Dave Sittler: Texas' arogance at heart of Big 12 drama

By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
Published: 8/30/2011 2:23 AM



What if the Big 12 throws a party and nobody comes because the main host is an insufferable jerk?

Well, at least nobody on the A-list of invitees.

And what if the co-hosts get so fed up they leave their own party, letting the jerk celebrate his independence alone?

Those ugly scenarios could play out in front of everyone in the college sports world to see. And the Big 12 will have nobody to blame but Texas.

As Texas A&M continues to clear the legal and political hurdles required to leave the Big 12 for the SEC, the potential backwash from the Aggies' move gets dirtier by the day.

Texas' arrogance continues to stir this mess. And when A&M becomes the third school the Longhorns chase off, the Big 12's A-list of schools it hopes to invite as replacements will wonder why they should join a league that has also ran off Nebraska and Colorado.

Yes, there is no shortage of D-list schools that lust for the opportunity to replace A&M. That's "D" as in desperate, which the Big 12 would be if extending those invitations is the only way to survive.

The Big 12's A-list reportedly includes Notre Dame, Arkansas, Arizona, Arizona State, Pittsburgh, BYU, West Virginia, Louisville and Air Force.

"They've looked at all those options and many others," said a source familiar with the Big 12's expansion committee.

The first four schools apparently wouldn't come even if Texas was handing out millions to league members instead of trying to hoard it all for itself.

And it's a stretch to A-list the other five. B-list (as in bearable) is probably where you'd find them, although Pittsburgh and West Virginia could bring A-games.

"People need to wake up," said a source familiar with the BCS conferences. "There are just no Big 12-level schools out there."

The level of big names in the Big 12 will drop another significant notch if A&M gets its wish to no longer party with the Longhorns. But the Big 12 could definitely turn out the lights should Oklahoma decide it's swallowed all the burnt orange baloney it can stomach.

The league's 15-year party would be over if the Sooners deal the fatal blow to Texas' dictatorship. If OU joins the stampede out of the Big 12, Oklahoma State's Cowboys must have the gumption to ride shotgun.

OU splitting up with its Red River Rival probably remains about as long a shot as Notre Dame joining the Big 12. But it apparently isn't as long as it was even a few months ago.

Several sources confirmed the A&M situation has developed some serious strains in the OU-Texas marriage. OU, like those who still want to make the Big 12 work, is reportedly fed up with Texas seeing how far it can push the others around with tactics like the Longhorn Network.

"Texas seems to be losing friends in more places than the Big 12 over all this," said a source with deep roots in college football. "Having a network is fine. But it's just the inference that they are trying to play by a somewhat different set of rules than anyone else that creates problems."

OU athletic director Joe Castiglione has fought as hard as any Big 12 official to keep the league together. Castiglione has consistently maintained it's in the best interest of everyone if OU and Texas continue to work together.

Castiglione is on the five-member expansion committee. But some insiders wonder if he's decided it's time to flex some of the Sooners' undeniable leverage.

Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds continues to insist the Longhorns want the Big 12 to stay intact. The loss of A&M would mean Dodds absolutely needs OU to stay the course for the league to survive.

Texas has already hinted that its storied football series with A&M would end if the Aggies join the SEC. That didn't seem to deter A&M's strong desire to put its hated rival in the Aggies' rearview mirror.

Would OU, emboldened with its added muscle, have the backbone to threaten to end the Red River Shootout if bossy-boots Texas doesn't back off and treat its fellow Big 12 members as equals?

And if people outside the Big 12 are indeed growing weary of Texas playing by its own rules, will they band together? Perhaps a coalition could convince Texas that life as an independent isn't so hot if you're treated like an outcast.

Good luck with that. Remember Dodds' comment 14 months ago when realignment was sweeping through the Big 12?

"We did not start this," he said. "If we need to finish it, we'll finish it."

Yup, it's Texas' A-list party and they'll do what they want, even if they have to do it alone.

And with the Longhorns, that's "A" as in, well, you can fill in the blank.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/article.aspx?subjectid=202&articleid=20110830_202_B1_Whatif864434&allcom=1#2697444

Very well said, especially "Perhaps a coalition could convince Texas that life as an independent isn't so hot if you're treated like an outcast."

You think UT cares? They are in a class and league of their own; they don't need the Big 12, Big 10, Pac-12 or the SEC.

They are in a class and league of their own; they don't need the Big 12, Big 10, Pac-12 or the SEC.

They do if they want to play anyone besides Southern Miss and the University of Louisanna - Monroe.

The more I think about it the more I would like to see the Big XII become the Big XVI. Disband the Big XII and create the BIG XVI (and don't invite Texas)

Here are the teams:

North Division:
OU
OSU
Kansas
Kansas St
Missouri
Iowa St
BYU
Air Force

South Division:
TCU
Texas Tech
Baylor
SMU
New Mexico
New Mexico St
Southern Miss
Houston

Texas is definitely in a league of their own with just over half the national titles (4) as OU (7) and less than half (3) the Big 12 titles (7). Money can't buy success. OU is an obviously superior program to Texas.

I don't think UT wants to be an independent, they just want to be a conference dictator.
Take all the revenue for themselves and distribute the leftovers to the peasants.

Kirk Bohls - Austin Statesman

Your move, Oklahoma.

Go ahead, Sooners. Make the last move that sinks the Big 12.

And it is quite possible, in light of Texas A&M's defection, that your move will be one that politically astute Texas quietly supports while also hoping that it happens quickly. The Longhorns would dearly love the Sooners to take the lead. And much of the heat that comes with it.

Should Oklahoma act upon its earnest desires and seek an invitation to join the Pacific-12 Conference — something I'm fully expecting to happen within days, if not hours — that decision could well be the killing blow to the Big 12 while also providing Texas the political cover to follow suit and ask for admission as well.

The Pac-12's not going to ask first. It's been down that road before, led along until the eleventh hour a year ago.

If OU gives notice that it is leaving the Big 12 — or if any of the other remaining eight members do, for that matter — the very foundation of the league would crumble.

Here's what I think will happen, probably before the calendar turns to October:

Your new Pac-16 members: Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

The era of the super conference begins.

The Longhorn Network gets folded into the Pac-16 as a downsized regional network, joining the six regional networks that already exist within the conference.

Missouri ends up in the Big Ten or ACC, and Kansas heads to the Big East. If for some inexplicable reason Texas chooses not to pursue Pac-12 membership, look for Texas Tech to be left out and expect the Pac-12 to focus on Kansas and Missouri along with OU and OSU. Don't dawdle, Texas.

In the end, these Big 12 schools should have gone their separate ways last summer and avoided all this unnecessary drama and hand-wringing. Every school has its own agenda and is ready to act upon it. If A&M can uproot itself from historical ties in the Big 12 and extricate itself from centuries-old rivalries, nothing is sacred.

OU wants to be more assertive and wants to blaze its own trail — separately or aligned with Texas — and will pull the trigger on the relocation it considered last June. Oklahoma State is along for the ride.

Once it became obvious the Aggies were leaving for the SEC, Texas wanted to remain in a 10-team Big 12 with Notre Dame, but the Longhorns must make other plans as the Irish cling firmly to their independence. Maybe the Big 12 could survive with BYU, Pitt and, say, Louisville, and it says here the league would need to add three teams to avoid looking vulnerable to a single school holding the conference's future hostage every year.

But I think Texas would prefer the Pac-Large and would do cartwheels if OU made the first dramatic move, so the Longhorns' hands would be politically clean.

Texas president William Powers embraced the idea of rubbing elbows with academic elites in the Pac-10 a year ago, but he was persuaded to stay put by athletic director DeLoss Dodds.

Once Notre Dame turned down the Big 12, the list of attractive replacements for A&M fell off dramatically.

BYU remains a possibility, but its use of older, more mature athletes because of two-year mission trips, its refusal to play on Sundays and its lack of an impeccable academic pedigree make it a harder sell.

Houston makes sense for the state and links up with legislators' desires to create another top-tier research institution, but Texas and Texas Tech would prefer to keep that rich recruiting base to themselves.

Pittsburgh makes little geographic sense but would greatly expand the Big 12's footprint. But so would the University of British Columbia, and I haven't seen them on the list.

Because the Big 12's options are few, its future is tenuous at best. No one seems to trust anyone any more. Everybody is jealous of Texas' clout and tired of its flaunting of the Longhorn Network. Most of the Big 12 schools are petrified they'll be left out. With good reason.

Every Big 12 school will have Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott on speed-dial and will beg the Pac-12 to embrace it as a member. Scott issued a statement Wednesday, saying his league has "no plans to expand" at this time, but added that his schools will listen to and evaluate any scenario. Scott has openly predicted more realignment will occur in college athletics in the near future.

OU clearly wanted to bolt to the Pac-10 a year ago and take Oklahoma State with it. That hasn't changed. The OU administration warmly embraced the idea. Bob Stoops was ready to take the field at the Rose Bowl for the league's first championship game.

He openly lusted over all those California recruits.

Texas and Texas Tech were this close to joining them before a political wrench and the Longhorn Network brought those plans to a halt.

It was a done deal until it was undone at the last moment.

Fifteen months later, OU will take the lead.

"Oklahoma owns all the cards," a Big 12 source told me.

Look for the Pac-12 and interested Big 12 parties to use the same script as A&M did in plotting its exit from the Big 12. Nobody wants to be the instigator in these delicate, sensitive negotiations, and no one wants to be the villain. Expect them all to paint the Aggies with that broad brush.

And once OU and Texas make that clear, then it will be every man for himself.

http://www.statesman.com/sports/longhorns/one-more-move-and-big-12-is-over-1809134.html

I was listening to KREF a couple days ago and James Hale stated that from conversations last year with David Boren and Joe Castiglione, his impression was OU would do anything to keep from fans having to make long trips and if there was any way to keep the B12 going, then OU would stay.

But that was last year. The B12 product is not what it was.

Very well said, especially "Perhaps a coalition could convince Texas that life as an independent isn't so hot if you're treated like an outcast."

You think UT cares? They are in a class and league of their own; they don't need the Big 12, Big 10, Pac-12 or the SEC.

But that's the whole point - if UT alienates too many people, no one will play them. That's one reason that even though they *could* go independent, DeLoss Dodds has made it pretty clear that they don't *want* to go that route just yet. Even they realize there is built-in value to having schools like OU close by, because that adds indirect value to their network potential. If they hack EVERYONE off, they won't be an independent like Notre Dame....

Everyone who thinks OU and Texas would drop their October Rivalry, for any reason except it would cost them too much money to continue to meet up, raise your hand. go ahead, we'll wait.

The thing is the "travel" and time zones I would imagine it would be similar to the Big 12 North/South divisions with limited games against the other division. For most games it wouldn't be all that bad if OU is in a division with Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Colorado, OSU, Tech and Texas.

The thing is the "travel" and time zones I would imagine it would be similar to the Big 12 North/South divisions with limited games against the other division. For most games it wouldn't be all that bad if OU is in a division with Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Colorado, OSU, Tech and Texas.

I remember last year, the consensus was that each division would be its own conference for the majority of the games. The Original Pac-8 would play each other, the new eastern division the same. They would each play 1-2 games a year against the other division (presumably one home, one away). This seems like it would be a decent arrangement. If four of the Big XII went to the PAC-12 (16), that means three of your conference games would be in your own time zones. Utah and Colorado are only an hour behind (which we would be used to because of our previous meetings with Colorado). Arizona is a little screwy because they don't observe DST. So, depending on the time of the year, they could be 2 hours back or 1.

I can handle one game that will start really late because they are doing prime time on the west coast. It isn't like all of our games will now start at 10pm CDT/CST or anything.

When Boren starts making public comments you know things are getting ready to happen. He wouldn't be addressing this issue to the press without serious works in progress.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6923495/oklahoma-sooners-president-david-boren-says-school-interest-multiple-conferences

OU is fortunate to have Boren in so many ways, I'm confident he & Castiglione will make a rational decision unlike A&M's emotional decision. I still think B12 will extend invites to try to stay alive, but the events over the past year or 2 show the commissioner is too weak and the individual members are taking matters into their own hands. The only way B12 stays alive is to land a big fish or 2.

I personally think OU's public decision to "explore" their options is a testimony to the fact there's no one out there worthy to invite. You can't just get numbers to add up to 12, you have to have quality or you further dilute a dying product.

Now, whether accidentally or on purpose, OU has forced UT into a corner. The only conference allowing UT its network is the Big 12, and OU realizes it kills the BIg 12 if it leaves. That means UT is either forced to join a conference that will mandate it sheds the LHN, or go independent to keep the LHN but have no names to schedule and, effectively, become an outcast. OU has played this game brilliantly, IMHO.

End game - OU heads to the Pac 12.

-soonerdave

If you guys like to talk football, please visit my football-only blog at http://endzonereview.blogspot.com and shoot the breeze. Comment on posts or fire up new discussions.

Now, whether accidentally or on purpose, OU has forced UT into a corner. The only conference allowing UT its network is the Big 12, and OU realizes it kills the BIg 12 if it leaves. That means UT is either forced to join a conference that will mandate it sheds the LHN, or go independent to keep the LHN but have no names to schedule and, effectively, become an outcast. OU has played this game brilliantly, IMHO.

Completely agree. Mack Brown and his ignorant minions overplayed their hand. Now I hope they enjoy eating crow!!!

I don't think Mack Brown is smart enough to mastermind the UT machine, that is squarely in AD DeLoss Dodds and President William Powers court, Mack is along for the ride and the reason why Mack will never be AD at Texas even if Dodds were to retire. The funny thing is the OU-Tulsa will be broadcast in Austin but the UT-Rice will only be seen by the UT campus and about 20,000 homes near UT and a few of the smaller towns in the area will have the game as well since Grande was added to the lineup of small cable companies and Verizon Fios, which is only in the DFW Metroplex and I think Georgetown or Hutto in the Austin area. The sports bars in Austin are quite upset about Time Warner Cable and ESPN/UT not coming to an agreement in time for the broadcast. I think it is pretty funny and indicative of how much of a failure the LHN will be.

Neither Dish or Directv have picked it up either, here is a quote from an Austin American Statesman article in today's paper.


Statesman.com - Grande adds Longhorn Network, but few in area will see today's game (http://www.statesman.com/news/grande-adds-longhorn-network-but-few-in-area-1816247.html)
"We've had discussions with ESPN about Longhorn Network, but we have no plans right now to carry it," said DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer. "We understand Longhorn has other programming that may be of value to a small segment of our customers, but two UT football games do not constitute a network. We're happy to carry those two games under the considerable fees we already pay ESPN for programming that includes the Big 12."

We understand Longhorn has other programming that may be of value to a small segment of our customers, but two UT football games do not constitute a network. We're happy to carry those two games under the considerable fees we already pay ESPN for programming that includes the Big 12."


That quote speaks volumes. ESPN and ut thought cable and sat providers would be falling over themselves to show months of ut chess and tiddlywinks games just to get a couple of blowout football and basketball games.