NCAA conferences

[Dan Gould]

Sorry that article says precious little as far as I am concerned. What exactly is the point? That they get an unfair tax advantage? Unfair to whom, anyway?

How about everyone else in the state who has to deal with declining & underfunded services? The U is engaged in business beyond "the mission" and should be taxed accordingly.

Federal laws require a nonprofit's income and expenses both to be tied to its charitable mission.

At the risk of this turning into a political thread, I'm in favor of any method of keeping money out of the hands of the federal government.

[Matthew]

But, just speculation. If the Big 12, Pac 10, Big Ten and other conferences are raiding each other, it's not unreasonable to think the SEC has talked about adding schools. In fact, they have, apparently, regarding Texas A&M.

It's not just talk - the SEC Commissioner was in College Station wooing the Aggies yesterday.

All the reports I've read have the Aggies torn (very torn - supposedly there's a razor thin margin of votes leaning one way or the other within the A&M Board of Regents) between moving to the PAC 10 and the SEC.

The PAC 10 Commissioner has also been in College Station this weekend - in addition to hitting the other "desirable" Big 12 South schools (Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Okie State).

I'm sort of torn myself - there's alot of history and tradition between A&M and Texas - hell, even our fight song is essentially about our hate for the Longhorns), and would like to see that maintained on into the future, with conference implications (read - we should move with UT to the PAC 10). On the other hand, we've always been in Texas' shadow, save for a brief period in the 80's and 90's where we really dominated them in football. Moving on to the SEC would allow us to chart our own course, out of their shadow. It would be a tougher challenge, football-wise, moving to the SEC, but I think it may be the better choice.

This *IS* all about football, not the other sports. That's why Kansas, despite being a powerhouse basketball program, isn't being pursued by either the PAC 10 or the SEC, but probably the Mountain West.

Texas A & M to the SEC makes a whole lot of sense to me. I'm not dumping on the states of Texas or Oklahoma, but geesh, I've lived in Cali all my life, I could care less about Texas sports, in fact, I still think of the Arizona schools as "the new comers" to the PAC 8. Someone on ESPN was going on and on about how Austin is more culturally West Coast -- hey, it's in Texas, that's all we know out here. I'm all for the West Coast staying West Coast, but $$$ rules college sports now (as if it didn't before)....

Supposedly, the rumor is that the administration at A&M want to go SEC, while the athletic department wants to go PAC 10. We'll see who wins that argument, but it will probably all come down to $$$$$

[Quincy]

At the risk of this turning into a political thread, I'm in favor of any method of keeping money out of the hands of the federal government.

Forget politics, this is college football, and the article referred to Texas. Therefore this is religion.

[Dan Gould]

At the risk of this turning into a political thread, I'm in favor of any method of keeping money out of the hands of the federal government.

Forget politics, this is college football, and the article referred to Texas. Therefore this is religion.

[Aggie87]

Supposedly, the rumor is that the administration at A&M want to go SEC, while the athletic department wants to go PAC 10. We'll see who wins that argument, but it will probably all come down to $$$$$

Latest today is that the remaining 10 schools in the Big 12 are working to salvage the Big 12. The Big 12 Commissioner has promised the schools $17M apiece in television revenue, plus the ability to start their own individual television networks (or something). For a school like UT, this may make them as much as they would make if they jump to the Pac 10.

I think A&M's third choice is to go to the Pac 10. Their top choice is either to move to the SEC or stick with the Big 12 (or whatever it ends up being called), but it's hard to tell which way they'll go. I think their decision - at this point - makes or breaks the Big 12.

[Aggie87]

Texas has turned down the Pac 10's offer, confirmed by the Pac 10 Commissioner (see Dallas News link).

That almost assuredly means none of the other teams that were following Texas' lead will go anywhere. The focus now seems to be on reenergizing the Big12 in its present 10 team form. A&M still seems to be weighing options between staying and moving to the SEC (though the article in that link is inconsistent - says at one point A&M is considering the SEC, and later says the $ to stay in the Big 12 were enough to convince A&M to stay).

[papsrus]

Texas staying in Big 12. Good!

[Eric]

Texas has turned down the Pac 10's offer, confirmed by the Pac 10 Commissioner (see Dallas News link).

That almost assuredly means none of the other teams that were following Texas' lead will go anywhere. The focus now seems to be on reenergizing the Big12 in its present 10 team form. A&M still seems to be weighing options between staying and moving to the SEC (though the article in that link is inconsistent - says at one point A&M is considering the SEC, and later says the $ to stay in the Big 12 were enough to convince A&M to stay).

I don't know how the Texas schools feel about all this, but speaking as an alum of one of Big 12 North schools (KU) living in Kansas City, I am glad to see this outcome. The thought of KU, Mizzou and K-State (all of whom have strong fan bases in KC) winding up in different conferences was depressing to say the least (as was the thought of losing the Big 12 bball tourney, which will be in KC for three years running).

It is rather interesting how (in the short run anyway), a school can make more with 10 versus 12. At the end of the day, we don't lose much in terms of sports tradition (no change in bball, sorry to see NU go in fball, and w/c about CU).

Edited June 15, 2010 by Eric

[papsrus]

The clincher for Texas staying, apparently, is that the University of Texas gets to form its own TV network and keep all the revenue. Don't know if that means Texas games will become PPV or what.

[Matthew]

Don't know if anyone is following the on-going drama of the PAC 10 realignment, but what's coming out so far stinks. Pat Haden, AD for USC says it's all about money (of all institutions!), but it really is bad that they're thinking of breaking up the California schools, that's what the whole conference was based on for years. The NCAA, and this BCS system has killed any interest I ever had in college athletics.

Edited October 15, 2010 by Matthew