by Kent Sterling
Those who underestimated Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe made a mistake. Sure, he has been asleep at the switch as early adapters like Big Ten counterpart Jim Delany were innovating, but his slumber is over. The Big 12 has offered and UT has accepted concessions, including the flexibility to start their own TV network, to convince Texas to stay home.
The leadership at Texas has confused a goody bag from the Big 12 with leadership during a time when it is necessary like never before. Reacting requires no vision, and Beebe has done nothing but react to save his (and his conference’s) ass.
The media landscape is changing and the viability of a well-run network showcasing a conference’s 
athletic teams can be immensely profitable. What’s the point in letting ABC, CBS, and NBC make millions when there is no dearth of bandwidth on the cable, internet, and satellite spectrums, and the ability to produce a professional broadcast can be handled easily by any outfit with a satellite truck, five cameras, and two men with microphones who have a bit of football knowledge.
Can a network representing a single school do the same? It depends up whether they can get opponents to allow their game with Texas to be shown live exclusively on the Longhorn Network, or whether the Big 12 will do the same. If the Big 12 gives Texas that freedom, what kind of deal can they possibly strike with a major network, and how much money can the nine other remaining members of the Big 12 make?
This story has evolved from fun and fluid to chaotic with each passing hour today. Texas has agreed to stay in the Big 12, but now what happens to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M (Tech is such a minor part of this drama that where they go is of no consequence – gaining a foothold at Cujo’s Sportz Bar on 4th Street and the various BW3′s in Lubbock won’t mean much)? A&M can still bolt to the SEC, and the Oklahomas can move to the PAC-10. It’s said that Oklahoma, OK State, and Tech will do whatever Texas does, but I would like to hear Oklahoma say that.
A Big 12 with Texas, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Missouri, Baylor, Kansas and Kansas State is not much of a conference. Maybe the Oklahomas stay put, but why would they if Texas is getting the sweet deal. Oklahoma deserves whatever Texas gets, or at least the Sooners will think so. Regardless, the Big 12 will be less “Big”, and that’s not good for anybody – except Baylor and Iowa State who have been praying with zeal for salvation from unaffiliated status for a week.
I hope Texas gave this some very serious thought to the convenience of Beebe’s sudden burst of activity and accommodation as he has endeavored to save the conference. The evolution will be to develop four 16-team leagues. Have the champs assemble for a four-team playoff. If college football can’t evolve into that as an end game, popularity is going to wane. The window for an adoption of logic regardless of the pull of tradition is going to close. When it does, fans are going to be left wanting.
College football is too great a game to be held hostage by its past. The Big 12 had a chance years ago to make itself a player, and it sat very pleased with the status quo. Now, Beebe is scrambling to maintain his position as the captain of a ship spinning in circles. Texas will simultaneously get wealthy and dizzy, and has decided against joining a group that is positioning itself for future growth for all of its members.
The Big 12′s top-heavy proposal in favor of Texas is not going to sit well with any of the other strong members of that league, and it points out the weakness of the Big 12 as a league. There is Texas and then all the rest. If Texas stays, it is vulnerable to being the only member of consequence in a league that becomes irrelevant in the national landscape. A well placed and ebullient Texas/Big 12 supporter referred to the Big 12 as the “New York Yankees and nine Kansas City Royals”. If a rising tide lifts all boats, Dan Beebe and UT pulled the drain on the Big 12.
Real leadership tears down the status quo and rebuilds an improved unit. Poor leaders react to the changing culture by buying the maintenance of the same old same old. Texas is in a position to be a pioneer in a new world that makes sense, or the short-term robber baron who seals its own fate as an afterthought by allowing its loyalty to be bought by a dying organization.
I get the general point, but OU as the KC Royals?
KU Basketball as the KC Royals? If anything, the league is similar to the Big 10 with Michigan and OSU on the top tier and most of the other teams having the potential to put together a great year at any given time.
Baylor, Iowa State, and Oklahoma State are never going to put together a great year.
The Big Ten has a pure system for revenue sharing. As this “all for Texas, scraps for the rest” financial dynamic plays out, it’s going to get worse, much worse.
I don’t see this being a long term solution. The same problems remain of Texas getting everything it wants and the others being bullied to stay in the league because they have no better options. That does not make for a happy marriage and I wouldn’t be surprised if Missouri eventually made its way to the Big 10.
If the rev share is as top heavy in favor of Texas, yep.
How about the Yankees, the Orioles and 8 Royals then. The point is still the same, and the Yankees just stuck it to the Orioles. As far as TV revenue under a Comcast – Big Ten network scheme, Oklahoma is a pretty tall midget. Popular, but in a small market. Whereas Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State are popular in densely populated states with major cities, large and active alumni and national fan bases, and regularly put over 100,000 butts in seats any given fall Saturday. Comcast would tell you there is a pretty big difference.
im thrilled that the league is staying put. texas is going with their own network, fine; if others say that’s not fair they should become more competitive and create their own networks. the bottumn line is that all teams in the big 12 light will earn more money and it’s a geographical sensible league now without the worries of a conference title game. i’m happy with it!
It’s also without the financial windfall of a conference title game. From where or whom will all this new money come? Why wasn’t it there before? Sounds like creative math multiplied by hollow promises all to the power of Texas.
Maryland will talk with the Big Ten for the same reason the balance of the Big 12 will be unhappy. Maryland is tired of all NCAA tournament games and the ACC championships being played in Carolina. Surely all Big 12 events will have to be played in “neutral” Dallas, Houston, San Antonio or Austin.
Maybe Texas is brilliant by creating their own network, and it becomes the template for Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, etc., to stop sharing the wealth with the weak football sisters in the Big Ten. That may have Fred Glass sucking up a seat cushion. You have to think the rest of the Big 12 that remains gives Texas the bird and leaves first chance they get.
Texas is like the homeless guy in my movie “Yes Man”, with what remains of the Big XII playing me.
Got a couple dollars you can spare? Yes.
Can I have 20 bucks then? Yes.
Can I have all the money in your wallet? Yes.
Can I have the keys to your car? Yes.
@ Big Ten Ben – Shortsightedness on the part of Texas and so far, the Big 10 has proven smarter than that. Texas only has popularity because it is in a league with reasonably respectable teams to play. By sucking up all the money it can, the dynamics of the Big 12 effectively become the same as Major League Baseball or the NHL. It’s easy for the Red Wings to field a successful team, but how’s that $8 million deficit working out for ‘ya if you’re Columbus? And how long has it been since the Cincinnati Reds or the Pittsburgh Pirates were last competitive? This truce will not last long term, especially if and when the Big 10 decides it’s ready to invite Missouri to the conference.