the ship is sinking and want to get onto dry land before it goes down. I sense that the only two programs that are still truly in the BIG XII by choice are the two that could leave most easily if the conference ultimately fails: Texas and Oklahoma.
Oklahoma and Texas have agreed to stay in the BIG XII for now, but those schools will get restless if the league continues to miss the BCS playoffs. The league can survive if a TCU or a Baylor misses the football playoffs as a league champ. It will die if the Longhorns or Sooners suffer a similar fate. If a two-loss Sooner team misses the playoffs in favor of a two-loss ACC team, their fans and alumni will start clamoring for a new home. If either of those teams leaves, the other will almost certainly follow.
Without those two flagship schools, that league would cease to be a power league. The other schools would desperately try to follow them, but some would inevitably be left behind to either rebuild the league with new programs, such as Cincinnati, UCF, Houston, BYU, etc., or step down to the AAC, Mountain West, or a new league formed from the rubble of conference realignment.“No team in the country has a better winning percentage against power conference teams since 2017 than Gonzaga... the Zags are playing above average teams in the best leagues in the country and winning 78% of the time.”
-Ken Pomeroy-
https://www.ksl.com/article/50342950...in-perspectiveComment
-
I have wondered how much BYU TV played into it. I agree that having a BIG XII TV network was a plausible reason to expand, and BYU already having their own, and not likely to disband it, might have made a difference. Just speculation on my part, I have no knowledge other than what I garner from haer and the internet news.Not even a smile? What's your problem!Comment
-
Texas is the entire reason the Big 12 is in the mess it's in. They've already turned down opportunities to leave. They don't want to share revenue from their own network with anyone else. I don't think any other conference will be willing to concede to their demands the way the Big 12 has done. They'll probably be the last school to leave if the whole thing starts falling apart.
Anyone else think UConn was the big loser in all this (forget BYU)? Power in men's and women's basketball from the glory days of the Big East, now stuck in a second rate conference. Their football isn't good enough to make them a big draw, but it's more about viewership in specific markets really. Rutgers absolutely sucks at every sport lately and the Big 10 still grabbed them. They were actually pretty good before their coach jumped to the NFL, but currently RU has to be near the very bottom of D1 football programs (did you see the shellacking Michigan put on them? UW hammered them at the beginning of the season as well). I'm sure there are more TVs in Rutgers' footprint than UConn's, but the Huskies would bring so much more prowess overall from their athletics program than RU, and their football team can't possibly be any worse.Comment
-
The most important thing to remember is that FOOTBALL drives the BIG Five not basketball. UConn has excellent basketball programs but the Big 12 is all about football...Texas is all about football! UConn and GU are in the same boat..."second rate" conferences but that is big time D1 college basketball.Originally posted by seacatfan View Post
I don't see the Big 12 folding and believe that if a two-loss UT football team loses to a two-loss ACC team, then that coach will be fired...I think Baylor has a legitimate chance to make the BCS Playoffs this season...only one team from the ACC, SEC and B10 conferences will be chosen and if Baylor wins out I believe it gets the nod over UW and its weaker conference this season.Comment
-
The committee wasn't impressed with Baylor...was it 2 years ago? And TCU as well the same year. Could see it happening again. Anyway I doubt they run the table.
It might not happen this year, but I'll be shocked if at some point 2 teams from one conference aren't selected for the 4 team playoff (remember 2 teams from one conference already made it to the 2 team Championship Game not all that long ago). There's an outside chance of it happening this year with Clemson/Louisville from the ACC and Michigan/Ohio St. from the Big 10 all really high in the polls. I guess it's a slim chance with the SEC too but outside of Alabama I don't see any of the other teams being there in the end.
If UW runs the table, they should certainly be in the conversation for being 1 of the 4.Comment
Comment